Trip Reports

Aconcagua - 10 Jan to 3 Feb '08

Written by Leader Chris Groves, February 2008

With the majority of the team (Ian, Phil, Ken, Julie, Pip, Pete and Gwenda) assembled at Gatwick (Bill and Mark were joining us in Argentina), my first challenge was to get all our baggage (inc 16 tents) through check-in with the minimum hassle and charges. Despite being over by 53kg (or 8 tents) negotiations eventually were settled with me paying for 24kg. Our connecting flight left for Madrid on time and we were off. Despite a short delay leaving Spain we arrived slightly weary, early the following morning in Buenos Aires.

After a bit too long at the baggage carousel it became obvious that some (my!) bags had not arrived. Then Christina, our agent, arrived in the baggage hall and helped me sort out the paperwork with the airline. Sadly we missed breakfast but did manage to catch the domestic flight to Mendoza with minutes to spare only to find another bag missing on arrival. Having met Nils our guide, more missing baggage paperwork was completed then thankfully we were shortly in the haven of the hotel in hot sunshine.

The following day saw a trip into town to collect permits, drink coffee, buy BIG mitts / gloves and tuck into our first steaks of the trip. After a kit sort everyone was ready to go apart from me who still had no kit. We finally got away the next day for the journey to our overnight before setting off on foot as per the itinerary the following morning.

After a few dusty days, all as planned, we arrived in Plaza de Mulas, basecamp and a welcome rest day. Our acclimatisation ascent of Bonete Peak (C5,000m) took about 4 hours with everyone making it to enjoy fantastic views over to our main objective to the east and Chile to the west. After a day enjoying the luxuries of showers, email and calls home, we were ready for the ascent to camp 1 (5,000m) and our first night on the mountain. On arrival at C1 we were welcomed with the fantastic surprise that the porters had put our tents up £ they needed too, there were already 20+ tents there!

The following morning, carrying food for our summit attempt proper we climbed up to camp 2 (5,559m) to enjoy views of the route to summit before descending via C1 all the way down to BC and another rest day preparing for the tough days ahead. Sadly, having suffered with GI problem and having been to C2, Ian decided he wasn£t acclimatised sufficiently to attempt the summit and returned to Mendoza.

On arriving at C1 for the second time we were met by second guide Nacho, who had remained in camp to look after the tents, with a fully decorated cake! Nils was asked to cut the cake in celebration of his first daughter Lucia, born the previous night. After spending the night the ascent to C2 took a similar time as before even with our larger packs. Over dinner I broke the news the following £rest day£ would be spent acclimatising by not only going up to camp 3 (5,933m) but to carry on to £white rocks£ c6,000m, thankfully, everyone made it £ not only good training but also allowed everyone to see the part of the route that would be completed in the dark on summit day. Even with a very clear morning the following day, the ascent back up to C3 was hard work and not helped by snow as we put the tents up on arrival. The rest of the day was spent hiding in the tents with guides providing a steady supply of hot water and snacks.

As planned Nils and I met at 0430 to decide whether the following day was to be our summit attempt. The wind had started gusting - not ideal, but skies were perfectly clear and it wasn£t cold. We delayed our decision but in the end the clear skies plus everyone£s high motivation meant we had a good chance so we£d £have a look£. Pete and Ken felt it wasn£t their time and elected to stay in camp but everyone else left at 0600. Almost straight away we were out of the wind and progressed slowly upwards. By £brown rocks£ things were pretty cold, -18oC, but dawn was almost upon us. The cold climb to Independencia (6,377m) had the group spread out. Pip having found the morning hard and with cold toes decided she£d had enough and turned back (6,250m) with guide Nacho. At the rest at Independencia (halfway to top) Gwenda and Julie also opted to head back having gone higher than before, leaving with 3rd guide Patchu.

After putting on crampons the rest of the team continued. The £traverse£ turned out to be a long, surprisingly steep in places climb in the cold shadow of the summit. Reaching the base of the Canelata the sunshine was a very welcome break and a place to leave bags before continuing up the steep scree / boulders above. With the route to the top clearly visible the final rising traverse seemed to take such a long time to complete. Finally, it was a great pleasure to ask Bill, on his 3rd attempt, to lead the way up to the summit and the metal cross shown in all the pictures, nearly 9 hours after setting off.

Bill, Nils and myself enjoyed the views and perfect conditions (virtually no wind and only just below 0oC) observing Phil, Mark and Patchu (who£d caught us up after descending to C3) continue their progress to join us on the summit.

After a long descent, in ever increasing temperatures and thickening air we made it back to Mendoza to be reunited with Ian who I prompted to guide having spent a week getting to know the place. With a couple of days in hand we sampled the fantastic food and wine the region has to offer, before heading to overnight in Buenos Aires then home £ arriving on time, with all baggage and no charges.

A fantastic trip with a great group of people; made such a success by excellent local staff, helped by wonderful weather, food and wine.

Chris Groves, Expedition Leader
06 February 2008

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