Aconcagua - Vacas Valley Route

25 January 2013 departure. Leader: Stu Peacock
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15th February: The team arrived back in Mendoza at 9 pm last night. Everyone felt quite sad to be leaving the national park yesterday as it had been such an enjoyable time for the group, but as they say all good things must come to an end. Let’s just say we were very lucky as the road between Penitentes and Upsallata (half way to Mendoza) had been closed for 4 days due to 16 land slides! and only opened again yesterday, which was very frustrating for teams who were coming in. This was particularly fortunate for Tim who had paid to change his flight for today, while at Base Camp, so definitely felt like a skin of the teeth job in that respect!

While we were waiting for our transfer to make it through our agent put on a fantastic BBQ spread at Penitentes, which put all stop to the meat eaters in the team’s yearning for a Mendoza steak. ?

We had our final meal with Tim and Markos the local guide last night, which was very sociable despite the lateness of our arrival back in Mendoza. Now just a couple days to relax before we all fly back home, apart from Seb who is staying on in Argentina for a while. The team would like to wish their respective better halves a happy Valentines day and look forward to being home soon.

11th February: The team are all safely back at base camp and having a rest day today before starting the trek out tomorrow. On the descent it was extremely windy at Camp Colera, and some of the tents were ripped. Nevertheless between them they have cleared all their (and some of our previous expedition’s) gear off the mountain, with Stu taking the opportunity to train for an Iron Man competition by carrying a 40kg load down the mountain. We like to see our leaders earning their money!

9th February – 1600hrs: Stu called from the summit, sounding extremely happy! Stu, Seb, Tim and Mike have all made it to the top after a seven and a half hour ascent. it is windy and very cold, which is why Richard and Tony turned back from about 6500m due to the cold.

A few messages:

Seb – “Hello Mumple”

Mike – “Love to Sarah”

Tim – “Love to Mum, Dad and Amy”

Stu  – “Happy birthday Alec for the 12th”

…and of course apologies to anyone they have forgotten!

7th February: The team moved up to Camp 3 yesterday, along with some of the other teams on the mountain, to be welcomed by a thunderstorm. The weather then settled and today there is a lot of cloud, a little snow on the ground, and the higher slopes of Aconcagua are intermittently in view.

One of the group has brought some small speakers so they are all enjoying listening to music including INXS and Duran Duran! Everyone is feeling good and eating well.

The plan is to go up to camp Colera tomorrow and they are still aiming for the 9th to be their summit day, weather permitting. Good luck to the team!

5th February: The team did their first Carry to Camp 3 at (5400m) yesterday and then returned to Camp 1 to sleep. The weather has been surprisingly stable with only a little cloud in the afternoon, and as Stu commented – it was ‘T-Shirt weather’! Tomorrow they will move up to Camp 3 and stay the night there. The weather is being monitored to see when a suitable weather window will appear, and they are hoping for a summit attempt at the weekend.

4th February: Stu called to say the team have spent their first night at Camp 1. The next stage is to carry up to Camp 3 and return to sleep again at Camp 1 before moving up to sleep at Camp 3 (5400m). So – what has happened to Camp 2? Stu and the team are taking a variant on the usual route, avoiding the Polish Glacier and in effect Camp 2. This worked well for our previous group so fingers crossed it will work well for this team as well.

2nd February: Stu called to say the team arrived at Base Camp on Thursday. They had a rest day yesterday and today have just completed the first carry up to Camp 1 and are now doing general jobs like food sorting. A couple of the team had an altitude headache yesterday but are all fine today. The weather is excellent; clear, cold and sunny with light snow showers overnight. Food continues fantastic and plentiful. It’s Tony Ford’s wife’s birthday today, and so he and the rest of the team would like to say a Big Happy Birthday to Pam XXX.  Stu has checked the weather forecast ahead for the next few days and will check again to look at conditions on the mountain for the 9th.

30th January: Stu called to say the team are 5 minutes away from Casa de Piedra and are enjoying their first views of Aconcagua. Monday they arrived safely in Penitentes and had roast chicken and potatoes for their evening meal. Yesterday they enjoyed a good trek to Pampa de Lenas where they had a fantastic BBQ including steaks that were 9″ long! Obviously the vegetarians amongst them were not tempted, but had plenty of other food including cheese and salad, and they all enjoyed the luxury of cake afterwards!

It rained a little overnight and there was a bit of cloud today, but it is mainly hot and sunny. Tonight, more Roast chicken is on the menu, before tomorrows trek to Base Camp. In the morning they have the river crossing to navigate, to enter the narrow canyon of the Relinchos valley, but the water is low so this should be quite straight forward.Then they will make their way to Base Camp  at Plaza Argentinas (4200m), which is situated in a sheltered spot on the moraine. Stu says everyone is well and in good spirits and enjoying the good food and great views.

27th January: Team AP have got their permit now, a much easier process that you can fill in the documents online. We’ve done our kit check and some of the team have bought a few last minute items.

This afternoon we will do our food shop and split our equipment for what needs to travel with us on the trek and what can go direct to Base Camp. Final meal in Mendoza for a while so we’ll make it a good one. Tomorrow we leave Mendoza at 10.30am for Penitentes, where we will make our final preparations before starting our trek to Basecamp on Tuesday. The team are in good spirits and all enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of Mendoza.

26th January: Stu called in to say everyone has arrived safely and enjoyed a meal out together last night. Today is ‘preparation’ day – shopping, checking kit, obtaining permits before heading out towards the mountain tomorrow.

25th January: Our latest team are heading out to Aconcagua today, News reports will be updated here weather permitting. Have a great trip!