Some Questions and Answers
If I don't answer your question in this document or in any of the others, or you can't find the answer, please feel free to email me at cwillett03@gmail.com.
- What is Aconcagua? Aconcagua, or the Stone Sentinel, is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. It is located in Argentina, though very close to the Chilean border. It is 6962 meters tall, which is about 22,840 feet.
- How do you get there? The closest city is Mendoza, Argentina. Coming from the US or Canada it will be most convenient to fly to Santiago, Chile, and then board a shop hop flight across the Andes to Mendoza. You do not want to take a bus as there is a pricey airport tax that Americans have to pay. From Mendoza go to the main bus station in town and buy a ticket to Puente del Inca. You might have to pay excess baggage fees.
- How long does it take to climb? The record is something like 6 hours from the road. Most people will want more like 2 weeks. Add another week for time in Mendoza and you get a nice three week vacation.
- What route did you take? We went up the aptly named Normal Route, which climbs the north ridge of the mountain.
- Did you make it? I got sick at about 18,000 feet and went down. Wayne got sick as well and didn't make it. Kevin and Peter summitted.
- Is it a hard climb? There are no technical problems on the route. However, it is not an easy climb due to the elevation and the length of the summit day. It is easy to get sick on the mountain and the primary difficulties are staying healthy and avoiding altitude related problems.
- Is it dangerous? In a normal year about 3 people die on Aconagua. As of the end of January 2009, there have been five deaths during the climbing season. I think this qualifies Aconcagua as a dangerous mountain.
- When is the climbing season? In a normal year things get going around the end of November and you can generally climb until the end of February or into March. Things were definitely getting busy when we were on our way out, but in the middle of December most of the big groups hadn't shown up yet.
- Do you need a permit? Definitely. The chances of being able to sneak through are very slim. Permits are expensive at about $500 USD (payable in pesos only) and can only be obtained in person at an office in Mendoza. The office seems to change locations with some regularity so ask locally. It is currently in the middle of town and not out at the park, where it used to be. To get the permit, you first get a form from the permit office to take to a bill pay place. You give them the money and they give you a receipt. You take the receipt back to the office and get your permit. It took us under 2 hours to get this done. However, if you go a bit later than we did you will have lines to wait in. Your permit will be checked by rangers at least twice on the Normal Route, once at Confluenzia and once at Plaza des Mulas.
- Do you need a guide? No, not really. If you want to get sick, go with a large, guided outfit. They'll run you up the mountain quickly, you'll get sick, and they can go home early. We saw a fair amount of this sort of nonsense on the mountain. We also so people with good guides. We contracted with Rudy Para (actually, we never talked to him at all,) who runs an outfit called Los Puquois, to haul most of our gear in on mules. You can find them on the web. This is standard and almost everyone uses mules to get their heavy gear to Plaza des Mulas, leaving you with only overnight gear and a little food to carry in. One poor sap was trying to carry it all himself and he ended up having to do multiple carries to get his gear in.
- Not really? Well, you need to contract with someone at Confluenzia and Plaza des Mulas to deal with toilet issues. I'm not sure how you could do this if you don't use mules. If you use mules, you'll use the provider's toilets at Confluenzia and Plaza des Mulas.
- Tell me more about the mules. Los Puquois operated very efficiently and I (and everyone else) would recommend them. We contacted them in advance via email to let them know we were coming. Just outside of Puente del Inca is their operation and the bus driver will drop you there if you ask (its about 1/2 mile from town). You package your gear into duffel bags (you bring them) of 20-30 kilos each. The bags get a numbered tag and are brought to Plaza des Mulas in one day. When you get there, the rangers will send you to the Los Puquois camp where you pitch a tent and pick up your gear. Your gear will get banged around, so pack carefully and use strong duffels. We paid about $160 each to have our gear hauled in and out. Contrary to what we read, the price is based on the weight, not on the number of mules required.
- Where do you camp? This isn't the US and the rangers want you camping only in certain places lower down on the mountain. On the Normal Route you'll camp for one or more nights at Confluenzia and Plaza des Mulas. Above Plaza des Mulas are a few high camps with only snow melt for water. These are Camp Canada, Nido des Condores, Camp Berlin, and Camp Cholera.
- Do you need rescue insurance?I believe, but was unable to confirm, that helicopter rides out for sick climbers are covered in the permit cost. You're traveling to a far off place and should consult your own health care provider to see if you'll be covered. You might need to get a sports rider added to your insurance.
- Are there doctors on the mountain? The are two stations staffed by nurses, and perhaps by an actual doctor. These are at Confluenzia and at Plaza des Mulas. There is a ranger hut at Nido des Condores where you might be able to get medical help. You are expected to check in with the nurses at the two camps to have your vitals measured and to get some standard advice.
- Do you need to speak Spanish? On the mountain, the rangers seem to be polyglots and their English was pretty solid. Most of the guiding services have a person or two who speak English, but the rest of the workers don't speak much. Oddly enough, the nurses didn't speak a whole lot of English. There was surprisingly little English spoken in Mendoza, except at the hostel where we stayed. You'll want to learn some basic Spanish to do things like ask for the check in a restaurant, order food, get a bus, etc.
- What kind of camera did you take? A tiny little Canon SD790 along with a 4 GB SDHC card. I brought a spare battery, but never needed to use it. If I were to go back I'd haul my bigger dSLR with me. The Aconcagua area is very, very scenic and I could have done a lot there.
- What about Mendoza? I've been to a lot of cities in a lot of countries and Mendoza has to be one of my favorites. The main part of town is clean, shady, safe, and the people are universally friendly and polite. As long as you like steak and potatoes the food is fantastic. Lodging is cheap (our private room in the hostel was something like $15 a night per person). Wine is outstanding and plentiful. The city is visually pleasing and there are numerous parks to hang out in until the wee hours of the morning.
- Are you going back?To Argentina, definitely. I probably won't try to climb Aconcagua again, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the time I had on the mountain. I just have a lot of other things that I want to do.