The team brought in the New Year with an acclimatization hike around Base Camp, as they prepare to make their first carry up to Camp 1 tomorrow! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with todays dispatch from Plaza de Mulas:
We had a great day today! The weather was really nice – clear skies all day with great views of fresh snow on the upper mountain. We spent the morning acclimatizing by walking above base camp, beyond the historic hotel here near Plaza de Mulas. And then, in the afternoon we got some showers and started sorting gear for our first carry to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft), which will happen tomorrow.
So we just finished dinner! It was great – shepherds pie and then nice, chocolate mousse dessert. We’re getting ready for bed and tomorrow the plan is to carry up to Camp 1.
So, all is well here in Argentina and we’ll be in touch tomorrow!
Snow in the mountains above base camp!
Our climber, TJ, acclimatizing above base camp. Photo: Terray Sylvester
Lunch in base camp.
Lunch is served!
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https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/PHOTO-2023-01-01-16-07-27.jpg400600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2023-01-01 23:29:552023-01-02 19:11:28Preparing for the Carry to Camp 1
Happy New Years Eve from the tallest mountain in South America, Aconcagua! Today, the team moved up from Confluencia Camp to their Base Camp, where they plan to take a rest day tomorrow. The team hiked through snowy conditions today, but looks forward to sunshine in the forecast in the days coming! Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with todays dispatch from Plaza de Mulas:
Today we made good time from Confluencia Camp (3436m/11,273ft) to Base Camp at Plaza de Mulas (4367m/14,327ft)! There’s a little storm system moving through, so we had some light snow on the way. But, it was actually really nice hiking conditions with no wind and no dust in the Horcones Valley.
So, now we’re at Plaza de Mulas! We’re just about to sit down for dinner. All is well here and we’re looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. The weather forecast is sunny, so it should be a really nice day here at about 4,200 meters on Aconcagua!
We’ll be in touch tomorrow.
Gaining elevation en route to Plaza de Mulas. Photo: Terray Sylvester
New Year’s Eve dinner in base camp: salmon and roasted potatoes.
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions. Just say, “Alexa, play my flash briefing.“
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PHOTO-2022-12-31-13-31-04.jpg400600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-12-31 11:30:482023-01-02 18:25:11New Years Eve on Aconcagua!
The Aconcagua team are now all back down to base camp safely after standing on the summit of the highest point in South America. Here’s expedition leader Garrett Madison with today’s expedition dispatch:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Aconcagua team dispatch. Today’s Friday, February 11th.
Today we descended from Camp 3 (5989m/19,650ft) on Aconcagua down to base camp (4367m/14,327ft). We had a nice day. Got down in the early afternoon, set up camp, took some showers, had a nice barbeque lunch, and a celebration dinner this evening. Everyone’s doing great, we’re happy to be down here in base camp after our summit day yesterday where everyone made it to the top and had great views from the summit.
We’ve heading out tomorrow, hiking back to the Horcones trailhead and then driving to Mendoza.
All’s well here in Argentina. We’ll check in soon.
On the way up to the top of Aconcagua
Celebration toast in base camp for 100% Aconcagua summit success!
Climbing to the top of Aconcagua at sunrise
View from Aconcagua high camp of the moon and sunset
Sunset on Aconcagua
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https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/PHOTO-2022-02-11-18-45-05.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-02-12 02:51:292022-02-12 04:59:51Back Down to Base Camp
Fantastic news! The entire Aconcagua team stood on the summit (6961m/22,837ft) today and are now safely back down to Camp 3. Here’s team member Krisli Melesk reporting the happy news:
I have some excellent news! The whole team who we started with in Mendoza has just summitted and we are back safely in Camp 3! We just has some nice beverages and also some snacks. Everybody is in high spirits and we’re looking forward to heading back to base camp for some warm showers tomorrow and some more beverages, maybe. Haha.
Everybody’s doing great and we have an excellent team. Everybody been super casual and super nice. The weather has been amazing today, we were so lucky – clear skies and beautiful views.
I think that’s me over and out. Lots of love to everybody, family, and friends. Bye now!
(photo from the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua archives)
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
Our 2022 Aconcagua team has moved up to High Camp (C3) (5989m/19,650ft) and is in position for the summit attempt tonight! Here’s team member, Todd Ammerman, with today’s dispatch:
We moved from Camp 2 to Camp 3 which I have now learned is at approximately 19,700ft (6005m). We are getting well hydrated and fueled up. We’ll start tomorrow for an early summit push. Everybody is here and in good shape and good spirit.
We are looking for a wonderful day tomorrow. Hopefully this next dispatch will have great success stories. Until then!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
Making a slight change of plans to optimize the summit day forecasted weather, our Aconcagua team made a light carry up to High Camp (C3) (5989m/19,650ft) and returned to Nido de Condores Camp (C2) (5522m/18,117ft) for the night. Calling in via sat phone, here’s team member Peter Horsman with today’s expedition dispatch:
Instead of moving to Camp 3, we actually had a change in schedule because it looks like weather is significantly improving. So instead of summiting on the 9th, we are now summiting on the 10th, hopefully. So today we actually had a great day. We had, again, a wonderful breakfast by our Agentinian guides Neno and Cacho. Then we took some gear and food and clothing up to Camp 3. A pretty nice hike – wonderful weather, great scenery.
Overall the team is doing really, really well. We’re all feeling very strong and are very excited to move to Camp 3 tomorrow where we will then spend a couple of hours of sleep and then the day after tomorrow we’re going to go for a summit attempt.
