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Aconcagua:
6962 metres, the highest mountain in the Americas, in the southern and western
hemispheres, and the second highest of the world's seven continental summits. In February 1998 I attempted Aconcagua by the standard route but turned back at Berlin camp to help less experienced team members descend in bad weather. In January 2000 I returned and reached the summit. Recommended guide:On the two trips I did, and the trip my partner did in 2001, we used the
guiding and logistical services of Juan Herrera. Juan is professional Aconcagua
guide, who has summited the mountain about 30 times. He is technically and
physically very competent, has an exacting attitude towards safety (needed on a
mountain as fickle as Aconcagua) and is an all-round nice guy. His wife, Laura,
runs a luxurious base camp. Frequently asked questions:Aconcagua is located at 32 degrees 39 minutes south, entirely within the Republic of Argentina but close to the border with Chile. The altitude of Aconcagua seems to be in continual dispute, as is the altitude of its rival for the high point of South America, Ojos del Salado. These questions have existed for forty years, having been fuelled by rumour, gossip, hearsay, and speculation rather than cold and sterile facts. Ojos del Salado is located along the Chilean-Argentine border in the Puna de Atacama, approximately 640 kilometres north of Aconcagua. It was first climbed in 1937 by J. A. Szvzepanski, two members of a Polish expedition. It entered the alpine limelight in 1955 after a press report mistakenly declared "the first ascent of the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, Ojos del Salado, 7 100 metres". Subsequent investigations revealed that an Argentine expedition from Tucuman mistakenly believed that they had made the first ascent of Ojos del Salado, while in fact they had climbed an unnamed and unclimbed mountain 10 to 13 kilometres south of, and about 240 metres lower than, Ojos del Salado. They also stated that it was possible that Ojos del Salado was higher than Aconcagua. Unfortunately, the media interpreted this blunder and wishful thinking as fact. Spurred by this report, a Chilean expedition climbed the real Ojos del Salado the following year and claimed an altitude of 7 084 metres. The press again reported this to be an exact altitude, but this figure was obtained by reading an aneroid altimeter, a notoriously inaccurate method of determining altitude. In the midst of this speculation the American Alpine Club fielded an expedition to Ojos del Salado during the austral winter of 1956. With the support of the Chilean army, the party approached Ojos del Salado from the northwest and conducted a trigonometric survey of the mountain. They determined that Ojos del Salado was 6 885.5 metres above sea level, with a probable error of plus/minus three metres. The altitude of Aconcagua was initially surveyed by the Argentine Instituto Geografico Militar (Military Geographic Institute) in the 1920s during a survey of the trans-Andean railway between Santiago and Mendoza. From this trigonometric survey the altitude of Aconcagua was determined to be 7 021 metres, an altitude that continues to appear with distressing regularity. In 1956, during the height of the debate over Aconcagua versus Ojos del Salado, Eduardo E. Baglietto of the University of Buenos Aires decided to determine the exact altitude of Aconcagua during a geodetic survey of the Central Andes. With the help of his colleagues students from the university, and Argentine, it was determined that Aconcagua had an altitude of 6 959.7 metres, with a probable error of plus/minus 1 metre. In 1989, using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, Francesco Santon from the University of Padua in Italy surveyed both Aconcagua and Ojos del Salado with the help of his colleagues from Padua, the Argentine Institute of Glaciology and Nivology, and Argentine mountaineers. Ojos del Salado was determined to be 6 900 metres (22,637 ft) above the sea level, and Aconcagua was determined to be 6 962 metres (22,841 ft) above sea level, with a possible error of plus/minus five metres. WHAT CAN YOU SEE FROM THE SUMMIT? You can see the beautiful icy peaks of the nearby Cordon de los Penitentes, an 30-kilometre range dominated by the 5 900 metre rock-and-ice bastion of Cerro Cuerno. To the north, the massive Mercedario rises above the dry deserts of the central Andes, while to the east the barren Argentinean pampas spread out in a brown, dusty expanse, a stark contrast to the blue horizon of the Pacific Ocean visible 150 kilometres to the west. WHEN IS THE BEST CLIMBING SEASON? The best time of the year to climb the mountain is during the austral summer from December until early March. One can expect more snow and higher rivers early in the season, followed by increasingly drier conditions as the season progresses. While Aconcagua is entirely within the Republic of Argentina, the Pacific Ocean is only 150 kilometres to the west. The mountain receives almost all of its bad weather during the austral summer from the