Aconcagua – Vacas Valley Route Expedition. December 2014

Team leader and updates: Mark Riley
View Aconcagua expedition info and book online

1st December 2014
Yesterday evening all the team arrived in Mendoza with all their luggage intact, always a bonus! After a bit of a spruce up and kit check we headed out for pizza before drooping eyes signaled it was time to retire. This morning we finished shopping for snacks and are now heading to Penitentes. The weather forecast looks good for the trek into base camp so should be an enjoyable 3 days. Our next update is likely to be Friday.

10th December 2014
The team had a pleasant 3 day trek up to base camp gradually getting acclimatised up to just over 4000m. The winds had really picked up by the time we reached base camp so we had to sit out an extra day before making our first carry to camp 1, at 4900m, on the 7th December. The team moved up to camp 1 yesterday and will make our first carry to Camp 3 Guanachos today.

12th December 2014
Mark has called with an update. It looks like increasing winds and more bad conditions have made a summit bid impossible now, it is not just the UK that has been battered by gales! To give the team as much of an experience as possible we will head up to Camp 3 on the mountain. This will allow us to then clear down all the way to Plaza de Mulas in the Horcones valley to complete a traverse of the mountain.

13th December 2014
We reached Camp 3 Guanacos yesterday and stayed there last night. The winds are still unfortunately too strong for a summit attempt, but the team are well and are glad to have reached Camp 3.  Today we plan to head over to Plaza de Mulas to complete the traverse.

14th December 2014
Mark Riley called but the call was very broken due to the conditions. The Team have now completed the traverse and are continuing to descend to Road Head and staying at the Penitentes hotel.

14th December , 1pm. Mark managed to get a line and has given us an update. They came down yesterday and have been enjoying modern luxuries and a team meal in Penitentes before heading back to Mendoza today.