Aconcagua Expedition Dispatch

January 16, 2012 – The Team Arrives in Mendoza and Travels to Los Penitentes

Sunny, summertime Mendoza, Argentina is a very pleasant place. We are an expedition of 10 climbers from Canada and Bolivia. Each of us has arrived here in Mendoza from a very different climate. Osvaldo, Maria and Sergio, Berg Adventure Bolivian staff members live at 13,125ft/4,000m on the Altiplano above La Paz. The rest of us arrived from various parts of wintertime Canada. On the day when Paule and Linda arrived from Ottawa it was 100 degrees F / 38 celesus. It has cooled off a bit since, but we are definitely in summertime here in Mendoza and it feels good. Of course, Aconcagua, the highest summit of the Western Hemisphere, await us; it will be getting cooler soon!

Over the past few days the rest of our group has arrived as well: Paul and Lisa arrived from Fort St John, BC, Winston from Toronto and Howard from Calling Lake, AB.

Probably the most adventurous travel of our entire group of 10 to reach Mendoza was the Bolivians who drove all the way from Bolivia through the northern border of Argentina. They are using a vehicle that we use on many of our South American adventures and with them they brought a lot of Berg Adventures equipment for the Aconcagua expedition. That vehicle will remain parked near the National Park entrance in case we need it during the trip. Good job to Osvaldo, Maria and Sergio for the long journey bringing the vehicle all the way from Bolivia.

Of course, Mariela was waiting for us soon after we arrived at the Park Hyatt in Mendoza with her beautiful smile and relaxed manner. I keep calling her on the cell phone to check in and remind her about various things we need to do for the trip, but her phone is always off. She had to remind me something I should remember from one year to the next and that is that she always medicates for a few hours every morning. So that is why I can’t reach her in the mornings, but it is also one reason why she is always so relaxed and efficient when she is organizing things for us in Mendoza. She offers us great logistical support on all of our Aconcagua expeditions.

Osvaldo and the Canadian climbers are over at the Provincial Park headquarters buying their permits right now. Then, on the way back from getting the permits the group is going to stop at our favorite mountaineering store here in Mendoza to visit our friend Jose Luis. Lisa and Howard both have some gear they would like to rent to take to Aconcagua. We have a van waiting and hopefully by 11 or 1130 am we will be driving out from Mendoza towards the mountains and the Chilean border to the town of Penitentes at 8,530ft/2,600m above sea level. We will spend the next two nights beginning our acclimatization, finishing preparations for the climb of Aconcagua, and getting our bags ready for the mules to take to Confluencia and on to Plaza de Mulas. Tonight we will let our lungs breathe high mountain air and hopefully tomorrow will we get our first view of Aconcagua.