After about two weeks in the Andean mountains we are back in Mendoza, Argentina, where we started our expedition to Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America.
We started our trip with a three days’ hike up to the Plaza Argentina base camp at 4200 meters. This was the easiest part for us because mules carried most of our baggage. We even had one river crossing on the back of mules which was fun. Above base camp, there were three more camps before we could try to reach the summit. At camp 2 (5400 m) we were stuck for four nights because of a storm that brought quite a bit of snow, before we could move on to camp 3 at 5900 m.
At 5 AM Monday morning we left the camp and started the ascent to the summit, wearing our headlamps in a cold night. The way to the summit was pretty long and tough. The snow was knee-deep, and although our guide Chhering did a fabulous job breaking the trail for us, I was very exhausted the further up we came. At 2 PM we finally reached the summit and were rewarded with a stunning 360 degrees view and hardly any clouds.
The way back down to our camp took us three and a half hours. The next day we descended to base camp Plaza de Mulas on the other side of the mountain and were lucky to get a helicopter flight out to the trailhead instead of hiking out the next day.
Now we are enjoying the Argentinian summer and cuisine in Mendoza. I stay here until tomorrow, then I’ll spend a couple of days in Buenos Aires before I return to Norway on Saturday.
Mountain panorama on summit day right after sunrise
Mules – our trusted partners on the way to base camp
Day 3 on the way to base camp – Aconcagua in the background
Sunrise on summit day
View from camp 2 after the storm
Summited (from left to right): Mr. Nansen, Jodi, Stephan and Richard
Descent from high camp to base camp
Short break with guides Ryan (left) and Chhering (right)