UKH

Hi.

Just wondering if anyone here has been up Aconcagua mountain in Argentina in recent times?

I am mainly wanting to ask firstly if there is a recommended "guiding company" (and related to that if it is better to book a trip with an international company in advance) or better to get there and then ask around?

Secondly, how feasible is it to rent most of the gear I will need close by? Like is there a decent and knowledgeable ski-mountaineering shop in Mendoza (or close by)?

As I will be travelling around after a hopefully successful summit I really do not want to be lugging around a whole load of mountaineering gear (which I do not have in advance) during what will still be Argentinian late summer time (I am planning a late January-early Feb ascent - all going well).

Thanks. And if this is not a good place to post about foreign (and particularly non technical climbing trips (I am a hiker rather than a climber), then please let me know a good forum where I might get a better response (I was disappointed to see the Thorn Tree forums closed down during recent years) as I got some good info there about a Spanish mountain trip I did some years back. 

It's 10 years since I was there last but I've been to both these:

https://elrefugioaconcagua.com/ - popular in the centre of town near the plaza, sold white gas in bottles

http://orviz.com/ - the biggest but a further walk from the centre of town, lots of boots for hire

I summited on new years day from camp 2 (skipped camp 3) nearly 4 years ago.  We used a logistics company but were unguided.

To be honest, you don't need an actual guide.  You really cannot get lost and its a well travelled path, both for the climbs/camps and the practice peaks like Bonete.  It's pretty crowded to be honest... didn't like that part.  Plenty of solo folk were unguided too; easy enough to band together if wanted.  One solo woman joined our trio for summit day.

However, the logistics company is invaluable for the kit carry to base camp and use of toilets and fresh water at the base and approach camps.  No other use for them in my opinion, unless you fancy spending a lot of money on getting meals cooked for you (you can buy when there though).

We used Grajales and they were superb.  Booked in advance as we had recommendations from many people.  I'd highly recommend them.  I can't comment on kit hire as had all my own gear, but I think Grajales do some.  Worth asking, or use the recommendations above from Damo.

I've actually just finished writing my 1st (belated) instalment of my 3 part Aconcagua article.  It includes some equipment and training, and goes up until base camp chronologically.  Should be up on my website in a few days hopefully.  Might be of interest to you?

... a good forum where I might get a better response (I was disappointed to see the Thorn Tree forums closed down during recent years) as I got some good info there about a Spanish mountain trip I did some years back. 

Try: https://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/south-america.html - note there is a separate forum there for looking for trip partners.

Does anyone know if one could just rock up a week early in Mendoza and speak in person to these logistic companies and guides etc.? They must have offices somewhere, right?

When I searched  via internet I found some companies offering the guides etc. for several thousand pounds - but I got the feeling they were just sales reps as they could not answer any of my questions about equipment etc.  It all felt a bit Kafkaesque.

Surely even if I did go with a guide it would be more economical to speak to and pay them directly as the "middle person" is obviously taking a big cut of the fee and not really doing anything for it apart from taking a booking.

Also I would only feel confident in actually speaking to a professional guide/mountaineer as my plan is to travel light as it is boiling hot summer over there (below mountain level) so I do not want to be lugging around a load of winter stuff that I will not be using again for the rest of my trip.

I will need to hire most of the other stuff and am aware that it is going to be many degrees below 0c (even in good weather) so need to speak with someone that knows exactly what I will need (as in everything, as there is normally always something that is forgotten).

I don't know to be honest... never enquired about guiding so only just booked the mules.  As such, we didn't have technical questions.  If you want mules, it may be good to book in advance because they probably have limits and need to plan the numbers, especially around peak season.  Just a hunch though.  Did you call Grajales?

If you just want advice from a guide, pretty sure most questions could be answered here by us or the various (numerous) online sources.  I really don't think physical guiding is needed on that mountain unless you're looking for an all inclusive type package that includes guiding but also accommodation and food etc.  Would get expensive quickly though.

On the lugging around big kit... bear in mind that you can do 90% of it in spring hiking gear IF the weather is good.  All the down equipment and boots is really only needed for summit day and the night time start.  Just the nature of it.  I did 5k peaks there in trainers,  but on summit day my feet got cold even with double boots due to the high wind and night time temps.  Travel too light and you will be at the whims of the weather.

