skyclimb Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Anyone climb Aconcagua this season, and if so how was it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilly Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 My wife and I with two of our climbing partners made an attempt mid-January but unfortunatley we were weathered out at 16,200. Otherwise, we had a great time and learned alot about expedition climbing and will take a bit less equipment and food next time we go. I don't know how much info. you wanted but basically we hit a bad weather window for two days at 16,200. We then went down to base camp and got dumped on by a foot of snow. At base camp we heard a forecast for bad weather for the next 2-3 days. So after ten days on the mountain we hightailed it out and spent the rest of our trip touring up and down Chile for 16 days. Next time we will go back with lighter loads and do a few things different. Altogether a great experience with my wife and friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montana_Climber Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 A friend of mine from Germany topped out on March 3. He said he ended up getting a good weather window, probably right after Chilly's bad window. Â He went up the Normal Route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegetablebelay Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Some guy named Dan - did some kinda record down there, or so I heard... Â http://www.mounteverest.net/news/newspages/howitt021003.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin_B Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 A couple friends of mine summited ~Dec 26. I'll ask them if I can post the email TR they sent. Basically they had an awesome time with good weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryland_moore Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Don't care about the weather. Pretty standard down there each year. What I am more concerned with are the crowds. I went in March 99 and practically no one was there as it was the end of the climbing season, but hear it gets pretty bad in Jan/Feb. Any input on this issue? Polish Glacier crowds vs. Routa Normal side? Anyone? If I ever go back, I refuse to go anywhere near the Normal Route or Flase Polish side as it is nothing more than a high altitude hiking trail on choss and scree with a little snow near the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montana_Climber Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 I climbed the Normal Route from Dec 27, 1997 to January 3, 1998. The route had about 400 climbers on it at the time - definitely a circus. It was in the middle of their high season. Â I'm going back next year and looking to do the Polish Glacier this time or if I have a very strong partner, perhaps the East Glacier. I want to avoid those crowds and scree again as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin_B Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 My friends said I could post their TR so here it is. Â From: Victoria ------ Sent: Sunday, December 29, 2002 2:29 PM Subject: Success on Aconcagua! Â ...Ken and I have great news ... on the afternoon of December 26, we summited Aconcagua! At 22,841 ft (6962 m), Aconcagua stands as the highest mountain outside of Asia. Although we took the Normal Route to the top, which is a walkup, it was probably the most physically and mentally challenging thing Ive ever done in my life. And, after fourteen days on the mountain, we were pretty ready to be finished. Â Â A little about the climb... The trailhead, Horcones, is at 9350 ft (2850 m). We set off for low camp the first day and spent two nights there and then proceded to base camp. (In the meantime, a mule had carried half of our 80 kg load to base camp.) At 14,000 ft (4265 m), base camp is almost as high as the summit of Rainier. We spent four nights there and Ken was very sick for two full days. Fortunately, whatever he was suffering from (probably AMS) subsided, so we were able to go higher. We made a carry (carried half of our equipment) to Camp I and moved camp (carried the other half of our equipment) the following day. We spent two nights at Camp I at an elevation of 16,1000 ft (4910 m) and were feeling great, so during that time, we made a carry to Camp II and moved camp the next day. Our Camp II was Nido de Condores at 17,650 ft (5380 m). After the first night there, we were feeling great, so I suggested going for the summit the next day. This diverged drastically from our original plan of more acclimatization at Nido, then making a Camp III at Plaza Berlin, the place most people use as their high camp. We had also planned on doing some acclimatization hikes above Berlin. At 19,000 ft (5780 m), Berlin makes for a good camp from which to summit. However, by the time we arrived at Nido, we had been on the mountain for nine days and I was getting a little restless for some reason. Ken (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to the proposed summit attempt and said that if we didnt make it, we could at least use it as an acclimatization hike (since we had done none from Nido as of yet). So, on Wednesday, December 26, we got up at 4am and got ready for the attempt. We were out of camp by 5:30am and used our headlamps to locate the route. The sun rose shortly thereafter and we climbed and climbed. The wind was really strong and a little