Greetings from hot and sunny Mendoza, Argentina! Our last Aconcagua team of the climbing season is scheduled to meet tomorrow morning to finalize our preparations for an ascent of the highest peak in South America. The expedition will take us at least two weeks and we will approach the mountain via a river valley that flows from the east side of the peak. We will climb up the mountain and, after (hopefully!) reaching the top, we will descend down the west side and hike out a different.valley to also complete a traverse of Aconcagua.
At 22,841′, Aconcagua is a serous undertaking that requires detailed preparation. Our team has spent a lot of time preparing their equipment and training for this attempt, and we’re ready to start our approach. At present, all but one of our climbers are in the tranquil and beautiful city of Mendoza, center of production for Argentina’s world famous wines.
Let’s meet our team!
Mike Browne is joining us from California
Wayne Miller is en route from North Carolina
Barry Kennedy lives in Colorado
Fermin Avila is a guide from Bolson, Argentina
Todd Rutledge is a guide, living in Colorado
Tomorrow is the official start date of our climb, and we will assemble the team, review everyone’s equipment and discuss what we will be doing in the next few days in detail. On Tuesday, we will pick up our permits from the Provincial Park office in Mendoza and make the two hour drive to a small ski resort called Penitentes, located close to our trailhead at the mouth of the Vacas River.
We will hike up the Vacas and it’s tributary, the Relinchos Valley for three days in order to reach our base camp. After spending some time to acclimatize, we will launch upwards, and hopefully attempt the summit on or about the 26th of January. We invite you to follow us via this series of dispatches and hope you enjoy the audio posts we will call in from the mountain.