After 29 hours of travel from Oslo to Mendoza, I arrived at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Mendoza on Monday, January 6, where I had a day before meeting the rest of the hiking group. After equipment check, shopping, and a group dinner on Tuesday, January 7, we arranged the necessary permits and set out for the Andes mountains the next day. The drive to Penitentes, which is located at around 2,590 meters above sea level, took 2.5 hours.
A short run in Mendoza before departure. John and Nani in Penitentes.
Our acclimatization days were spent in the Las Cuevas area, just outside Aconcagua National Park. We stayed there for four days before entering the park.
There is always a certain risk when hiking in the mountains, and you can never guarantee that everything will go well, or that you will reach the summit.
Unfortunately, John fell badly and broke three ribs on day three, just a few hundred meters from where we were going to set up camp at about 3800 meters above sea level. We had to turn around and go back to the cabin where we had been staying for the last few days, and John had to go to a hospital in Mendoza.
It was very sad to lose John so early. The group of four had now become three, David, Dolores, and me, along with our guide Nani.
John and Nani in the kitchen. A little bit of dancing on the trip <3
The day after, we entered Aconcagua National Park and arrived at Confluencia Camp (3414 meters above sea level), where we had to go through a medical check and spent a night on our way to Base Camp. Our condition was good and the atmosphere in the group was very positive.
The peak of Aconcagua in the background. Check in 🙂
I always feel the altitude early on, often already between 3000-3500 meters above sea level. I feel it “well” when I move higher up in the mountains, but I always adapt quickly and well.
The first thing I notice is that my neck gets stiff, then I get a headache, and then I start to vomit. The most common symptoms are headaches, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, difficulty breathing, and getting acidosis just by standing up.
In case of acute and serious altitude sickness, one must descend quickly, preferably by helicopter.
Today, we know quite a bit about how thin air affects the body, and what everyone agrees on is that drinking lots of water (4-6 liters) and walking slowly is absolutely crucial to avoid getting altitude sickness.
Confulensia Camp While we were waiting for the doctor 🙂 Medical check-up
After another eight-hour day, we arrived at Base Camp at 4300 meters above sea level on Tuesday, January 14th. Aconcagua Base Camp is the world’s second largest, after Everest Base Camp, and we arrived in the middle of the high season, which lasts from December to February.
My condition was still good, and I was happy to arrive at Base Camp, as that’s when the trip really began and we could start the ascent up the mountain.
Base Camp
Arriving at Base Camp, I received my candy bag, which I had sent with the luggage.
After a lovely rest day at Base Camp, we began the climb towards Camp 1.
We carried equipment to the camp and returned to Base Camp to sleep there. The days of carrying equipment are just as much acclimatization days.
Laundry day and rest day at Base Camp Preparing food for the days above Base Camp Kiss & Love <3 View towards Base Camp from Camp 1 Good atmosphere in the kitchen tent 🙂 Camp 1
The next day we went to Camp 1 and slept there before having a carry day to Camp 2 (5600) the following day, and then returning to Camp 1 to sleep. “Go high, sleep low” is an important principle in acclimatization.
Arrival at Camp 2.
The next day we returned to Camp 2 and slept there, before having a nice rest day in the camp. The day after, we walked from Camp 2 to Camp 3 (5975) and back to Camp 2.
Rest day and crampon training in Camp 2 Sunset from Camp 2
We were supposed to go back to Camp 3 to sleep there before the summit push, but now it was just me left in the team. David wasn’t feeling well and had stopped at Camp 2, while Doloris had gone to Camp 3 but wanted to quit with that. And I was feeling so good, so we decided to start the summit push from Camp 2, go directly to the top, and back to Camp 2.
The biggest advantage was that we didn’t have to carry a tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping mat to Camp 3. Often a summit push is about 1000 vertical meters, which it would have been if we started from Camp 3. Our summit push was about 1500 vertical meters.
