Aconcagua, February 2005

Aconcagua (22,841 feet) is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.

     

Only a few days after I climbed Aconcagua solo in Feb '04 I got an email from my brother, Chris, saying that he wanted to take a stab at this peak. It sounded like fun to kick around South America and climb with Chris, so I agreed to go back. Buzz Burrell had been denied the summit in 2004 due to a theft, so wanted another chance to tag it. Lots more pics are on my page from the 2004 trip, click here.
 

hiking up the Horcones Valley	Refugio Plaza de Mulas, 14,300 feet	Its cold inside!	Chris goes the hard way: camping on the mountain

    We walked in to Base Camp at Plaza de Mulas on Tuesday. On Wednesday Buzz and I rested and goofed around, while Chris hiked up to a higher camp. On Thursday Buzz and I went for the summit, and Chris moved his camp up to Nido de Condores (18,000 feet). He summitted on Friday.     Buzz & I went up the Normal Route to Nido de Condores. Then had a brain fart and decided the direct ascent via the Gran Acarreo looked good. This is not a good route because of loose scree and bad snow conditions, but anyway we muddled along and reached the traverse below the Caneletta without any problems, then continued up the Normal Route. It took 10 hours from Plaza de Mulas to the summit, which I think was pretty good since Buzz had arrived unacclimated from the USA on Monday! (I was well acclimated from 3 weeks in Bolivia) We descended via the Normal Route and got back in time for a nice supper at the Hotel Plaza de Mulas.     Weather was superbe, nice and warm without much wind. The Normal Route was in pretty good shape, though a little more snow would be preferable. The Canaletta was not in good shape, no snow to speak of so it was all annoying loose rocks.

Goofing off	3 dogs joined us for the climb	21,500 feet	Old dogs napping on the summit!
Looking down the precipitous south face	Descending the infamous Caneletta	Trail running at 21,000 feet	Chris' camp at Nido de Condores

     

While Chris was busy with the summit, Buzz and I the day to run into Plaza Francia and check out Aconcagua's huge south face. This face is around 9,000 feet high and extremely intimidating. Rock, snow, ice and water cascade continuously down the face. We spent a lot of time staring up at the face in horror at the thought of anyone climbing it. Of course, we took a lot of photos!

Aconcagua South Face	Hero shot	"Let's go!"

     

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