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.
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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!
Our team of climbers, cameramen and Argentina support staff after our climb and celebratory ‘asado’ (barbecue) in base camp. We had a wonderful expedition on Aconcagua, everyone is safely off the mountain, and now beginning the trek out from base camp. We are looking forward to arriving in Mendoza tonight and enjoying some warm weather!
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:
With all of the Aconcagua team safely down to base camp, expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides today’s expedition dispatch:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Aconcagua team. We are all back down in Plaza de Mulas base camp – 14,000 ft. on the normal route of Aconcagua. We had a great time on our expedition.
Yesterday our team went for the summit and we don’t want to reveal what happened on our summit attempt because we want to save it for TV show which is forecoming. But we’re all back down safe and the weather’s great. It’s been a fantastic team, great expedition. Just a wonderful experence here on Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres. Wonderful time in Argentina.
And our plan tomorrow is to trek out and head back to Mendoza. We’ll probaby get in late to Mendoza after an 18 mile trek out and 3 hour drive back to Mendoza. All’s well here on Aconcagua. We’ll check-in soon!
Sid Pattison, the barbecue chief!
Cacho, our Argentinian guide who leads our climbs exclusively and reached the summit of Aconcagua for his 50th time!
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on other expeditions in the 2020 season! Contact our office for details.
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/2020/02/2020-02-08-at-17.19.23.jpeg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2020-02-09 02:17:292020-03-03 21:16:38Team safely down to base camp
The Aconcagua team today moved up to Nido de Cóndores our Camp 2 at 5585m/18,325ft. Here’s Garrett’s dispatch:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Aconcagua climb. Today we climbed up to Camp 2 – Nido de Cóndores on Aconcagua on the normal route. Everybody did great! We got up to camp, set up our tents, relaxed a little bit, and then had a nice dinner. Now we are getting ready to go to bed. The weather’s pretty good up here – not too windy, sunny. We are hoping for a good day tomorrow to do a carry to Camp 3 if weather permits, otherwise we’ll probably take a rest day at Camp 2. Thanks for following along. We’ll check-in soon!
Camp 2 on Aconcagua
The view from Aconcagua Camp 2
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on other expeditions in the 2020 season! Contact our office for details.
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:
Team member Sid Pattison provides today’s expedition dispatch as the team moves up to Camp 1 on Aconcagua:
Well the team made it up to Camp 1 (5052m/16,575ft) in good style today. We are up here, we got to reap the benefits of food and water we brought up the other day. Now, after dinner the team is sitting around watching a lovely sunset under clear skies in the shadow of an alpenglow summit of Aconcagua. We shall rest well tonight! This is Sid Pattison signing off!
Aconcagua Camp 1 (5052m/16,575ft)
Sunset from Aconcagua Camp 1 (5052m/16,575ft)
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on other expeditions in the 2020 season! Contact our office for details.
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/2020/03/PHOTO-2020-02-01-15-55-34.jpg12001600Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2020-02-01 23:57:182020-03-03 19:34:02The move up to Camp 1
Our Aconcagua team made a carry of gear up to Camp 1 and returned to base camp today. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, provides this dispatch:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Aconcagua expedition. We had a great day doing a carry up to Camp 1 on Aconcagua today. It was sunny in the morning, clear, cold and we got up to Camp 1 – it was a little windy – cached our gear, our food, equipment, and personal items that we are going to retrieve when we move up to Camp 1 in a couple of days time.
Beautiful evening here in base camp, the stars are out, we had a wonderful dinner. We’re just relaxing, getting ready for bedtime and looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.
All’s well here on Aconcagua. Check-in soon.
Plaza de Mulas base camp
Carrying loads to camp 1 from base camp
Garrett & Sid in base camp with the peak behind
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on other expeditions in the 2020 season! Contact our office for details.
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:
The team had a rest day at Aconcagua base camp and is preparing to make their first carry up to Camp 1. Here’s expedition leader, Garrett Madison, with today’s dispatch:
Hello! This is Garrett checking-in for the Aconcagua expedition. Today is January 29th and we had a nice rest day here at Plaza de Mulas base camp. We organized gear today, did our medical checkups with the doctor, and strolled around camp.
We are looking forward to another great day tomorrow. Our plan is to get up and go for carry to Camp 1 and return to base camp.
Everyone’s doing great and we’re enjoying ourselves here at Aconcagua base camp.
By the way, it’s not too early to start making your plans to join us on other expeditions in the 2020 season! Contact our office for details.
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/2020/01/PHOTO-2020-01-29-16-51-19.jpg1024768Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2020-01-30 10:04:242020-01-30 15:59:42Rest day at Aconcagua base camp
aconcagua