scary on the steep slopes. However, we both felt really strong and neither of us had even a slight headache so we continued. At Independencia at 20,900 ft (6370 m), we strapped on our crampons and kept them for the remainder of the climb, which consisted of mixed snow, ice, and scree. It was really, really difficult. The last 1300 ft of the climb are in a horrible scree shute which takes about 2 hours to top. But we did, and at 1:30pm after 8 hours and 5200 ft since high camp, we summited. From talking to rangers and other climbers, this is an incredibly fast summit time, especially from Nido de Condores, a seldomly used high camp. We were pretty psyched to be on top! Â Â Going down was much harder (for me at least) than going up because the lack of oxygen was having a strange impact on the muscles. My quads were quivering really badly and I was sure my legs would give out as I negotiated the scree and snow with my crampons. But, after 4.5 hours, we got down safely and collapsed in our tent at Nido. The next day, we hauled our 10 extra days of food and fuel back down to basecamp ... we had no idea we would summit so early in the climb! And the following day, we hiked the entire 25 miles out to the road where we got a ride back to Penitentes and a shower ... finally! So thats the short version of our 14 days on Aconcagua. It was an incredible experience... Ken and I both feel a great sense of accomplishment. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salbrecher Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 In general, what sees more traffic, Aconcagua or those mexican volcanoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 salbrecher said: In general, what sees more traffic, Aconcagua or those mexican volcanoes. Â Aconcagua. there are 3 prized mex. volc. (popo, orizaba, ixta. in order of popularity) versus one Aconcagua and the climbing season is longer in mexico. if you want to avoid most of the crowds on Aconcagua, stay away from the normal route. The Polish glacier is less crowded and is equivalent to an easy/moderate volcano climb in the NW in terms of technical difficulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 let me amend my previous post because Popo probably sees more traffic (it is a fav. of the locals) but the lack of a huge international basecamp at the base of the standard route like at aconcagua results in a less crowded experience (especially mid-week). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa_Eagle Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Is Popo open again? (well, legally, that is) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 I read somewhere, a few month back, it was officially closed but I don't really know. Perhaps Glen had some pertinent info on how active it is at the present time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryland_moore Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Last winter, Ixta was closed as well. I have been to both, and Aconcagua was more crowded duirng the off season in March then Orizaba was in mid-January during the peak. We only saw 5 other parties on Orizaba, while there were over 30 on Aconcagua. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa_Eagle Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 j_b said: I read somewhere, a few month back, it was officially closed but I don't really know. Perhaps Glen had some pertinent info on how active it is at the present time. Â Closed because it had the nerve to start erupting... the bastard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bchaps Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Ixta was closed? I climbed it on 11/01. Oops.. Maybe that's why I only saw one other party the whole time on the "La Arista del Sol" route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa_Eagle Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 bchaps said: Ixta was closed? I climbed it on 11/01. Oops.. Maybe that's why I only saw one other party the whole time on the "La Arista del Sol" route. Â Last I checked, Ixtas fine. I thought that Popo was officially closed (i.e. either sneak past the guard or bribe him .) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryland_moore Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Last winter (2002), both were closed because of the blast radius from Popo over to Ixta. We went down there planning on climbing Ixta, but found out we couldn't get up there (most almost no snow on it from the blast from Popo). Ixta had dark cinder stains on it but not sure if that was from Popo's eruption or not. Popo became really active Fall 2001. I am not sure what the regs are now. So we just climbed the little 14k volcano and Orizaba, then headed over to the coast for a sun tan, margaritas, discoteques, and latin ladies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Orizaba is a much better climb anyway so you did not miss much. Â Closed because it had the nerve to start erupting... the bastard! Â I know these volcanoes 'are quite stupid'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa_Eagle Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 j_b said: Orizaba is a much better climb anyway so you did not miss much. Â Closed because it had the nerve to start erupting... the bastard! Â I know these volcanoes 'are quite stupid'! Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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