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Interested in Aconcagua - Dec/Jan

AdventureNurse

29-Sep-2011
6:02:15 PM

Hi there, I am interested in climbing Aconcagua but my usual climbing partner is unable to make the trip this year so I am in search of another person who would like to attempt this peak. I am trying to gain high altitude experience and it would be nice to knock off one of the 7 summits at the same time! I have done a lot of research on this mountain and climb and am not interested in hiring a guide or paying full fee to a guiding company. I would love to find someone that I got along with really well, who has a sense of adventure and would like to climb Aconcagua on a reasonable budget. I am in Nepal trekking the month of November and am flexible and free to climb Aconcagua anytime in December or January. Wow, I feel like I am filling something out for a dating website here ;-). Nuff said here, if you are interested in getting a dialogue started, send me a txt or email or give me a call. Cheers! Jimmy 0432 366 646 AdventureNurse@gmail.com

croxbu01

1-Oct-2011
1:40:11 PM

I have never been mountaineering but having said that I lead climb grade 20 have golden dry ropes and a lot of snow camping gear and have climbed mt Feathertop in the winter. I know your not up for dragging a rookie but i just thought i'd let you know i'm keen as. I have been climbing for about 3 years now and usually look for cliffs no one has climbed before usually with a 2 day work to find the cliff.

Beryllium

3-Oct-2011
10:47:04 PM

Don't despair, the normal route on Aconcagua isn't a technical climb so what grade you climb at gym is irrelevant unless you decide to do a technical route. I managed to get to the 6200m mark. I was quite ill actually and the rest of the group descended due to bad weather.

Make sure you're super comfortable walking in plastics and crampons. The year I went, we left our walking axes at base camp as it wasn't very icy towards the summit. Just had our walking poles.

I'd love to have another crack at it at some stage though. Good luck!

PS. Treat yourself to the steaks back at Mendoza when you get off the mountain. That was all I was thinking of when I was walking back through the Horcones Valley, feeling a bit defeated.

pecheur

4-Oct-2011
7:26:19 AM

Beryllium is right, Aconcagua is a trekking peak, no technical climbing required, highly unlikely you'll need anything more than a pair of straight axes if it's icy.

If I was picking partners I'd be more interested in their overall fitness and any experience at altitude than any rock climbing ability. There's plenty of unfit people who with good technique can climb 20 that I couldn't take near a real mountain.

AdventureNurse

4-Oct-2011
8:10:40 AM

Would you be interested in going again in Dec/Jan to give it another shot? I would like to chat with you a bit about your last trip there if you have some time as well. I would like to go and do it without paying a guide company and just hire a mule company to get to and have some base camp facilities. Did you go with a guiding company? How would you do it if you went back again? Cheers! Jimmy 0432 366 646 AdventureNurse@gmail.com

Beryllium

4-Oct-2011
10:08:12 PM

I went with a local company, Fernando Grajales. Going with them really alleviated all the stress of trying to work out the logistics. Base camp is well facilitated with internet, porters and medical facilities. Hot showers are available for around $10US. With regards to kitchen facilities, each company has their own kitchen staff and mess tent set up for their clients. As an independent climber, I’m sure you would be able to arrange to use their facilities.

Having a good level of fitness certainly helps but does not necessarily prevent altitude sickness.

I’d like to give it another shot but definitely not this year though. If I were to do it again, I’d bring a water filtration system. At the higher camps you need to melt snow for water which can be a little dirty due to the mountain being quite dusty. This can be off putting when you have to drink at least 4 litres of water a day to combat altitude sickness and dehydration.

Also, next time I would try to stay somewhere comfortable at altitude in a city like La Paz or Cusco for a couple of weeks or even climb Cotopaxi to acclimatise before attempting Aconcagua.

If you haven’t had any high altitude experience, Kilimanjaro is a good mountain to start off with. Aconcagua is in a different league to Kilimanjaro.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

Damien Gildea

4-Oct-2011
10:30:39 PM

Jimmy,

I've done it a couple of times. I recently posted some relevant info in this thread:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=476547

Email me if you want more details.

D

One Day Hero

4-Oct-2011
11:30:05 PM

I don't really understand this brand of summit bagging. Why would you want to walk up a whacking great iced-up dirt slope whilst nursing a headache? If I were to lower myself to pissing around on trekking peaks, volcanos would be the go. At least a perfectly symetrical snow covered cone has some asthetic appeal.

vwills

5-Oct-2011
1:21:35 AM

To make what is a hellish walk (up the ruta normal) more interesting I would suggest

a) acclimatise elsewhere. We went to Cordon del Plata, south of Mendoza, for 8 days where you can trek up mountains, culminating in a 6000m peak and sleeping at 5000m. Much prettier in a way. This means you can spend less time on Aconcagua but be safe. Aconcagua is pretty arid and full of seven summiteers and underequipped, underprepared trekkers. It is good experience for altitude and expedition planning. Aesthetically I wouldnt repeat it.

b) Logistics are easy. Go to Mendoza. Use a company to facilitate transport, base camp and mules. We used CampoBase but that was in 2005. They did stuff up our expedition food by sending it ahead to the wrong base camp, but we got it back minus the milo which had been pierced by an icetool. Mendoza is a cool place with great food, and if you are into it,wine.

c)Avoid the Ruta normal and come up the other valley, doing the "False Polish" or even better actually climb the Polish glacier if you have the skills so you feel like you have been on a mountain. Walk out the "normal way" thus doing a traverse.

d) Take warm boots and clothes. It still is a 7000m peak and can behave like one.

e) Fitness doesnt help you acclimatise. But it does help ferry loads up and down, and summit day can be a long one

StuckNut

5-Oct-2011
8:59:10 AM

I see Aconcagua recommended a lot as a test to see how you deal with altitude before committing to something more challenging/technical.

AdventureNurse

5-Oct-2011
11:42:48 AM

Thanks Damo for the link to the blog, really helpful and I appreciate it.

There are 11 messages in this topic.