A subject that is always complicated is clothing and equipment, which I am not used to; much more when we sit down to do numbers and we realize that there is an increase in the budget of the expedition. The gear used to go to the mountain is not the same as that we employ in the city or our daily life, and this has to do mainly with the environment (environment-place) and the activity to be carried out.
To do any Aconcagua Mountain guides , we must have all the equipment we can take to a mountain that can have all climates together. Usually, the expedition is divided into two parts: the first is the trekking to the Plaza de Mulas base camp and the days of stay and acclimatization in it, and the second is the attack to the summit and the passage through the different camps of height , no longer the comfort that we can have in base camp.
Whether we hire company guides or go without assistance, the general equipment can vary between adding to the team: high mountain tents, kitchen equipment with special heaters, pots, food, and the hiring of mules and porters for our Aconcagua Ascents .
We will base ourselves in principle on three types of footwear: trekking, rest, and high mountain. The trekking is the one that we will use in almost all the walks in the first stage. That of rest is that when we are in the tents, in the base camps. The high mountain is used in almost all the marches over the base camp.
For clothing / apparel, we are going to use the onion system, the layer system.
The backpacks of our Aconcagua Treks must be no less than 60 liters for trekking or expedition trekking. Although there are porters with mules and porters (humans who transport equipment), each one must be as autonomous as possible and carry his equipment; It is also essential to have space to store clothes as we unwind.
High mountain sleeping bag, mat, headlamp, helmet, crampons, category four glasses, goggles, and poles are other essential elements when embarking on the expedition. It is known that if you do not drink a good amount of liquid at altitude, you are “baked.” But it must always be emphasized again. In the city or in our daily life outside of the mountain environment where we can carry out some sporting activity, we do not usually ingest a lot of fluids. However, it is recommended not less than 2 to 3 liters depending on the body mass index (the ratio of the height Weight). Above 3000 masl, the number increases, and dehydration becomes more noticeable because fluid is lost through respiration twice as fast as at sea level.