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
Today the team reached Plaza de Mules base camp and got settled in. The sat phone dispatch is a bit garbled but you can certainly make out that they like the comforts of the base camp:
Hello, this is Garrett calling in for the Aconcagua expedition. Today is January 28th and today we trekked from Confluencia camp up …[garbled]… great today and we are looking forward to taking a rest day tomorrow …[garbled]… clouded up a little …[garbled]… sun this afternoon …[garbled]… when we were in camp, but GREAT basecamp setup here — hot showers, excellent food, very relaxing and comfortable dinning tent, and great personal tents. So, we’re really comfortable here and everyone’s doing really well. Looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.
(photo: Madison Mountaineering archive)
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/2020/01/20100120-untitled-21947-scaled.jpg19202560Garretthttps://madisonmountaineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logomm-300x138.jpgGarrett2020-01-29 01:02:232020-01-30 15:58:23Plaza de Mules Base Camp
Congratulations to our Aconcagua team members that stood on the summit of South America yesterday! At 6961m / 22,837 ft., Aconcagua is the highest point in both the Western and Southern hemispheres. They made quick work of climbing up from Plaza Argentina base camp on 12/18 through camps 1, 2, and 3.
Today they made the descent from high camp (5989m / 19,650ft) to Plaza de Mulas base camp (4367m / 14,327ft). Everyone is safely off the mountain and looking forward to hiking down the Horcones valley tomorrow to the end of the trail and back to civilization with cold drinks and warm showers!
We will have more pictures and details soon. Merry Christmas to all!