It may seem a little strange to go up and down like this, but it works very well to gradually acclimate to the altitude. For me, it was important to “touch” Camp 3 since we decided to start the summit push from Camp 2. If we hadn’t done that, I think the summit push would have been quite difficult.
Me, Doloris, and Nani in Camp 3. Camp 3
Summit day Wednesday January 22nd:
We started out at 5:00am and got to see a fantastic sunrise just before Camp 3. After 7 hours and 19 minutes, we reached the summit, and after about 35 minutes there, we decided to run down. We were back in Camp 2 after a total of 9 hours and 55 minutes, just over 2 hours down, including about 45 minutes of packing breaks (food and water that we left on the way up).
We had some advantages that allowed us to go so fast:
1 – We had fantastic weather! Almost no wind.
2 – Since there were only two of us, the guide and me, we only needed one backpack, which of course Nani carried.
3 – Nani knows every stone on this mountain, and all the way up he would say “step there”, “don’t step there”, “that stone is loose”, “be careful here”, “sit and rest on this stone here”… until I after a few minutes said “now we have to move on.”
We had a fantastic day!
Back in Camp 2, David and Doloris were waiting for us, and after a night there, we all walked down together to the luxury of Base Camp.
Breakfast before summit day Sunrise at Camp 3 Summit Aconcagua 6962 moh Back in Camp 3 after 9 hours and 50 minutes.
I always sleep very well in a tent, often better than at home. It’s quiet, cold, and you can lie there and listen to nature.
In Base Camp, on the other hand, the tents are close together, and there’s often a lot of hustle and bustle.
This last night in Base Camp was a short one for me.
I sat in the dining tent until 10:30 p.m., which is late for me, before going to my tent to sleep.
Shortly after, I heard sounds from the neighboring tent, which was only a few meters away. It was a woman and a man from Eastern Europe, I could hear, and they were really enjoying themselves. Oh well, I thought, they’re probably very much in love. They went on for quite some time, actually for an hour and a half.
Then they talked for an hour, and I thought once again that they must be very much in love.
…then they started again, for another hour! By then, it was around 2 a.m., and I thought it might be nice if they became quiet soon, so I could get some sleep.
But then, after only half an hour’s break, they started again. And they didn’t try to be very quiet either.
When they started again, for the third time, I realized that it must be something more than them being very much in love. Because at high altitude, it’s not uncommon to use Viagra to prevent altitude sickness.
The gang ready for the final stretch. Resting in Base Camp
The morning after, we began the last, but long, stage from Base Camp all the way out to the entrance of the National Park. After 8 hours of walking and 30 minutes in a car, we arrived at Penitentes, where we had started the trip two weeks earlier.
Aconcagua summarized:
• Number two of the Seven Summits.
• Not technically demanding, but Aconcagua is of course high, 6962 meters above sea level.
• Considerably easier summit than Putha Hiunchuli (7246), which I did in Nepal in October. Mostly due to the weather.
• I am still quite strong in the mountains, both physically, technically, and mentally. Sometimes I’m a little surprised myself at how “easy” it goes.
• The nature here is like a desert area, but the mountain is powerful and majestic as it stands on its own.
Sunset at Camp 2
For me, there are two things that drive me:
- I love being outdoors in nature! Really! Sleeping in a tent, eating outside, and living in harmony with nature.
I enjoy every single day, looking at the mountains, nature, animals, and flowers.
- I love working towards the goal, which of course is to reach the summit of the mountain. The excitement along the way, how my physical fitness and the weather develop. Everything unforeseen that can happen in the mountains. I like it when it gets so hard and demanding that the only thing you can focus on is one step at a time and breathing.
There is never any guarantee, neither for reaching the summit nor that everything will go well. But as usual, I am very focused and disciplined. For me, it is always a little sad when it is over, and I am already longing to go back to the mountains.
Suddenly the trip is over and it becomes like a bubble that bursts. You live in such a vacuum and so close to each other.
So now it’s just to start planning the next trip and look forward to it!
Thank you for the trip <3