You could just go see them in Mendoza. As I said it's over a decade since I was there but:

https://grajales.net/ was one of the main providers and I found their office staff very helpful when we were organising an independent climb using their mules/BC. 

https://inkaexpediciones.com/ were the other big obvious local company, with fancier tents etc.

Hi. Unfortunately I cannot register on the summit post forum as it keeps saying I am a "spam account".

Perhaps that might be part of the reason there are not so many posts there?

I swear bots are nowhere near passing the Turing Test, lol.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but something I've idly wondered before is how feasible it is to do without mules/logistics company etc? I've found the odd account of people doing it. I guess it just comes down to the standard question of how much food you can carry dictating the timescales for everything?

Hi. I know, my travel light thing was more for after the mountain trip when it will still be the back end of summer.

I do not want to be lugging around a big bag full of things I will not be using again on the trip: snow boots, down jacket, sleeping bag, tent etc. in "shorts weather". So I need to know if I can essentially hire everything (for the mountain hike) apart from base layers and socks - pretty much.

Did you make a clothing and equipment list?

How did you get over the wetness of underclothes? I did a long hike in the cold the other day and my base layer and fleece were soaking (in sweat, as it was dry and cold weatherwise)- which is okay when you have a place to shower and change into dry clothes . . but that is of course not going to be possible on a 15-20 day hike and with the cold weather (especially with wind included) I could literally freeze and doubt they will dry out overnight.

One of the issues now on Aconcagua is that you cannot guarantee there will be snow for water, even at the top camp (though lots of snow there at the moment!). So you’d potentially need to lug up litres of water in addition to all your other stuff.

At a minimum you need permits, you need to get from Mendoza to the park gate and you want to get all your gear into BC with at least two nights acclimatising at Confluencia. Note there are Park Rangers and compulsory medical checks at both Confluencia and BC.

Lots of companies offer basic services. Services are expensive compared to a lot of places though. If you want to do things v cheap and/or self supported there are probably better places to go. 

The rules state you need to have arranged toilet facilities at BC, so you at least need an arrangement with a company for that. As Tom said above, two nights at Confluencia is a good idea (unless you've pre-acclimatised elsewhere) so you need tent/food with you or arranged for that.

Some people do carry all their gear in and out but it's rare now. I carried all my gear out the first time I did it and it was really tough. It's quite a long way (c.35km?), made easier by a good track etc, but still a bloody long way with a big pack. And hot.

If you use mules to get in, they go in in a few hours. You do it over two days, so need to either arrange a tent/food at Confluencia, or carry just overnight food/tent/bag for there, with the rest of your gear ahead of you on mules dumped at your company's BC area.

I saw one person who did.  Think he was German.  Impressive feat for the food to carry... he went super lightweight and ended up buddying up to share a tent on the higher camps with another solo guy (who used mules) because of the winds being a bit much for his tent.  So, difficult but doable for sure.  Just not sure I'd want to try 😅

Yeah, for sure I made a list... I make one for every expedition!  Helpful for packing as well as planning.  Between the three of us we had a whole spreadsheet for solo equipment, group equipment, daily planning, food planning and other stuff.  I continue along the same vein for other expeditions as it works well.

For a trip like that you really shouldn't be having to worry about damp clothes.  Firstly, it's not a high energy trip (like ski touring for example).  If you're sweating lots, you're either going too hard (fitness an issue?) or layered too warm.  Usually it's the latter.  You should always be a little cold to prevent excess sweating (coming from a sweaty person here).  Secondly, there is usually enough sun and wind to dry damp clothes if really needed.

Which route did you actually do?

I see there are a few. Not sure why one would chose one over the other.

Surely the "easiest" one makes the most sense. Especially considering this mountain has a poor summit success rate - I have read that it is between 18-30% only

I remember a number of years ago I knew someone that was the only person to summit out of a group of 6. Supposedly the guides said that it was the worst weather in over 2 decades that particular December.(unfortunately I do not have contact with him any more -or I would have been picking his brains)

What kind of medical checks are they doing? Covid? :o 

I just saw on a video posted from this year (10:30 in) youtube.com/watch?v=XbFM8qrllC0& that they were doing covid nasal swabs and if someone in the group (including the guides) tested positive then the whole group would have to go down. WTF? Jesus! I would not even entertain the thought of that happening. 

Route is just preference... same as any mountain.  I wish I'd done the Polish glacier in retrospect.  Poor summit rate is partly weather, but I suspect mostly people going under prepared, training wise.

