Cerro Aconcagua, 6,952 meters, is the highest mountain outside of the greater Himalaya. From Feb 11th until the 22nd, I completed a trek all the way around the mountain.The adventure I chose had two parts.
First, circumambulate the mountain carrying all my own gear, and using only public buses to get to and from. Many climbers attempt the normal routes each year, and the vast majority use jeeps, mules, and porters to ensure they do little in the way of carrying much on their backs.
Second, attempt a new route on the north-east face, just to the right of the Polish glacier.
Mule train while approaching via the Horcones Valley.
Plaza de Mulas basecamp. Most days I was on the mountain evening snowstorms followed relatively good daytime weather.
This storm cleared in time for an amazing sunset. My little tent at Nido de Condores.
From Nido de Condores on the normal route, I climbed to 19,700, and then began traversing the lower North Face. The route I had in mind was clear on the other side of the mountain. Eventually I arrived at a camp just below the Polish Glacier. In the photo above, the route is pretty much directly over my head, up mixed ground to steep rock below the summit.
I spent 3 days and 3 nights at my high camp, with clearish weather, but constant gale force winds. As you can see above, the wind constantly strips snow from the upper mountain in a huge, billowing plume.
The view of Aconcagua, on the left, up the Relinchos Valley as I descend. The winds were too strong for me to stick my neck out on the unexplored terrain I wanted to climb. A few climbers summitted via the normal route on the other side of the mountain during this time. I was looking for something different, and never really considered summitting via an existing route.
Waiting for the bus... 11 days, 65 miles, 7800ft to 20,000ft and back down to 7200ft again. It was a good adventure. And good exercise too!
