preguntas about aconcagua

[Denizen]

are climbers required to hire guides?

is climbing possible in mid-march, or is this getting to be too late in the season?

please chime in with any other helpful information. there are four of us and we are planning to try the mountain in mid-march. suggestions for any other routes in south america that would be good in this season would also be greatly appreciated!

[joblo7]

i went 3/4 years ago and guides a were not mandatory.i think mid march is still fine if a little closer to tougher weather patterns which can be brutal there...i´m in peru right now and here the rainy season is approaching and the days climbing hours are from 6am to 12 noon, then fog/rain/graniso/snow..not alaskin type, just the annoying type..better to be above 5000m...

 

good luck

 

[hydroman]

When I was there in 2002 no guides where required. All you needed was the standard climbing permit. I went in late Dec early Jan so can’t say about the march weather. I would be prepared for potentially nasty storms by then though. Don’t underestimate the mountain. Yeah, it’s technically easy (at least the normal route) but it can get cold. When acclimatizing at base camp people were coming down from high camp with frostbite from temps around 30 below zero (F). It’s doesn’t have a lot of snow on it but it can get cold enough to give you problems if you are not prepared. The wind can get pretty bad as well.

 

I know that near the end of the season the rangers go around and do some sort of cleanup to take care of the trash of many lazy climbers. Not sure if the season if over then and they close down or what.

 

FYI, Pit toilets were available to base camp but not above. They have a huge toilet problem at the three high camps on the normal route. Any big rock you go behind was a mine field of hundreds of piles of poo. Besides us and better quality guided groups I didn’t see or hear of anyone else using blue bags. We spent a while talking to rangers about it and left a few blue bags with them and demoed their use with rocks. They were looking for a solution and liked the idea and gladly took our unsused extras for samples on the way out. They have a problem and know it and seemed a bit unsure of what to do. They did say they were always very impressed with americans in terms of cleaning up for themselves and not leaving trash (poo/ old food/caches) on the mountain. They pretty much said they had to really keep an eye on everyone else. It was an interesting conversation anyhow.

 

I don’t know what route you are considering but from talking to descending climbers many said the 19k high camp was nasty and hard to find clean water. Due to this we skipped and went from middle camp (17k) to the summit in one push. It’s very doable and worth considering if you are well acclimatized. Good luck.

 

[ryland_moore]

No guides are required. The Polish Glaicer was really dry and bullet proof when I was there in March '99. We went late sn the season after climbing for two months in Ecaudor, Peru and Bolivia. The permit is cheaper in March than in Jan/Feb. but your weather window is smaller. We did not summit. Turned around on the False Polish at Berlin at 18,000' after spending almost a week waiting for a weather window. Never came. Chad Kellogg was up there guiding a client from Mountain Madness at the same time. After everyone left, Chad and the client stayed in the hut for another 10 days or so to wait out the weather and they finally got the summit. It was almost the end of March when they came down. You will have less opportunity to make the summit in March due normally to weather, but it can still be done. Some of the best weather we experienced our entire trip in South Amer end of March/early April '99ica was two weeks of solid sunshine in Los Glacieres National Park. Not a single climber in any of the camps and bluebird days all day long over Fitzroy and Torre. Incredible. just check it out, be safe, and go down if the weather looks bad.