Mt. Aconcagua, Climbing Story
Christine Chan brings the story of a friend she met in Argentina that climbed Mt. Aconcagua:
It usually takes 12-13 days to climb to the top. The first few days looked like a big dust bowl. The winds are so heavy that they can blow you over. The temperature is below zero. We dodge rocks carrying 80 pounds of equipment. The most frustrating part are the walls. After 12 hours of hiking, you can spend another four hours climbing a 400 foot wall. Some days you are so tired that you spend the day at camp. You sleep, walk around, play cards, melt snow for water, spend an hour cooking each meal, and allow your body to acclimatize.
I know you don’t believe me, but it is absolutely beautiful up there. The sunsets take an hour and half to set because you are up so high. We have to wear special goggles to block out the UV rays. After the 10th day, you can see both the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. It gives the phrase “on top of the world” an entirely different meaning. The stars were the best part. They were so close I swear I could grab them. You can actually see the Southern Cross. When I got down, I wanted to go up again for that very reason.
On the last day, we saw a snowstorm forming. We were just 1000 feet from the summit - a four to five hour climb - and we knew this was our only opportunity. The scary part was if you fell, you’d probably die. We consumed sugar constantly to keep us moving. We had nothing but an ice axe, crampons, and two walking sticks to get us up a wall of ice. While I was attaching my crampons, my glove blew away in the 120 m.p.h. winds. I had worked so hard that I didn’t want to turn back despite the temperature being around -90 degrees. I lasted about an hour more before I decided that losing my hand wasn’t worth it. Turning back was the easiest and most difficult decision of my life. When I got back, I found out that the guys I was with went missing. Helicopters searched for them for two days before finding them frozen and barely alive.
I felt so drawn to the story and the mountain that I couldn’t resist starting to find the next expedition to the mountain so far I’ve found this expedition information from HimalayanExpeditions and I can’t afford the price just yet but I’m sure going to plan toward it.
