SUNDAY, JANUARY 8 - ACONCAGUA - (by Tim)

Since I was the one pushing for the side trip to the tallest mountain this side of Nepal, I´m taking a stab at this blogging thing.

As a set-up, about 8 years ago I had a chance to meet a guy named Skip who´d first led people to the top of the seven summits. (the tallest mountain on each continent) This piqued an interest on my part and has led to an interest at taking a look at these big mountains. A trip to Kilimanjaro has been discussed for a few years, but being in South America, number 2 on the list is Aconcagua, a 7,000 meter peak (23,000) that sticks out of the Andes between Argentina and Chile. Seemed a shame to get all the way down here and not sniff this one out, especially during the trekking season.

On our flight over from Buenos Aires I happened to have the window seat and noticed this big mountain sticking out of the Andes range which was about as high as the plane itself. As luck would have it, some engineer from Vermont was sitting next to us and later mentioned that he´d done a day trip to Aconcagua on his last trip to Santiago. He couldn´t remember the name of the tour, only that it was ¨some guy with a van.¨ Though google didn´t turn anything up, Blake later found a brochure at the tourist station at Santa Lucia, and we were able to coordinate a sunday day-trip.

Early in the morning, Blake, Lindsay (a fellow UNC MBA), myself, a pair of Spaniards , and 3 Uruguayans boarded the aforementioned van piloted by a guy named Christian (an Argentinian now in Chile who gave up a desk job 5 years ago to lead 110 trips like this a year). All of our traveling companions speak a version of Spanish which is much more clear than the Chilean version, so we were able to chat them up a bit and get some get ideas about things to do in the coming weeks. (in addition to class of course....)

After 3 or so hours of climbing from the 3,000 foot elevation of Santiago to the over 10,000 ft boarder crossing we made it to Argentinian customs. (sidebar, Chile and Argentina have an interesting political relationship and border crossings are more complex than they need be) Crossing through a 3 km tunnel, we made it officially to Argentina and got our first look at Aconcagua, which is Quechan for ¨Stone Guardian.¨ We spent some time at an Incan place with some cool hydrological stuff going on. This is the first stop for folks doing the 11-14 day ascent who are getting used to the altitude.

Before long, we found ourselves eating ¨huesos¨, which are a poor man´s lunch of sorts at the base of the mountain, some 10 miles horizontally and 2 miles vertically south of the south face of this snow covered-mountain. Framed in picture perfect form by smaller mountains on either side, a valley opened which seemed to lead right up to the 1,000 foot thick glacier which protects the south face. To offset the urge to make a go of it, the Argentinians National Park Service has their permit and trekking information here, complete with an emergency evacuation helicopter. (your permit fee covers this, btw) Some 2,500 people a year actually make it to the top via the popular North Route, roughly 60% of those who make a serious effort.

Talked out of skipping the rest of my program, we headed off ourselves for a 2 mile day trip directly towards the mountain along the snow-melt rivers which are peaking at this time in the middle of the summer. Lots of photo ops, and lots of time to ponder exactly how big this mountain is as you get closer and closer to the base. I´ll let the photos (more to come) do the rest of the talking, but appreciate that rather than cross this one off the list, we may need to return to take a closer look one day.

Our travels home took us via Portillo, one of the best ski resorts in the southern hemisphere and a popular place for the US Ski team when they train over the summer months. Deserted at this time of year, the resort is very different than those in the US, with only one hotel around a large lake a very quaint feel. (note that skiing is much cheaper down here, so if you can weather the 11 hour flight, you´ll save some funds and enjoy fewer crowds)

The balance of the trip (including another painful customs crossing) went without a hitch and we returned to Santiago to make plans for a Chilean BBQ with our hosts. (blog forthcoming)