Trip Reports

Aconcagua - 9 to 31 Jan '16

Storm on Aconcagua
Trip Report

Written by Leader Alex Langdon, February 2016

Aconcagua January 2016 or ëGone with the WindÖÖí

Our team consisted of: Alex, Chris, Craig, Daniel, Frank, Grainne, John, Kevin, ëBigí Mark , ëLittleí Mark, Nigel and myself. Local Guides: Uli, Hermon and Pavlo. Having threatened to write this report on my behalf, my team (thankfully) found themselves otherwise occupied in Mendoza with wine tours and shopping. It therefore falls to me to try and give a sense of our expedition which was filled with laughter, pranks and camaraderie and was successful in every wayÖÖexcept for the one small issue of not actually reaching the summit!

Our team converged on Mendoza over several days and had all arrived by 10th January. En route, ëLittleí Mark had already begun to establish his dormouse reputation by successfully sleeping through all the in-flight meals (despite apparently ënot sleeping well on planesÖ.í) and it transpired that Frank had displayed unprecedented (and unrepeatable) levels of tolerance by occupying only a third of his seat while his neighbour borrowed the rest.

We had time to do a kit check that same afternoon, which established that we would need to buy and rent gear the next morning as most people had arrived with an entirely unacceptable grey/black colour theme! Nigel bravely embraced the new ëcolourí concept wholeheartedly and for the next 2 weeks was seen sporting bright-coloured buffs at all times of day and nightÖ..possibly even having an entirely separate (labelled) dry bag for his collection!

Monday found us in the gear shop in Mendoza hiring or buying crampons, mittens, jackets, bowls, flasks Ö..and colourful clothing! By midday, somewhat poorer and more heavily laden, we loaded our mini-bus and trailer and headed off toward Aconcagua with our local guides: Uli (supercool mountain ëlegendí and 50 times summiteer) and Hermon (the Gordon Ramsay of guides).

Our 3 hour journey was broken at the delightful Upsallata petrol station forecourt where we enjoyed the most memorable lunch of the trip. By that evening, we were installed in Grainneís favourite hotel (think ëThe Shiningí) with our kit sorted into bags for the mules to carry.

We were all very keen to get walking the next morning and it felt like our expedition had properly started as we headed uphill from the park gates toward Confluencia where we would spend 3 nights starting to acclimatise. For the next 12 days we had fabulous blue-skies, sunshine and breezeÖ.perfect for burning all exposed flesh!

Confluencia is a semi-permanent encampment with huge domed tents creating comfortable dining areas. The great food supplied by the staff made us realise that most of us were not going to be losing our post-Christmas padding anytime soon. Whilst we all enjoyed the steak, trout and fruit, it would be fair to say that only one team member, Kevin, can vouch for the breakfast scrambled eggs after he scoffed the entire teamís quota by himself!

From Confluencia we walked up to Plaza Francia, experiencing for the first time the legendary time warp on Hermonís watch when he would give us a ë5 minuteí warning and be up and walking 30 seconds later! The walk was worth it and we were rewarded by the most fantastic views of the South Face of Aconcagua:

Also at Confluencia we had our first desertion: Craig (who was the ëTom Selleckí of the teamÖ..but without the ëtacheí) chatted up the lovely, young female doctor while having the obligatory Blood Pressure and Oxygen Saturation tests. She recorded a ësuspiciouslyí low reading, allowing Craig to have retests and see her again over the next 2 days. However, as the rest of the team departed for Base Camp on Friday 15th, it became apparent that Craig was unfortunately genuinely unwell and after a long discussion, we decided he would descendÖÖ..much to the disgust of his tent-mate and former friend ëBigí Mark , who may never speak to Craig again.

At our lunch break amongst the boulder field, on the 8 hour walk to Base Camp, Uli explained the dangers of the ëArgentinian Patagonian Spiderí to us. Grainneís instant and explosive 3 foot leap in the air provided the team with hilarious camera footageÖ.particularly when she then hurled her sandwich at Frank & ëBigí Mark (who had earlier explained to Uli just how much Grainne didnít like spidersÖÖÖ)

We spent the next few days acclimatising from Base Camp. Everyone (except Chris who was still getting over a chest infection) summited Bonete Peak, 5004m. Then we all went up to Camp 1 and the next day to Camp 2; the entire team looked strong and fitÖÖ..and even fairly colourful!

