Located near Mendoza in Argentina, Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas at 6,962m (22,841 ft). As the tallest peak in South America it is considered one of the the Seven Summits and thus a very popular mountain to climb. Most people climb the Ruta Normal or Normal Route. I chose to climb the Guanacos Valley route with Aventura Patagonicas because it leaves more time for acclimatization, is more scenic and far less crowded. Unfortunately, I found out just days before my expedition was to begin the Argentinean government had closed the Guanacos Valley route to climbers for the 2006/07 season and my expedition group was to climb a hybrid route combining the Ameghino Valley and Guanacos Valley routes.

My desire to climb Mt. Aconcagua was not driven by any single motivation. My trip to South America was originally meant to focus on exploring Patagonia. However, I’ve always enjoyed reading mountaineering stories and summiting Aconcagua seemed like an achievable goal for a novice like myself and the mountain isn’t far from where I was planning to trek in Patagonia. Armed only with an adventurous spirit and curiosity I joined an expedition with ten strangers to learn if I had what it takes.

I did not have any basic or high-altitude mountaineering experience prior to this trip. In 1999 I had trekked to an altitude of 5,545m (18,192 ft) when I hiked to Kala Pattar, a small peak near the Base Camp on the Nepalese side of Mt. Everest. I was reasonably fit this year from a cardiovascular perspective since I trained for and ran the 2006 Chicago Marathon only a few months before the expedition began. I knew very little about Aconcagua and naively considered it to be an easy peak to summit. As I was to learn many people climb Aconcagua in preparation for an attempt at Mt. Everest and any attempt to summit Aconcagua is a very serious endeavor.

While I was on the mountain some very brief updates were posted based on reports filed via the expedition satellite phone. I’ve decided to post a recap of the expedition, broken into several posts, so friends and family can read more about the details of my trip. I also hope sharing my experience will be useful to others who are considering a summit attempt on Aconcagua so they might better know what to expect and how to prepare.