Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board ***Aconcagua***

***Aconcagua*** 100 days to go and counting.

I am leaving in 100 days and training is going well, including several trips to Whitney, Rainier and Baldy on a weekly basis.
Does anyone out there have any gear lists they'd like to share. I have reviewed several over the last 18 months, but wanted to see if anyone has anything out of the usual that they'd recommend that are not found on most list?

Justbob

I never got around to changing my list from handwritten to computer, but here is something we used a LOT there.

Crazy Creek or other brand to convert your inflatable sleeping mat into a ground chair with a back.

yes, it weighs a bit, but is absolutely wonderful to sit restfully upright on those long storm-bound days in the tent, (we went in an el Nino year), or on scheduled off-days, or AMS headache days.

We also had Ridgerest under the inflatable for 2 reasons: extra protection from cold ground on minus 10F nights above 16,000 ft, and failsafe protection in case of the inflatable deflating and not repairable.

Harvey

A straw hat with a big brim (sometimes known as a 'lifeguard'-style hat) The walk-in on either side of the mountain is sunny, tree-less, and can get quite warm (think hiking into the Sierra Nevada Mtns on the east side in late June in the middle of the day). All those trendy & pricey hiking hats they sell at REI just don't work as well as a slightly oversized $10 straw hat.

. . . or bring an umbrella as 'supplemental shade'

Have fun, and don't forget to spend a few days in Mendoza enjoying the wine & beef!

Hi Bob,

Are you doing the traverse or normal route? This makes a differnce in what you want verses what you need.

Cindy,
Thats a point well taken and i didn't think about addressing that.
I'm doing the "Normal" Route. You're doing the Traverse. Right? If you have a gear list from your last trip or the upcoming one I'd like to glance at it if you have a time.

Bob

Hi Bob,

With the normal route you can cache stuff (trash/waste bags) and get them on the way down. Think light, windy, and cold.

Someone mentioned a straw hat. Well, the wind can be very strong and the sun is powerful so you need a hat that will stay on in 80 MPH wind and will protect you from the sun. You have seen the hat a wear with the neck flaps? That thing will stay on - period and protects me from the neck sunburn. Bring the lightest wieght crampons you have. If you need them, it will only be on summit day. Bring one light weight folding form pad (full length and a 3/4 length Thermarest). Just bring short gaiters, you do not need the big heavy ones. It will get cold at night. I had a -20 down bag that weighed 3.5 lbs. More later, I have to run. Maybe we can talk hiking Baldy on day soon.

Also, I highly recommend a modified ground chair, I will have to look at my but it is like a sling set and back. I pulled out the thick padding and replaced it with a cut-up yoga mat. Works fine and weighs less.

Here is the gear list from Mountain Trip the company I am using not I have not had a chance to look it over very carefully. Having done the traverse once, I know what I'm taking and what I don't need. http://www.mountaintrip.com/International/aconcogua.html

Hey thanks everyone. I can't believe the amount of info received on this topic.

Thanks again

Hi Bob
You might want to consider this input:
I've been on top of Aconcagua 17 times. I sat on top with a t-shirt one year and had to fight freezing to death the next year, hipdeep in newly fallen snow. Other have not been so lucky and have died on the top the same year. So go for the best gear available and use it and test it before leaving to Argentina.
Getting used to the altitude is everything. However, doing this on the slopes of Aconcagua and its surrounding mountains is not very rewarding. Find another place to do it, e.g. the volcanos of Ecuador.
I usually walked to base camp on day one, spent an extra day there, then up to Nido the next day and on the four to the top and all the way down to the base. The climb from base camp to the summit can also be acompished in one day.
Advantage: quick, light, minimizing exposure to bad weather conditions and high altitude.
Good luck, take care and respect the mountain!
Chris

Has anyone heard any details on the death of American, John Watcher, who died on Aconcagua yesterday? Google gives minimal and the news agencys storys just seem to parrot one another.

Bob

Check out Brad Marshall's gear list on SummitPost. He has a pretty good checklist for what to bring as well as trip planning tips and itineraries.

More detail at this link...

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2010/12/27/mountain-climber-dies-argentina/

WOW! That is so sad.

Mother Nature can be so cruel.

BOB,

Be Careful.....Come back in one piece..

Yeti.

Yeti, That's too vague. Bob come back in one piece and at 98.6 degrees body temp.

It just hit me.

If we had not had to cancel our Aconcagua climb, Larry and I would be hiking for Camp 1 today.

Are you going on with a guide service or by your own planning? If you are going with a guide service and they provide food, I would bring your own. When I went, the service put down a whole bunch of snacks and food I was not familiar with. We had to quickly pick out 2 weeks of food from this bunch. What happened is when you go high, you lose your appetite in a huge way. The food they gave did not work well, it tasted like powdered aluminum and became impossible to eat, not good. Now I always pack in individual bags of day food I know and am comfortable with. Each day brings a new bag out. This way I know I am eating enough and I don't have to ration anything. I would add to the day food packs of Hammer Gel and Sustained Energy. I do double centuries on my bicycle and those two products can fuel me for the entire ride.

Yes I am going with a well established guide service, Grijales. They've been around since 1976. We have sent a list of wanted/needed foods ahead of time to them. I have also experienced that high altitude loss of appetite that you speak of and yes it sucks, but I found that I force feed myself with copius amounts of carbs and it sustains my energy levels, not to mention seratonin levels.
I like the GU packs for energy and bought about 24 of them.

Thanks for the tips!

***BTW the American who died on Aconcagua last week was from Orange County***

JustBob

Yes. He graduated from Fountain Valley High school and was a resident of Aliso Viejo. The Orange County Register reported his death today in the Local section with an article. The article can be found at ocregister.com.

"Force feeding" is pretty much it, that is why the comfortable food is so important. Glad you have that covered. I sure hope they have improved the bathroom facilities on the way in, such as they were, from when I was there. If not, you are in for a real treat.

"Treat" ?????? Can't be worse than Kilimanjaro ! Anything has got to be better than "Long drop toilets". I had never heard of the saying until I arrived there. One only has to experience it once to get the true meaning of the statement.
As the saying goes "When in Rome...." (You know the rest)

JustBob