Absolutely everyone topped the hill
As we said in our first dispatch, this is a solid team; all seven climbers and two guides summited Mt. Aconcagua today, in a bright, clear day. Congratulations! The whole group stood at 22,834 ft, the highest point in the neiborhood (a high neiborhood, by the way) and they are back at camp now.
They will be going down to Plaza de Mulas tomorrow, to complete the Aconcagua traverse, in the best Aventuras Patagonicas tradition.We are also proud to a...
continue reading
Ready to rock
The team is going for the summit tomorrow. They are at High Camp (6.000m) now, ready to rock. Every member of the group is leaving the tent tomorrow, to go and summit like a team, Aike told me over the sat phone. May the Force be with them. I will give you the news when Aike calls me tomorrow. Stay tuned!
continue reading
Camp II
The whole team is coping well with altitude. They are at Camp II, the Chopper Camp, at roughly 18,000 ft. The news are that when they were climbing to the camp yesterday, the guides Aike and Mariana found a climber in the trail (from another party), who was having some altitude-related issue and needed help, so they performed a rescue and called the Rescue Patrol. It turned out that the timely and highly professional procedures of our guides sav...
continue reading
A strong team
"We´ve done the carry to camp I, everyone is acclimatizing really well and it is a strong team". This is the email I got from Aike, sent from base camp along with this nice picture of the group at Camp I (16,000 ft).
The carrying or "porteo" system is the traditional way to acclimatize in big mountains, doing day trips to higher altitude, to carry part of the mountaineering gear and food, and coming back to sleep in a lower altitude. Tomorr...
continue reading
Hanging at base camp
The team reached base camp Plaza Argentina (14,000 ft) yesterday, after hiking three days up the Vacas and Relinchos rivers. They shared an asado (BBQ) with the gauchos who drive the loading mules, and they got to see some of the best views of the East Face of Mt Aconcagua, with the imposing Polish Glacier (picture).
Everyone is strong and happy, according to guide Aike, who was kind enough to send me these nice pictures of the group at BC and an...
continue reading
On the trail
A new good, solid-looking group set foot on the trail today. There are seven climbers and two guides in this team, our 13th expedition of the season. We shared a nice dinner in Mendoza (Argentina), the team got to know each other and their guides -Aike Parvex and Mariana Gallego- and they bought their Aconcagua permits. Yesterday the group spent the night at Los Penitentes, a small ski resort that is used as a starting point by many Aconcagua exp...
continue reading
