Trip Reports

Aconcagua - 6 to 30 Jan '11

Written by Leader Paul Donovan, February 2011

The team, minus three who were meeting us in Argentina, met up at North Terminal, Gatwick and had a very quiet, efficient ‘check in’ before heading to departures and on to Madrid - one flight (2 hours) over, two to go. A long flight (11 hours) from Madrid saw us in Buenos Aires (GMT-3 hours) for breakfast on Day Two. Flight number three was a short hop (1½ hours) to Mendoza and our base for the next two nights, giving us plenty of time to explore the sights and taste a few of the many wines of the region. It was here that we picked up our Aconcagua 20 day permits to allow us to attempt the mountain.

As we left Mendoza, our sights were now set firmly on the next stage of the expedition - Los Penitentes to Base Camp (Plaza de Mulas) - who would have thought that getting two kit bags packed could be so confusing! Los Penitentes to Confluencia, our first days trek may have been short but it was certainly good to get into the hills at last & catch a glimpse of what was to come. From Confluencia we had a return trip to Plaza Francia (c.4,000m), which is Base Camp for anyone attempting the South Face – an impressive way to the top! Next stop - Base Camp, which was a welcome sight after nine hours of trekking up the Horcones valley in sweltering heat & direct sunshine. A day’s rest/acclimatisation was welcomed by all. It was also an opportunity to get a shower and clean up, after three days on the go. A visit to the doctors at Base Camp gave us the all clear to continue.

Bonette Peak (5,004m) was our next objective - what a great days trek, with all the team members summiting. A great morale boost for us all, which ended up with us all in ‘the Hotel’ for a celebration bottle of coke & cup of coffee. The next stage was about to begin - preparation for the carry of all our equipment on to the mountain, placing it at either Camp One (Camp Canada) or Camp Two (Nido). Our rucksacks were packed with our equipment requirements, plus approximately 5kg of food for Camp’s One & Two, totally around 12-14kg each. Slow steady progress saw us into Camp One within four hours, where we enjoyed an awesome sunset. The following day we continued onto Camp Two to drop off the 5kg of food we had carried up from Base Camp. Here we had great views down on to many of the surrounding peaks, as well as views of our route to the summit – it didn’t look very far! A quick return to Base Camp gave us a day’s rest and time to prepare for the next stage - the Summit attempt.

As we ascended the mountain again, it became a realisation that our time had come - the weather was on our side and our state of acclimatisation was as good as it was going to get. The next six/seven/eight days were what it was all about. The first three days were on familiar ground – Camp’s One and Two. We said farewells to Richard & Graham at Camp two as they both return to Base Camp to recover from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). As we continued to Camp Three, it was apparent that the weather was holding, but for how long. We needed just two days! A weather forecast indicated winds & snow coming in for our proposed summit day, so we decided to take a rest day at Camp Three – Berlin Huts. At 5,900m, its not the best place to take a rest day.

The team were now suitably rested and Summit day was upon us. An early start (06:00) gave us a long, hard and incredibly rewarding day as we made our way past ‘Black Rocks’ & onto Independencia at 6,400m. Here we rested awhile before making our way across the traverse to the cave & yet another well earned resting place. The weather was beginning to close in. Despite the impending storm, three team members made the summit of Aconcagua (6,962m) @ 15:15 on 24th January 2011, with the remaining team members all reaching new height records. With the summit achieved and the customary photos of the snow and cloud covered summit, it was time to return to Camp Three for a jubilant night, if you can have a jubilant night at 6,000 metres!! and time to reflect. The summit day had taken a total of 13 hours. It’s no wonder all were totally exhausted.

There was no time to rest at Base Camp as we were heading out the following day – yet another long day as we made our way back down the Horcornes Valley, to Los Penitentes and onwards to Mendoza. We had come full circle, finishing up where we started - sampling the wines of Argentina.

A journey not to be forgotten.

Many thanks for the support of those involved: Daniel & his logistics team; Lucas & the Guides/Porter team; Base Camp & Confluencia Cooks & support staff.

Many thanks to the team members for putting up with me for three weeks!

Congratulations to all the team members on achieving their many goals along the way.

Llongyfarchiadau pawb

Paul Donovan
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