Adventures: January 2010

I returned to Aconcagua again this year to give it another shot. We had planned to do the false polish traverse but 5 min before we left we had to change our plans to the normal route due to mule issues. This ended up being a fun route. We got to see a new part of the mountain and were able to move alot faster on this side of the moutain.

We worked our way to base camp over 2 days and then rested for a day. We carried our first load of supplies to camp two bypassing camp one since we felt good and camp one is very expossed to wind. We went back to base camp and rested for another day. We then packed up our tent and headed to camp two. We had got a weather report that we had one shot at the summit before the winds got to high so we had to move fast. We spent one night at camp two before moving up higher to camp 3. We got to camp 3 and felt good so decided to go for the summit the next day.

We started out for the summit and before we left camp people were already coming back saying it was to windy. We decided to keep on going to see if the wind would slow down later in the morning like it had done the past few days. It didnt it just got worse. We were getting reports from climbers that the wind was worse ahead and people were getting frostbite and one woman got blown down the canaleta (the long scree slope to the summit). We had every scrap of clothing on and were having trouble staying warm even while moving. We decided it was best to turn around and not risk frostbite.

The morning we had left for the trip we were eating breakfast at our hostel and they carried one guy in that had frostbiten all his fingers and toes (we heard later the he got some of them chopped off). This stuck in my head and the mountain wasnt worth loosing some toes or fingers to. We had thought about trying another day but the weather reports showed even higher winds for the next 5 days and the rangers were advising people to go down. We decided it wasnt worth waiting around since by that point we would of been out of food anyways. We headed back to base camp and the following day walked out.

It was frustrating not getting to the top again but at the same time it wasnt worth risking getting hurt. I can always return some other time but for now I think I will try and climb somthing different.

Park Entrance

South Face

This is the hotel at base camp. A soda cost $4 and a bunk in the dorm was $30. You could also use the internet and phone for a fee.

View from the tent.

Base camp in the foreground and Camp two was over that ridge.

Me at camp two after a carry.

This is what I woke up to one morning. This helicopter was hovering over our tent and about to pick up a 55 gallon drum of human waste. Im really glad he didnt dump it on us.