Tag Archive for: Plaza Francia

Arrived in Confluencia!

The team hitting the trail towards Aconcagua!

The Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition is off to a great start in the Horcones Valley with perfect weather, delicious food, and great company! Their journey started early this morning in Mendoza where they loaded their bags and made the drive into the mountains before dawning their packs and hitting the trail. Everyone is in good spirits and looks forward to the days ahead on their ascent of South America’s tallest peak. Expedition leader, Garrett Madison, checks in with todays dispatch from Confluencia Camp:

Hello! This is Garrett checking in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition team.

Just calling in to report that we had a great day! We left Mendoza (746m/2,449ft) this morning, drove up to the trailhead, and started trekking in. We had a beautiful trek up – great weather to our camp here at Confluencia! We’re at about 9,000 feet.

Everyone’s doing well. We had a great dinner, we had some barbecue – steaks, sausages, salad, a little Malbec red wine and looking forward to a good nights rest!

Tomorrow we’re going to go for an acclimatization hike up to Plaza Francia, at the base of the south face of Aconcagua and then return back to Confluencia to spend another night here.

The trips going well so far! It’s a great team, we’re having fun getting to know each other, and spending time in such a beautiful mountain region here in the Andes. It’s great having Cacho with us, and also Ed Viesturs of course, and a wonderful team of climbers!

Looking forward to another great day!

Guide, Garrett Madison in charge of the barbecue!

Guide, Garrett Madison in charge of the barbecue!

The team sitting down for a well-deserved meal in Confluencia Camp.

The team sitting down for a well-deserved meal in Confluencia Camp.

Some of the team out and enjoying the night sky on their first night in the mountains!

Some of the team out and enjoying the night sky on their first night in the mountains!

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Acclimatizing in the Horcones Valley

Our team acclimatizing above Confluencia Camp. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The team spent today acclimatizing around Confluencia Camp as they prepare to continue their trek into base camp tomorrow. Some light snow made for magical conditions during their acclimatization efforts, spent moving around the valley and looking up at the towering peaks above them. Expedition leader, Terray Sylvester checks in with todays dispatch from the Horcones Valley:

Hello! This is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua (6961m/22,837ft) expedition – it’s December 30th.

Today we acclimatized by hiking from our camp here at Confluencia (3436m/11,273ft) to Plaza Francia (4228m/13,871ft) at the base of the dramatic South Face of Aconcagua! It was a beautiful hike, we had some light snow which just made for really scenic and atmospheric conditions on the peaks above us. We took a break at Plaza Francia and checked out the hanging glaciers on the South Face, and then returned back to our camp where we had a late lunch of bruschetta with fresh veggies and prosciutto, plus some great-fresh melon! So now we’re just resting before dinner.

All is well and we’re looking forward to moving to base camp tomorrow!

Checking out the view of Aconcagua’s famous South Face! Photo: Terray Sylvester

Checking out the view of Aconcagua’s famous South Face! Photo: Terray Sylvester

Hiking toward the South Face. Photo: Terray Sylvester

Hiking toward the South Face. Photo: Terray Sylvester

Down the Lower Horcones Valley. Photo: Terray Sylvester

Down the Lower Horcones Valley. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The team returning to Confluencia Camp from Plaza Francia. Photo: Terray Sylvester

The team returning to Confluencia Camp from Plaza Francia. Photo: Terray Sylvester

 

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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • 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.“

– Instagram:

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Acclimatizing to Plaza Francia (4228m/13,871ft)

Aconcagua catching the evening light

Our Aconcagua team continued their acclimatization today by hiking up to Plaza Francia below the mountain’s south face.  Expedition leader Garrett Madison has this expedition dispatch via sat phone:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Aconcagua expedition.  Today is February 1st.

We had a great day here in the Horcones Valley.  We woke up, had breakfast, and then started our acclimatization day trekking up to Plaza Francia (4228m/13,871ft) at the base of the south face of Aconcagua.  It was a nice hike.  We had a little bit of shade and some nice views of the south face.

We returned in the early afternoon to camp, had a little rest, and then had a nice barbeque here Argentinian-style asado in the Confluencia Camp.  We had some beef, chicken, some chorizo sausage, veggies to go along with it, and little bit of red wine.  A very traditional, pleasant evening here in Argentina.  We are looking forward to hiking up to Plaza de Mules tomorrow.

All’s well here 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:

– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:

  • Enable the skill and add to your flash briefing to hear our guide’s daily audio expedition updates on select expeditions

– Instagram:

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