moist, humid winds that blow from the west off the Pacific Ocean. A typical scenario is that these winds are driven upwards by the western slope of the Andes, where the air cools, condenses, and forms the lenticular cloud that covers the summit: the famous viento blanco or white wind, a sign of snow and high winds at altitude. These westerly winds can also generate fierce electrical storms during the summer. But summer storms are relatively rare on Aconcagua, and the sun shines for most of the climbing season for days on end. The peak climbing month seems to be February, and climbing conditions are reported to be the best then. However, more and more climbers seem to be on the mountain during Christmas. The rivers are much higher during this period, but there is also more snow on Aconcagua. WHERE DOES THE NAME COME FROM? The Incas called the mountain Ancocahuac, made up of the Quechua words anco (white) and cahuac (sentinel). DID THE INCAS CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN? There is no definitive proof that the ancient Incas actually climbed to the summit of the White Sentinel, but there is considerable evidence that they did climb very high on the mountain. Signs of Inca ascents have been found on summits throughout the Andes, thus far the highest atop Llullaillaco, a 6 721-metre mountain astride the Chilean-Argentine border in the Puma de Atacama region. On Aconcagua, the skeleton of a guanaco ( a wild relative of the llama) was found in 1947 along the ridge connecting the North Summit with the South Summit. It seems doubtful that a guanaco would climb that high on the mountain on his own, and several archaeologists have visited the Cresta del Guanaco ( Guanaco Crest) looking for Inca sites, with no definitive discoveries along this ridge. But the most significant find happened in 1985 with the discovery of a mummy (preserved by cold dry air, by embalming) at the 5 200-metre level along the southwest ridge of Cerro Piramidal, a 6 009-metre peak along Aconcagua's Southwest Ridge. It is widely believed that there are other undiscovered archaeological sites on Aconcagua. WHEN DID EUROPEANS FIRST DISCOVER ACONCAGUA? The first significant European exploration of Central Andes took place in 1817, when General Jose de San Martin crossed the range to liberate Chile from the Spanish. He proposed attacking the Spanish at Santiago and Valparaiso overland from the passes surrounding Mercedario, Aconcagua, and Tupungato. His army, consisting of 5 300 soldiers, 10 600 Mules, and 1 600 horses, dragged their artillery over 4 000-metre passes, hindered considerably by scree and snowfields. They successfully surprised the Spanish, who expected any invasion to come from the sea. But the cost was high - the bodies of 6 000 mules and 1 000 horses marked their routes across the Andes. In 1832, Charles Darwin noted the dominance of Aconcagua while crossing the Andes during a journey ashore on the voyage of the Beagle. WHEN WAS ACONCAGUA FIRST ATTEMPTED? The first serious European attempt on the mountain occurred in 1883 by Paul Gussfeldt. He approached Aconcagua from Santiago, and recruited muleteers by perpetuating the myth that there was buried treasure on the mountain. He crossed the Andean crest to the northwest of Aconcagua, and made the final approach by ascending the Rio Volcan. Gussfeldt made two bold attempts to reach the summit from the head of this river, reaching 6 560 metres along the Northwest Ridge (near where the Independencia hut is located today). This expedition was the first to reconnoitre what was to become the Normal Route. WHO ACHIEVED THE FIRST ASCENT? The first ascent of the Normal Route took place during 1896-1897 by an expedition under the leadership of an Englishman, Edward FitzGerald. He wrote an account of the expedition, called The Highest Andes. With FitzGerald was another English climber, Stuart Vines, and some Swiss and Italian porters under the direction of the renowned Swiss guide, Matthias Zurbriggen. FitzGerald's first problem was determining the best approach to the mountain. He was aware of Gussfeldt's exploration, but believed that a better approach would be from the south, where a rudimentary road had been constructed between Santiago and Mendoza. They concluded that the eastern and southern sides of the mountain were not feasible. They then turned to the main Horcones Valley, and ascended it to its head. While today's Normal Route has the reputation of being no more than a walk, FitzGerald's expedition had to lay siege to Aconcagua. A total of five attempts over six weeks were needed before Matthias Zurbriggen arrived on the summit alone on January 14, 1897. Over the following month FitzGerald, Vines, and Nicola Lanti (one of their Italian porters) continued the siege, with Vines and Lanti reaching the summit on February 13. FitzGerald was unable to climb to the top due to recurrent bouts of altitude sickness. |
 Last light on Aconcagua, seen from base camp.
The ice-field immediately above basecamp on the standard route.
Sunset at camp 1.
Retreating from Aconcagua in the face of the viento blanco (white wind). |
