Back to the valley
After some intense days above 6.000m, the team made it safely back to base camp Plaza de Mulas and then to Mendoza. They will share a solid, Malbec irrigated dinner tonight, in the finest local steak restaurant. Everyone is ok, but they went through one of the worst wind storms of the last years: it blew sleeping tents and dining tents all over the mountain. But they held, and completed the traverse. Congratulations to all the team, and apologies...
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A brave team
Despite a wind storm and cold temperatures, the group is ready to spend its second night at high camp, their stronghold at 6.000 m. The campsite was beaten by the wind but everyone did a great job and spirits are high, guide Mike Bradley told me over the sat phone.
The storm took most of their chances to summit, but there`s still a possibility -the guides and climbers will decide tonight if they go for it tomorrow in the morning, or if the head t...
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Camp II and moving higher
The climbers reached the 6.000m (19,685 ft) frontier! Everyone is ok, strong and motivated. They are finishing the carrying-moving routine, which consists of doing carries to higher camps, then sleeping in lower altitude, then moving the camp to the place where they had taken the carry, then resting, then repeating the process but at higher altitude. Busy days, goods for adapting the body and the mind to the strange atmosphere of the high regions...
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Camp I and going strong
The group has initiated the altitude stage of the climb. They left base camp properly fed & rested, in good mood, and headed towards Camp I (4.800m - 15,750 ft). From there they completed a carry of gear and food to Camp II, which means they surpassed the 5.000 m frontier! Everyone is doing great, according to Mike, and according to the forecast the weather will be good in the next days. More details in the next episode... Nicolás Garc...
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Awesome group
The team made it to Plaza Argentina base camp (13,800 ft approx) today. Mike called via sat phone and said "Everyone is doing great, this is an awesome group". They completed the hike in succesfully -with some vies of the Polish GLacier, as seen in the picture (from a previous trip)-. They will rest one day and then begin the carrying-acclimatization process. I will keep you posted!
Regards, Nicolás
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First trip of the season
With a truly international team of five climbers and two guides, we launched our first Aconcagua expedition of the 2010-2011 season yesterday!
The US, Norway, Ireland, Australia and Argentina are the nationalities represented in the team. Guides Mike Bradley (Colorado, US) and Rolo Abaca (Mendoza, Argentina), are in charge of this first trip, via the Ameghino Route. They had a day to relax in Mendoza, where the climbers enjoyed the local Hyatt a...
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