Aconcagua: Highest Trek in the World - A Trekker's Guidebook
Aconcagua: Highest Trek in the World
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The Normal Route
At the start of the route there is a gravel car park near a ranger station, with a helicopter permanently parked nearby. This is used to take medical and emergency supplies to the various base camps, and to airlift sick or injured climbers out. It is in constant use, generally landing at both base camps at least once every day. Since its introduction in the 1999/2000 season the number of fatalities on the mountain annually has dropped from seven to ten to one to two.
The ranger will check the permits and issue refuse sacks. The non-return of a refuse sack carries a fine of up to $US100. Guides will always take charge of their client’s refuse sack.
There is a dirt track road in for a few kilometres, but its use for vehicles is discouraged except in emergencies. About 2.5km in is the lagoon, where undoubtedly more photographs will be taken. The road is stony and flat as far as the first footbridge – a gentle introduction to the ruta Normal. This steel suspension bridge was erected some years ago over the raging torrent below. After the footbridge the path initially follows the river on its eastern bank, then leaves the river to rise steeply through a grey limestone boulder field before easing out to a gentle gradient on the approach to Confluencia.
For these first two days of the journey to base camp you will have to carry everything you need during the day and for the night in Confluencia: sleeping bag, mattress and warm clothing will be essential. The mules will have gone ahead direct to Plaza de Mulas with the main loads. Confluencia will be reached in about three hours. It is a sheltered campsite, set in a valley, with the river alongside. Some will rest here for a day; some will trek up to Plaza Francia and return. Those on their way out may only pause to take on water. There is fresh water, piped from a clear source to the southwest (where the former Confluencia was located).
From the road head to Confluencia the altitude will have increased from 2580m to 3440m. It will be hot during the day at Confluencia, as high as 27°C, falling when the sun goes down to perhaps 6°C at night.
Confluencia will probably provide the trekker’s first experience of the use of the mountain’s toilet facilities. The larger trek operators will have enclosed toilet cubicles – a heavy plastic covering around a metal frame, with a hole in the ground over a sunken barrel. The operators now guard their toilets, and generally keep them locked. At the end of the season they have to remove the sunken barrel. Those who have not come with a trek operator must find alternative places. The ranger on duty will be vigilant at Confluencia, since this is the first campsite. Trekkers are required to take away their waste in their refuse sacks.
The park authorities propose, in the near future, to construct the mountain’s first communal toilet facilities at Confluencia, and to follow this with similar facilities at the base camps.
From Confluencia to Plaza de Mulas takes six to eight hours. Initially the path runs over the river flood plain, a flat walk over gravel. You will have to cross the river three times, and if the river is full the water will cover your boots. Some will take off their boots and wade through the ice-cold water, others will run and jump, and the more practical will keep their boots on, using their walking poles to limit the damage, and wringing their socks out to dry at midday.
Near to base camp the trail becomes dramatically steeper. Plaza de Mulas is at an elevation of 4250m, and the last few kilometres account for most of the rise.
At the height of the season expect to find upwards of 150 tents and 50 mess tents, so that the population could be several hundred people. It is a relatively sheltered campsite, with fresh water running along its northeastern side, near the exit route up the mountain.
There are a number of places to eat and drink at base camp, with burgers, steak sandwiches and beer very popular. Hygiene is not a strong point in these makeshift cafés, however, and there have been incidences of diarrhoea.
Upon arrival at base camp it is advisable to get an early indication of your saturated oxygen level. The service is free and encouraged, and the doctor’s tent is in the middle of the camp. Virtually everyone takes at least one day’s rest at Plaza de Mulas, some two days or more, depending on the saturated oxygen count.
A short walk to the west from base camp is the Hotel Plaza de Mulas, where you can telephone the outside world, have a meal, take a shower. En route to the hotel you will encounter your first field of penitentes. The walk over to the hotel takes 20 minutes, over undulating ground: an energy-sapping experience for the unacclimatised newcomer. At the hotel there is great demand for the two telephones in the front hall. Most tour operators have satellite mobile phones for client use, but charges are considerably more expensive than the hotel’s landline. There are Internet facilities at Plaza de Mulas (also quite expensive).
Above Plaza de Mulas there are three intermediate camps before the summit:
- Camp Canada (4900m)
- Nido de Condores (5350m), and finally
- Berlin (5850m)
The camps at Canada and Nido de Condores are ill-defined, with tents pitched in no particular pattern. At Canada the campsite is south of the route up the mountain, and at Nido the route is through the campsite. At Berlin the camp is on a shoulder of the mountain, and the tents are tightly grouped around a number of wooden huts.
Nido de Condores was elevated in 2002 to somewhat the same status as the base camps, and now has a park ranger resident. This reflects the numbers who camp there. Some may bypass Camp Canada, and some may make their summit bid direct from Nido, but few bypass Nido.
The ranger here has significant authority. He is required to check on the condition of climbers, and may call to tents. He can order climbers to descend if he suspects a poor medical or physical condition, or if he discovers that a climber does not have the proper gear for this altitude.
None of the upper camps have fresh water, so snow must be gathered for melting. Berlin can be particularly cramped. Behind most boulders there are the inevitable excrement deposits, so finding fresh, clean snow may require a climb.
Whereas the trail into Plaza de Mulas is generally relatively flat (except for the last few kilometres) it changes significantly above the base camp. Out over the field of penitentes from Plaza de Mulas the route is quite steep and only eases upon reaching Camp Canada. It is a three-hour trek up to Canada and a further three hours to Nido. The Berlin camp is a four-hour trek above Nido.
As the altitude increases the night-time temperature and wind-chill become more significant. At base camp there can be a considerable degree of movement around the camp at night. There will be discussions and the occasional singsong. At the upper camps the cold will drive all into their sleeping bags as soon as the sun sets, and few will venture out until the sun shines on the tent again in the morning.
Up to Nido de Condores the emphasis will be on steady trekking, acclimatisation, taking things easy, regular resting, carrying a load up to return and sleep at a lower camp. After Nido that pattern changes. Upon reaching Berlin the focus is on the summit. Spending a rest day at an altitude of 5850m is not to be recommended. The air is thin, it is difficult to sleep, appetites are poor and the weather can be treacherous. The plan is to make ready at Berlin and set off early the next morning for the summit.
In the late afternoon at Berlin climbers will be returning from their summit attempt. Those who have made it will be in high spirits and may continue their celebrations into the night, much to the annoyance of those who are trying to gain a degree of peaceful repose (sleep might be too much to hope for) before their early morning venture. There will be drama too as anxious eyes scan the skyline at dusk for comrades who are on their way down. There will be the occasional scramble from the camp to help exhausted climbers make it back.
The sunsets at Berlin can be spectacular, and well worth staying up for. As every mountain climber knows, the sky at night over such places can be so clear, the stars so vivid.
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