Aconcagua Expedition January 2018
Trip Dates: January 6 – January 22, 2018
Trip Details:
Saturday January 6: This was the first day of our expedition. My team-mates Marcia, Vraj, and Patrick were already in Mendoza. I was the last person to arrive there that morning with my flight arriving at 9 AM. I met Marcia in her hotel room and the rest of the crew later at the hotel lobby. We all walked together the office of Acomara to give them the money for the guiding trip in person in cash. Later in the day, we went to the place to pay for our climbing permit, exchanged money, and had lunch. In the afternoon, our guides met us at the hotel lobby. After introduction, they visited us in our rooms to check our gear. Marcia and I had everything that was needed for the climb and did not need to rent anything. Later we all went out to take a walk around Mendoza, and enjoyed our first group dinner.
Altitude: 2,508 feet – 706 meters
Sunday January 7: After breakfast at the hotel, we left in a van to go to Penitentes where we would spend one night. We packed everything in an expedition duffel bag for the mule-carry. I left one duffel with things that I did not need for the climb with the hotel staff. We first went to the park office in Mendoza to pickup our permits followed by a four hour scenic ride to Penitentes.
Once we arrived at Penitentes, I repacked my duffel and handed it over to the guides for the mule-carry. Lunch and dinner were included with the lodging. We spent the afternoon resting, playing cards, and checking out the views from our lodge.
Altitude: ~9,000 feet – 2,725 meters
Monday January 8: We left the lodge in a van to go to the entrance of the park and started our trek to Confluencia Camp. Mules carried our duffel while we hiked only with our daypack. Shortly after reaching the camp, it started raining then hailing. We set up our camps in the hail. We enjoyed some snacks with hot tea and hot chocolate in our dining tent. Around sunset, we took a short walk to a nearby hill to checkout the views.
Altitude: ~11,000 feet – 3,300 meters
Tuesday January 9: Acclimatization hike to Plaza Francia: base of the South face of Mt. Aconcagua. This day I experienced some altitude symptoms before reaching to the highest point of the day. I made a decision to start taking Diamox even though the doctors on the mountain as well as our guides strongly discouraged us to do so since Aconcagua is a dry mountain and Diamox tend to make you pee a lot. But I did not see myself being able to go any higher without taking the pills.
We returned to the camp after lunch.
Altitude: 13,200 feet – 4,023 meters
Wednesday January 10: We started our trek to Plaza de Mulas: basecamp for Mount Aconcagua on the standard Normal North-West route. It was a long day. There were several flat miles on this hike and a long, steep climb towards the end before reaching the camp. Mules carried our duffel with camping and mountaineering gear; we hiked only with a day-pack.
Altitude: 14,058 feet – 4,285 meters
Thursday January 11: Rest day at Plaza de Mulas. I was feeling sleepy and weak. I had a cold and cough from NYC before coming on this trip and before I was fully healed. It seemed like my symptoms started to pick up. I ended up sleeping all day.
In the afternoon, our guides took us to see the doctor to get our readings. My blood pressure was 90 by 50 (too low to continue to go any higher). The doctors told me I could not go any higher with this reading, but my guides thought I should do something about it to make it better. The doctors advised me to drink 5-6 liters of water with electrolyte; they also told me I should not sleep; we do not acclimate when we sleep (a info none of us knew about).
Altitude: 14,058 feet – 4,285 meters
Friday January 12: Three out of six in our group went up to climb Mt. Bonete for an acclimatization trek. I decided to stay put in the camp to rest and acclimate more. I felt a bit nervous about going up with the low reading despite my guides opinion that I should go. I also needed my much needed “me time” at the camp (yeah, being an introvert can be a problem sometimes).
Altitude: 16,733 feet – 5,100 meters for those who went to Mt Bonete
Saturday January 13: Acclimatization trek and carry day to Camp 1 (CANADA). It was a relatively easy day. We used our mountaineering boots that day to ensure we got used to walking in them. I brought my triple boots: La Sportiva Olympus Mons Evo. I never used them on a climb before. I was having trouble on the rocks while going down with them. It was an extremely windy day, hence I did not take much pictures.
By the end of this day, we were one member short. So, we were now five out of six to continue.
Altitude: 16,203 feet – 4,900 meters
Sunday January 14: Rest day at the basecamp.
Altitude: 14,058 feet – 4,285 meters
Camp 1 (CANADA)
Sunday January 15: Moving day to Camp 1 (CANADA). We moved our camp from Basecamp to Camp 1. It was a nicer day than the day before. We spent the afternoon resting at Camp 1.
Altitude: 16,203 feet – 4,900 meters
Marcia and I at Camp 2
Monday January 16: Moving day to Camp 2 (NIDO DE CÓNDORES). We packed up in the morning, and moved our camp from Camp 1 to Camp 2 (NIDO DE CÓNDORES).
Altitude: 17,250 feet – 5,250 meters
Tuesday January 17: Rest day at Camp 2. I would rather have the carry day to move to camp 3 on this day and the following day to be the rest day. But since we were guided, I did not have any choice other than to follow the guide’s guideline and schedule. While resting at this camp, one of our teammates started to develop altitude sickness. My cold symptoms, especially cough, were getting worse. I slept almost all day. And I could not sleep at night due to non-stop coughing. Sunset seen from our tent was spectacular though.
I also could not eat the food I was given by our guides in the higher camp. Next time I go, I will definitely bring my own freeze dried food that I like and some ramen noodles with me.
Altitude: 17,250 feet – 5,250 meters
Wednesday January 18: Carry day to Camp 3. Due to lack of sleep the night before and the fact that I was already sick with the cold from NYC as well as not being able to eat the food they were giving us on the higher camps, I could not go much farther before deciding to turn around. My guide made a call to the camp and our assistant guide came up and brought me back to the camp.
Once back at the camp, assistant guide checked my Oxygen Saturation level and it was only 62 (extremely low). Generally a person would faint with that low level of O2 Saturation, but surprisingly I was keeping strong, but it also confirmed that it was time for me to go down where I could have more oxygen.
I started packing up and waited for the porter who then brought me and my climbing partner who was developing altitude sickness, down. Our guiding company already had a tent setup for us at the basecamp, and they brought us cheeseburgers and soda at the dining tent. We spent the remainder of the day just resting and chatting at the dining tent.
In the afternoon, the guide staff informed us that there was a group of two going down with a guide the next day and we could join them if we wanted. Even though our trip included the cost for staying at the basecamp till the official end date of the trip, my climbing partner and I decided to go back down.
At that point, three out of six remained on the higher camp for the summit push.
Altitude: 14,058 feet – 4,285 meters
Thursday January 19: We packed our duffel for the mule and our daypack with lunch, water, and layers for the day. Breakfast was at 7:30 in the morning and we left at 8:30 AM. We stopped at Confluencia camp for an hour, used the bathroom, ate snacks, drank hot tea before continuing.
Once we got back to the trailhead, a car was waiting for us that took us to the park office to get us checked out. We then stopped at the mule pickup location. From there we were taken to the lodge where we stayed on the first night and had dinner there before taking the 8 PM bus back to Mendoza, which left from right in front of the lodge. We arrived in Mendoza around midnight.
Altitude: 2,508 feet – 706 meters
After a few days of rest in Mendoza, I decided to take a side trip to Santiago and Valparaíso in Chile instead of changing my flight to fly back home early.
Video Credit: Rumana Chowdhury
Photo Credit: Vrajesh Dalal
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