Trip Reports
A breathless Sam Mangum called in from the top of the highest peak in South America! At just shy of 23,000 feet, there is very little oxygen in each breath, and every bit of movement feels tough. Sam, Kelly, Chad and our lead guide Fermin Avila all reached the summit together, after almost 12 hours…
Kelly Puzak called in from High Camp! The team packed up their tents and hiked about 2,000 feet up to a spot on the north ridge of Aconcagua, where they have established their high camp for the expedition. They climbed up a steep pitch above their previous camp and then worked their way up gentler…
Sam Mangum called in after the team took a rest day at Camp 2, letting their bodies further acclimatize to the thin air of the upper reaches of Aconcagua. At 18,000′, there is one half of the oxygen in any given volume of air as there is as sea level. Our bodies need oxygen to…
Fischer Hazen called in on behalf of the team. They took a rest day today, after pushing up to 20,000′ yesterday. Fischer made a quick lap back up to High Camp today, to help ferry some more food and supplies up high for their upcoming summit bid. A couple team members have had the usual…
Bob Vladem called in after the team pushed up to 20,000′ on the north ridge of Aconcagua. They were fortunate to have good weather and moved up under clear skies with light winds. The route up from Camp 2 first climbed up a steep hill immediately above camp. This led them to a long section…
Expedition dispatch from Mountain Trip Aconcagua team. January 2017
Fischer Hazen called in from Camp 1 at 16,400′ today, after the team carried a load of supplies up to the site of their next camp at 18,000′. They have been graced with some amazingly nice weather and Fischer commented that it is akin to being at the beach up camp today! Let’s keep…
Kelly called in from 16,400′ today, as the team settles in to life at high altitude. They packed up their tents, supplies and equipment this morning, shouldered their packs and climbed 3000′ above Base Camp. The route fist climbed up a rocky moraine (the terminus of an old glacier) before entering into a fairly…
Amazing weather and smiles abound here at Plaza Argentina base camp! We had an amazing hike in to this [point, with blue skies every day. In fact this is some of the warmest and nicest conditions many of the porters and guides have seen in a long time. We carried up to Camp 1 two…
The Aconcagua team had a day off today to recover and acclimatize before heading up to Camp 1 tomorrow. Base camp is pretty comfortable, with dining tents and a cook taking care of all of their meals. They had a nice relaxing day playing cards and eating food. These days are an important opportunity to…