BACK IN MENDOZA

Everyone is on the way home after a great successful trip. They hiked the 17 + miles out from base camp to the trail head and caught a van ride to Mendoza on Friday. They all enjoyed a nice dinner that night, and are beginning to make their way home.

Zach will give us a post trip dispatch in the next few days.

Back in High Camp

Everybody is back in their tents exhausted but happy now. They are sipping soup and making some dinner before falling asleep. Summit day on Aconcagua is a big day and they'll sleep well tonight.

Summit of Aconcagua!!

The team got up early this morning and left for the summit in the dark. It turned into a beautiful day with very light winds and they all made it to the top of Aconcagua in just over 8 hours. They are currently on the way down and we hope to hear from Zach again when they reach the comfort of their tents at high camp.

Congratulations to the whole team!

At High Camp!

The team decided to move up to High Camp today, as everyone was feeling strong and healthy back at Camp 2. The weather is also looking like it might change in the next day or two, so they factored that into their decision making. They are hoping to awaken early in the morning to clear skies and make a summit bid.

The trip up from Camp 2 follows a vague sort of ridge line for a bit and then crosses over a rock-covered, dead glacier. It then traverses and climbs up to the north ridge and the site of our High Camp at White Rocks. Just below White Rocks the team climbed into a shallow basin flanked with bizarre purplish colored rock towers. This is a beautiful and surreal landscape that I can only compare to the set of a 1970's Star Trek episode. The towers appear as if poured of blobs of violet play-dough by some enormous child. It's a pretty neat place...

White rocks is a flat expanse on the north ridge of the mountain that is more or less flanked by white versions of the same looking rock towers. This is a challenging place to camp, as it is located just shy of 20,000 feet above the nearby Pacific Ocean (on a clear day, you can see the Pacific from camp!). The wind up here can be brutal and more than one tent has been shredded in the maelstroms that scream up and over the ridge. We spend a lot of time fortifying our tent sites with tall and thick walls made of rocks to help deflect the wind.

Summit day will require a pre-dawn start, and often affords the climbers a magnificent view of the pyramidal shadow of the mountain stretching off to the west. Hopefully, they will awaken to see enough stars in the sky to warrant an attempt. We'll keep you posted!

Camp 2

Zach called from Camp 2 this afternoon. They cruised on up with everyone moving really strong and feeling great again. They had another beautiful sunny, calm day today and plan to make a carry to Camp 3 already tomorrow. They are only a few days before they'll be in a position to try for the summit! Hopefully the good weather holds out for a bit longer.

Camp 1 on Saturday

The team moved up to Camp 1 on Saturday. It was yet another beautiful day, blue skies and light winds. Everyone is feeling great, and moving strong! They settled in to camp by mid-day and had time for a nap before dinner.

Zach said that many climbers moved out of Camp 1 yesterday so it was relatively quiet and peaceful around there.

They've finally moved above the comforts of tables, chairs, and cooks. Everyone was quite excited to get out of base camp after 4 nights there, and happy to be moving up the mountain.

A great day up to Camp 1

The team carried loads of food, fuel, and a bit of equipment up to Camp 1 today. This was their first trip above base camp, and everyone did great. They made it up to Camp 1 in about 3 hours, and were back to base camp by early afternoon.

The route climbs up and into a fairly narrow valley, which opens up as they get higher. Highlights of the day include climbing up through a steep field of "penitentes," bizarre snow pinnacles which are formed by the dry air and high winds. They can be four meters tall at times!

They'll spend one more day at base camp tomorrow, and then begin moving on up the mountain. This second acclimatization day makes a big difference in how the climbers will feel when they begin climbing into the thin air of this giant mountain. On Aconcagua, it is all too easy to rush up to the upper camps, feeling good and then fall ill with altitude sickness, due to too rapid an ascent. We plan on taking some extra days along the route in order to give our team the best chance possible at feeling good on summit day.

Rest Day at BC

Zach just called and the crew is enjoying their time at Base Camp. They all walked over to see "El Medico," the doctor hired by the Argentine Park Service to evaluate climbers as they pass through BC. Everyone checked out fine, and they are all eager to head uphill tomorrow.

We plan plenty of time into our schedule so that our climbers can acclimatize as best as possible. Today was more of an acclimatization day than a rest day, and they will take another such day after making a carry to Camp 1 tomorrow.

Plaza Argentina, Base Camp

They rolled into base camp at almost 14,000 ft this afternoon around lunchtime. The crew is moving great and everyone is feeling good! The mules are done carrying loads for them now, and the crew will have to put a bit more on their back above base camp. They will have porter assistance, so the loads are certainly reasonable.

Base camp is quite comfortable, as they can hide from the wind in large, Weatherport-type tents. They are eating meals prepared by our friends at Grajales Expeditions, and the staff at BC is very friendly and helpful. Life is pretty good for the next few days!

Tomorrow will be a day of rest and acclimatization before moving any higher up the mountain. As they just climbed gained over 1000 meters of elevation, the additional day will really help.

Casa de Piedra

Zach just called in from Camp 2 on the approach hike "Casa de Piedra". They had a nice day today hiking up the Vacas Valley under a beautiful sunny sky and light winds. They arrived in camp, set up their tents, and hid from the afternoon sun, which can be a bit scorching after a being out all day.

They were just starting to make dinner at around 6pm Argentina time. For these first couple of nights the mule drivers or Arrieros are cooking up an Asado, steaks and veggies in the traditional style over the fire. It is pretty easy living for the crew so far, as they enjoy good meals and a bottle (or box) of wine with dinner.

As they approached camp today they finally got their first good look at Aconcagua! It looks like a big mountain looming over 11,000 ft above them still.

Day 1 on the trail

Zach called in via Sat Phone tonight from their first camp at Pampa de Lenas. They met on Friday in Mendoza, and drove up to the small ski lodge at Penitentes yesterday. At Penitentes they sorted and packed all of their gear and food into loads to be carried to base camp by the friendly local mules. They are hiking on the approach to basecamp with just a small daypack for the first 3 days of the trip, it's a nice warm-up for the climb ahead.

They were just about to start into dinner when Zach called, and they have some meat on the fire, and a box of wine so they should have a lovely night.

Everyone is doing great, and they made great time hiking in today. We'll plan to update daily after the evening phone call.

Mountain Trip Aconcagua Expedition Dec 4, 2009

Mountain Trip guide Zach Shlosar is in Mendoza already, enjoying summer in Argentina and packing food and gear for our first Aconcagua trip of the season. The rest of the team will be arriving in the next couple of days. Mendoza is a lovely city, surrounded by some of the finest wineries on the planet. It's a great place to meet and prepare for an expedition to the highest mountain in South America.

The climbers:
1. Vivian Rigney
2. Allan Frankl
3. Phil McDonald
4. Denis Autier

We would like to thank all of the climbers for once again entrusting us with helping them find adventure in another amazing place. All of the team members have climbed with us in the past on Denali and elsewhere. Thanks guys!