The Aconcagua climbers are settled into Camp Cólera at 19,500 ft tonight! This is high camp for the team and they’re trying to get some rest before getting up early tomorrow and heading for the summit of Aconcagua.  John called in the dispatch this evening from camp as they watched the sun go down over Chile to the west. They are enjoying a somewhat rare evening without wind and are hoping for more of the same through tomorrow for their summit attempt. It looks like it will be a great day and although they are all feeling the effects of the high altitude, they’re doing well and have a great shot of getting to the summit.  Tomorrow morning they’ll get up around 3am, slowly crawl out of their sleeping bags and get all of their layers on.  After fueling up on some simple breakfast (oatmeal) and hot drinks, they’ll fill up their water bottles and thermoses for the last big push to the top.  The summit is still about 3,300 ft above them, so tomorrow is going to be the hardest day of the climb, but they’re set up to succeed.  After their summit attempt tomorrow, they’ll return to camp and spend one more night up high before heading down to basecamp on the opposite side of the mountain to complete the traverse of Aconcagua.

We’re wishing them all a good night sleep and a strong day of climbing tomorrow!

Here’s John with the evening dispatch from Camp Cólera Aconcagua High Camp.

Expedition Dispatch from Aconcagua High Camp