Aconcagua

Aconcagua, at about 6,960 metres, is the highest mountain outside Asia and one of the Seven Summits — the high points of the seven continents. It stands in Argentina's Mendoza Province, about 15 km from the Chilean border and 112 km northwest of the city of Mendoza, protected within Aconcagua Provincial Park. Though it was once a volcano, activity ceased millions of years ago; the mountain owes its current height to tectonic uplift, and its rocks are old lavas and volcanic debris stacked over marine sediments.

For mountaineers its appeal is that the normal route from the north is not technically difficult: no ropes or ice climbing are strictly needed. The difficulty is altitude. At the summit, air pressure is about 40 percent of sea level, most climbers suffer from altitude sickness to some degree, and around three people die on the mountain in an average year. Only an estimated 30 to 40 percent of those who set out reach the top. The first recorded ascent was made on 14 January 1897 by the Swiss guide Matthias Zurbriggen, part of Edward FitzGerald's expedition; the Polish Glacier on the east side was first climbed in 1934, and the vast South Face in 1954.

The normal route runs up the Horcones Valley to Plaza de Mulas, a base camp at about 4,300 metres that is among the largest in the world, with meal tents, medical checks and even an art gallery tent. Higher camps at Nido de Cóndores, Berlín and Colera lead to the final summit day. A second popular approach comes through the Vacas Valley and traverses below the Polish Glacier. Climbers need a park permit, and waste from the base camps is flown out by helicopter.

You do not have to climb to see Aconcagua. At the Horcones entrance, a short self-guided trail circles the Laguna de Horcones and leads to a viewpoint facing the South Face, one of the great mountain walls of the Andes. Condors are often seen overhead. Puente del Inca, a small village on the main road near the entrance, has lodging and campsites.

Getting there

The park entrance at Horcones is off Argentina's National Route 7, the main road between Mendoza and Chile, near Puente del Inca. The nearest Argentine airport is Governor Francisco Gabrielli International Airport (MDZ) in Mendoza, about 116 km away in a straight line; Tupungato, about 113 km away, is the nearest Argentine town of any size. Santiago de Chile's airport (SCL) is roughly 109 km away as the crow flies, but the route crosses the Andes and an international border.