Checks are blood oxygen mostly.  Can't recall if they did more than that but think there were some questions and possibly blood pressure.  If they ask to do a rectal exam, you've wandered into the wrong tent...

Btw, if you're interested for your prep, the first part of my Aconcagua article is now on my website.

https://the-gentleman-explorer.com/2021/01/26/aconcagua/

Why do you wish you had done the Polish Glacier route?

From what I gather one (or perhaps 2) of the routes could potentially be made a bit easier by the fact that Mules can go further up if one wanted to pay to carry some more of their load.

How long did you take from start to summit? When looking through the various options I have even seen trips that say 18-20 days? Uurrgghhhh! What??? 20 days??? 

I have to say that for me spending too long in cold windy tent and sleepless conditions would probably counteract the acclimatisation aspect of the whole thing as I would be shattered.

Regarding your blog. How much of an exaggeration is your claim about "being unfit"?

One of my concerns is that I am not as fit as I was when I first had this planned (January 2020) and I am around 4 weeks out from my planned start date. I keep reading about people spending months hiking with 20kg packs etc (including at night time) and I am like, WTF? 

My training has actually hit a stumbling block due to the result of training - I did a tough 13 hour hike over the Christmas period (though not with a 20kg pack), but I got severe underfoot blisters (might make a separate thread about that), meaning I have been unable to cardio train for 8 days.  

Cannot wait another year though. 

I'd aim to allow around 18 days, including coming back... much shorter and you'd either not acclimatise, or you'd likely not have a weather window big enough.  By all means try for less, and many do, but then you have to expect that your chances of summiting drop significantly.

I was seriously unfit 2 months before.  But, as you read in my article, my training was intense and all consuming.  It was just barely enough really.

I assume you've not wasted the last 8 days though?  Plenty of strength training to do.  Bear in mind that if you're not prepared enough (and willing to commit the time to training and the actual trip), there is no point risking health and wallet to try.  Only you can make that call... but 7km altitude is tough.  Up to 6500m is ok, but the last 500m separates the men from the boys, so to speak.  Ask yourself... are you really ready for this?

Well, I am not getting any younger, and like I said, I cannot wait for another year to go by (which unfortunately with "summit windows" would have to happen, as autumn and winter will soon roll around making it a no no). Also there are other things that can happen that you cannot do anything about that can impact any trips (case in point, my planned training trip - Elbrus summer 2022 - was obviously all cancelled too because of what is going on in that part of the world). Also more trivial things like having the time off due to family, work, study, illnesses, injuries, future carbon allowances etc. etc. I guess the time is always NOW.

So current fitness will have to do. I am not as prepared as I would have liked. I did run a 10km in just under 50 minutes 2 days before my hike, so I do have some base level fitness. I am trying not to get too obsessed with that, especially as I do not even know if I will be able to hack the altitude yet (never mind the freezing cold weather). The highest I have ever been is only just under 3500m (only about half the height of Aconcagua).

Regardless I keep reading the "super marathon runner failed to summit yet the chubby chain smoker cruised up there" anecdote every single time I search for this subject. It is almost like that has become some kind of urban myth, lol.

As I said, I have not been lugging around 20kg packs for months on end but I am hoping that with my reasonable level of fitness I will be okay to attempt it.

During the last few days I went to the gym and used machines that meant I did not have to do any foot weight bearing. Low weights high reps like 3 sets of 30-50 reps (to kind of make it a little bit more cardio based as well as being more about muscle endurance). It is actually quite brutal, lol. You cannot have an ego, as on the last sets for some exercises I basically had to pull the pin out, haha.

By the way, regarding your aconcagua blog. I saw that part 1 was posted almost 2 years ago now. I take it there is not going to ever be a part 2?

Well good luck!  You can only do your best, but you still have a month in which you can totally dedicate yourself.  One bit of advice while on the mountain... get as high as you can, as early as your body allows.  You want your last acclimatisation climb to be up to 6500m ideally.  And Independencia is a much nicer camp 3 for the solo traveller than the aptly named and totally manky camp Cholera.

Part 1 was only published a week ago.  2nd part should come in a couple of weeks.

Oh, the date on your Aconcagua part 1 blog is posted as "26th January 2021".

Anyway, I see you mentioned Diamox (Acetazolamide). This is something I have come across before when researching altitude sickness etc.

Did you use any? And/or do you know anyone that has?