First Move, Day Eight

We took our second rest day yesterday, after carrying our load up to camp 1 the day before. It was very important to plan enough time to acclimatize during the expedition.  About 4,000 people attempt Aconcagua each year, but less than 25% reach it’s summit. It is not a technically hard climb, which is why climbers tend to be complacent and try to climb faster, more than 2000 feet a day. They don’t take the time to properly acclimatize and pay for it later on.

Apparently there have been a few deaths on the mountain this season.  A team of four climbers were lost on the Polish Glacier route.  A severe storm came in and they were not able to retreat.  Also, a very respected Argentinean guide who had climbed the mountain several times before died of cerebral oedema near the summit.

Today was a good day for climbing, the weather was perfect and we moved the remainder of our gear up to camp 1 in only three hours: I was feeling great, my body was adapting very well. Things were moving along so well that if we still felt VERY strong the following day, we would immediately carry our load to camp 2 at 19,000 feet, and then take our rest day. By taking advantage of the good weather, we could possibly save a day on the expedition, or it would give us an extra summit day if needed.