All is well here in Camp 2 and Melina, I love you. Bye bye.
(photo from the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua archives)
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Aconcagua-product01.jpg13332000Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-02-08 22:58:322022-02-11 04:08:38Dialing in the Best Summit Day
Our Aconcagua team moved up to Nido de Condores Camp (C2) (5522m/18,117ft) yesterday and are enjoying a rest day today. Here’s team member, Peter Horsman, with today’s dispatch and the plan for the days ahead:
Today we are having a really nice rest day. We’ve just been served amazing pizza by Neno and Cacho, who are our Argentinian guides and are amazing. Everything is going really well! The team’s feeling well. It’s a really nice, sunny day here. We’re all feeling the altitude a little bit, but that’s normal at this altitude.
Our plan is to move to Camp 3 tomorrow. And then, hopefully, try for the summit on the 9th, so the day after tomorrow.
Everybody is feeling really strong. Garrett‘s doing well, he’s smiling, cutting the pizza for us! Maybe the whole team can say something like… I don’t know… shout something. “Yee-haw!” That was [garbled] in case you were wondering. “Viva Aconcagua!” Viva Aconcagua, that’s good.
All right, well thank you. You’ll hear more from us tomorrow. Melina, I love you and I’ll see you soon. Bye, bye.
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
Back in base camp (4367m/14,327ft) for the night, our Aconcagua team completed their gear carry to Camp 1 (5060m/16,600ft) today to prepare for their move up to Camp 1 tomorrow, weather pending. Here’s team member, Erwin Visser, from Plaza de Mulas base camp with today’s expedition dispatch:
Hey! This is Erwin Visser calling from Aconcagua base camp. We had a great day today.
We went up to camp 1, or also called Camp Canada (5060m/16,600ft), to do a carry. We brought water and fuel and food already to camp 1 so when we are going to go on our move trying to make the summit, we already didn’t have to carry that up at the same time. It was a pretty special day today for me – because it was my first time reaching 5000m! I did all my climbing in Europe in the Alps as well as in the state of Washington and, frankly, there are no peaks there of 5000m. So it was kind of a personal record and a nice moment for me to hit that altitude.
We have a great team here. I saw everybody made it easy up to camp 1. Everybody’s pretty strong here, so it was great to see how well we did – how fast we did. The second milestone for today is that we also did our medical test and everybody passed – also great news. They test your blood pressure, as well as your blood oxygen levels to make sure that you are safe going up to the mountain. And great to hear that everybody made it. So, yeah, we as a team we’re ready to go when the weather is good. Tomorrow that is our plan. Our plan is that when the weather is good, we are going up to camp 1 with all our stuff and start our summit attempt. Which means going to camp 1, camp 2, camp 3, hopefully the summit, camp 3, and then back to base camp.
I also have a couple of personal messages here: First, big thanks to all the people that are following us as a team, but also personally me. Your encourging words or texts means a lot to everyone. A couple of call outs specifically, one is that it’s really super to hear that my nine-year-old nephew Will that his whole class is following the climb. It’s exciting to hear that they do it! And hey Will when I’m back I’m coming to your class again and will show the pictures. Yeah, also a quick shout out to Juliette, my 17-year-old daughter who becomes 18 on the 12th. I feel really bad that I’m not going to be there and hey Juliette I’m going to make it up with you so I promise.
Yes, that’s kinda it. Hey as a closing I really wanna thank everybody again following us, following the whole team. Special call out to Sara, my Mom of course, Karen, and all the kids.
So hey we will check in with a new dispatch hopefully tomorrow. Thank you!
Camp 1 on Aconcagua
Plaza de Mulas base camp on Aconcagua
Sunset on Aconcagua
Trekking up to base camp on Aconcagua
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
Our Aconcagua team enjoyed a nice rest day at Plaza de Mulas base camp as they prepare to make their first carry to Camp 1 tomorrow. Once again, here’s team member Peter Horsman with the expedition dispatch:
We had a great rest day here at Plaza de Mulas Aconcagua base camp. Really good, kind of mixed weather with some snow, some rain, some hail. It’s a little bit chilly but beautiful views of the huge mountain ahead of us. We are having a really great time – we’re all in great spirit, we’re having a lot of fun together and we’re excited about tomorrow because tomorrow we are going to do a carry to Camp 1. And then we’re going to come back here for the rest of the night.
Everything is going well. We’re all in good spirits. And quick “Hi!” to Melina. I love you and I’ll see you soon. Bye-bye!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/PHOTO-2022-02-03-16-11-44.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-02-04 00:08:092022-02-10 20:51:52Rest Day at Plaza de Mulas base camp
Today the Aconcagua team completed the trek in by hiking from Confluencia Camp (3436m/11,273ft) to Plaza de Mulas base camp (4367m/14,327ft). Here’s team member, Peter Horsman, taking full advantage of the base camp Wi-Fi to provide today’s dispatch:
We are here at base camp at Plaza de Mulas. It is a beautiful day. We had a great hike up from the first camp and everyone is doing really well. We have a really strong team with a lot of fun and some experience, as well. We just saw, just a stunning sunset on Mount Aconcagua.
It’s really nice to be here, we have great food, and, of course we have a great guide team with Garrett but also with Cacho and Neno, two local Argentinian guides who are really, really good people.
So yeah, we’re very excited and looking forward to the days ahead. Looks like tomorrow we’ll have a well-deserved rest day!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
https://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PHOTO-2020-01-30-18-20-12.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2022-02-03 00:09:452022-02-03 01:21:11Plaza de Mulas Base Camp!
