Kevin Johnson called in today from Chopper Camp, located at 18,000′ on the east flank of Aconcagua. The team carried loads up to their high camp today, a flat expanse on the north ridge of the mountain that is often known as Campo Cholera, a testament to the need to be diligent about sourcing snow…
The team moved up to Camp 2 today and they are settled in and enjoying another great meal tonight. Our lead Aconcagua guide, Fermin Avila, is a great guide and an amazing mountain cook, so the team enjoys eating well up there. Camp 2 is on a gentle ridge at 18,000 ft and the views…
Ron called in the evening dispatch from our Dec 19 Aconcagua team today. Their task for the day was to climb up to Camp 2 at around 18,000ft to acclimatize and drop off some gear before returning back down to Camp 1 for another night. They had a great day, everyone moved really well and…
The team moved up to Camp 1 at 16,300ft today, leaving the comforts of basecamp behind as they move up the hill. They did great today and the winds did not have the intensity of their Christmas Day carry to Camp 1. They’ll plan to make an acclimatization climb up to Camp 2 tomorrow, and…
The team spent Christmas day climbing up to Camp 1 at over 16,000 ft to cache a bit of gear and begin acclimatizing to higher altitude. They met with their first really strong winds as they approached Camp 1, but were able to make it up there and drop off a load of gear to…
The team is enjoying a Christmas Eve rest day in their comfy dining tent at the Plaza Argentina basecamp tonight. These rest days are all about acclimatizing and recovering before moving higher on the mountain, so this was well timed to enjoy a Christmas Eve rest day in the comforts of base camp. Everyone sounds…
John Schaffer called in from the Plaza Argentina Base Camp! The team hiked about seven miles and 3000′ of elevation up the steep-sided Relinchos Valley today, making it the toughest day on the trail thus far. Everyone is doing great and they are excited to enjoy the comforts of Base Camp for a few days.…
Dave Montesanti called in to give us an update on the Donner Party, err… on Mountain Trip’s December 2019 Aconcagua Expedition. It’s good to keep a sense of humor whilst on an expedition, and, judging on today’s dispatch – I reckon the team has a surplus of humor! They awoke fairly early today and hiked…
The team is on the move! Yesterday, they drove from Mendoza up into the rugged, arid mountains just shy of the border with Chile. They stopped for lunch in a town called Ushpallata, which gained some fame years ago as the base for the filming of the Brad Pitt film, Seven Years In Tibet. After…
DECEMBER 19th ACONCAGUA TEAM Truly the “Roof of the Americas,” Cerro Aconcagua, at 22,841 ft. (6,962 meters) is not only the highest mountain in South America, but also the highest peak outside of Asia. The December 19 group met a couple of days back in the small, lively city of Mendoza, Argentina, capital of the…