Aconcagua Expedition Dispatch

January 13, 2015 – Settling into Plaza Canada

We are here! It’s Tuesday afternoon and we have moved into our first high altitude camp, Plaza Canada.

The team was really strong today. They had their final carry of things to occupy this camp in about three hours and fifteen minutes. Everything was set up when we arrived. Our North Face tents, the big tent we call Big Agnes, Maria cooks in one side of it and we have a nice little room for tea and having our meals in the other. In fact when we arrived to Plaza Canada Maria had popcorn, tea and cookies already waiting for us.

Plaza Canada is a crowded camp but we’ve got a great space here with our Berg Adventures tents.

Today was clear. It was much better weather than yesterday.

This is a special night. We are eight nights out of Mendoza. We’ve been working on our acclimatization slowly. We spent two nights at Penitentes, three nights at Confluencia, and four nights at Plaza de Mulas and now we are on the mountain. It has paid off, the team looks really healthy.

Life is different now. This is the first time since we left Mendoza where we sit down for a meal and we won’t be sitting at a table. We will be living with our own high mountain gear, Maria cooking and the rest of the Bolivian staff helping us stay comfortable.

I like it up here, life is simple. It is a big deal to be hiking above 5,000m but this team is up for it! We’ve still got plenty of time and it’s beautiful up here at Plaza Canada this afternoon on Tuesday.