Aconcagua Climbing – Preparing the charges to begin the Ascent

In the afternoon we put together the “petates” (packages), to carry food; to Plaza Canada tomorrow and to Nido de Cóndores on Saturday. Today I patched the mattress. Tonight we will eat a stew, I plan to go to sleep early, all the clothes have arrived in good condition, the mules behaved very well this time. In the first load, a can of beer broke and four liters of water spilled, so all the boxes got wet, nothing too serious. As I write this, I’m eating a snack with beer. We had a delicious lentil stew for dinner, I with beer, I still have a few cans left. Aconcagua Treks

How I fixed the inflatable mattress, despite the height (4200 meters) I slept straight for 6 hours, woke up at 4 am, read 1 hour with my headlamp, I got sleepy again and slept until 7 am. I feel very well physically, some colleagues have a headache, I only notice dry lips and skin despite the creams. At this height no vegetables grow and the only animals I have seen are a couple of beautiful and majestic condors that flew over us.

Friday 06/02/05

“The transparency and beauty of that great mountain arises when you are completely committed to it, when the dedication is mutual”

Today we get up at 7:00 a.m. and at 10:00 a.m. we leave for Plaza Canada (4910mts) to acclimatize by going up and also to carry food that we will leave there in closed bags covered with stones, that way we will carry less weight on the final ascent. Climb Aconcagua

In general the whole group well and even. I do not exceed 120 beats per minute at maximum effort, which is my usual frequency in hard training (big Jack!)

Esteban leads the march and Constanza closes it. In Plaza Canada we find several expeditions of foreigners camping. The landscape from here is impressive, I see the Cuerno hill, Plaza de Mulas from high above and the Tupungato hill with its snowy west wall. skate between the stones, a sensation similar to skiing.

On the descent Mario was a bit weak, I think he suffers from vertigo and as the slopes are very steep and with loose stones you have to skate away, it’s a very nice feeling… if you’re not afraid. Aconcagua Expedition

We arrived back at 3:30 p.m. very tired but happy. Spectacular weather, sun and heat with little wind (ideal)

While I was going up I was thinking about taking a photo of myself at the summit reading Don Quixote and on the way back I would take another one reading it in line at Citibank (to name just one of those that mortified me) put them together and put a sentence on it: “In the most exciting places and in the most frustrating and stressful the book can always accompany you ” and donate it to the General San Martín Library.