Whilst resident at Base Camp however, our team seemed determined to cause as much chaos as possible, giving our Base Camp manager Pavlo reason to dread our inevitable and regular returns: There was the mysterious incident of the broken chairÖ.(íLittleí Mark); the total incomprehension of irony when ëBigí Mark asked for ëcomplimentaryí minutes on the satellite phone; the kissing of random Texan ladies in the showerÖ.(Nigel!) and the legendary running battle of chargingÖ.or in fact not chargingÖ.Frankís phone, allowing Frank to display his grasp of all grammatical termsÖ..but only beginning with ëfí! Daniel, the professional chef in our team was nearly co-opted into the kitchens as recompense.

Fortunately for Pavlo we were acclimatised enough by 21st January to begin our ascent of Aconcagua without returning to BC to sleep. Our night at Camp 1 being one of the many highlights of the expedition; not only did the toilet have the most spectacular view, but our local guides cooked amazing cheeseburgers which we ate in the warm sunshine, staring out across the mountain range and watching a Condor circle high in the cliffs above usÖÖ.truly magical.

The walk up from Camp 1 to Camp 2 brought us all back to reality, proving hard work with heavy rucsacs and less oxygen. This didnít seem to stop Grainne and Kevin having the energy to converse non-stop, which fortunately entertained the rest of the team. Having previously been up to Camp 2, we knew what to expect; the views were still spectacularÖand the toilet seat was still ice-cold! During that afternoon John revealed himself to be an unexpected ëgear-freakí as he unpacked and modelled his assortment of the latest flash Millet jackets and other designer clothing acquired for his summit bid.

We were the highest team camped on the mountain for the next two nights as we had a separate camp which looked down on the main Camp 2 area; no-one was based up at Camp 3 because of the change in wind strength & direction. We had been watching the weather forecasts closely for days trying to match potential weather ëwindowsí against when the team would be safely acclimatised. We had heard several reports of other teams suffering sever altitude illnesses or needing rescue, having brought forward their summit attempt to try and catch the good weather.

Sadly for us, the weather window which had been looking possible for the 24th/25th January slammed shut suddenly and unexpectedly on the night of 23rd January. Most of the team experienced their ëworst night everí as we watched electrical storms light up the tents followed by plummeting temperatures, snowfall and howling wind buffeting the tents. By morning a somewhat sleep-deprived team found their tent porches full of wind-blown snowÖÖand their inner tents too if they unluckily undid the wrong part of the zip (Grainne!)ÖÖ..and their outer boots also if theyíd been left in the porch (ëlittleí Mark!) We later discovered the storm had caused huge landslides across the region blocking the main road from Chile to Argentina (our route out.) When the morning forecast was updated, it had become truly grim picture for the foreseeable future and we heard that the National Park Rangers were requesting teams to descend from the high camps and had stopped entry into the park or up to Base Camp. It was with a heavy heart that I went round the tents to let everyone know that we needed to pack up and leave.

The team were fantastic at working together to tame the tents in the high winds. Within a short time we were decamped and descending. A few hours later (and with some people enjoying the steep scree descent more than others) we arrived back in Base Camp. Pizza from the camp chef helped cheer us up and begin to resolve the inevitable huge disappointment at not getting a chance to try and summit after all our work.

Our 2nd desertion occurred now when Chris decided that he would try and stay on in Base Camp for a few days and see if he could summit with one of the newly arrived teams. It was a very courageous thing to do, but sadly did not work out for him. The road to Mendoza was officially shut, but somehow we got a ëspecialí permit allowing us through. The scale of some of the landslides across the road was truly awesome.

Back in Mendoza we celebrated our adventure in style. Alex our team translator and social-event planner, organised an amazing restaurant with 7 courses of regional Argentinian dishes and tasting wines and we had a most spectacular and memorable evening.

« | »

Jagged Globe Newsletter

We publish an email newsletter with trip reports and latest availability, plus features, competitions and general news of our climbing, trekking & skiing activities.

Categories
Archives
 
Follow Us:
1