Aconcagua Climbing – How far in advance should you prepare your expedition?

When we arrived in Canada, I had to go get water from a small stream that was 500 meters from the camp and with a slope of 35 degrees, I got quite agitated. For those who have never been in these situations, it is like walking with shoes that weigh 5 kg each, climbing slopes. It is impossible to run or walk fast, one immediately becomes agitated, nausea, vomiting and headache appear. Aconcagua Expedition

With all this I was really tired, so we ate some delicious noodles with sauce and tuna, made by Mario and we fell asleep at 8 pm. I share the high mountain tent with Mario and Eduardo.

Eduardo couldn’t sleep all night and the next morning he wanted to go back. Insomnia, headache and the permanent feeling of shortness of breath are common, and will increase with altitude. They comment that in Berlin (6000mts) it is very difficult to sleep because of all this, due to these symptoms and the progressive weakening of the body due to lack of oxygen, it is necessary to stay as short as possible above 6000mts. Aconcagua Treks

I slept 4 hours straight and two intermittently. I have a feeling of tension in my head that does not become pain and fatigue if I move quickly, even changing clothes is done very slowly and it is very difficult to put on the boots, it takes me approximately 15 minutes, stopping several times.

For two days, Mario has an irritative cough that is quite annoying for him and those around him, this makes it difficult for him to sleep well, therefore the one who sleeps best, of the three, is me.

Tonight I plan to give 1.5 mg of bromazepam to each of my colleagues, because I think they are “over the top”. I was carrying a heavily loaded backpack, I estimate 15 kg, despite which we climbed from 4,200 to 4,910 (700mts) in 4 hours. It was a major effort done at a slow pace, about one short step per second. When you see the expeditions at this point they seem to go in slow motion and it really is the only way. Climb Aconcagua

“Human beings set goals throughout their existence. They reach some and set others… but what is an achievement worth if you are unable to enjoy life while it lasts and struggle to achieve it? Choose the most sublime goals, the life will take care of the rest”