I am amazed at how high you got so quickly! 21,000 feet in a week!! Did you not feel very ill - or were you already acclimatised from being somewhere else?
I was very interested to see your trip report since I am coming to try the Polish side of Aconcagua, also solo, leaving UK in 2 weeks time. But I am allowing myself 15 days at Plaza Argentina, which I hope to reach around 15th Feb. Yes I think 100 pesos worth it to keep dry feet - I'll remember that, thank you.
All the best, Mark
I live at 1500 m elevation and we ski or do mountaineering pretty much every week around 3500 m. I naturally acclimate quickly as well and I spent one day acclimating at 17,000 feet. I met a several guys from UK, it looks like you guys are the mountaineering nation, I always admire you guys living on sea level doing such trips. You will certainly need a few days more but I would recommend staying at camp 1 a few days. It is a more pleasant camp then the base camp. Talk to the guides, you will get valuable information from them. The weather forecast is supper exact. I heard the glacier is very hard this year, meaning the surface. They say it is hard to kick steps. I am not sure what it really means, I thought I would go for it. Bottom line is the speed. You need to climb the glacier in eight hours and track your progress. If you fall way behind, you have to go back, climbing backwards, it is steep. You need to reach the first rock, the bottleneck in three hours for example. If you have luck with the weather run up the normal route and then do the glacier, which was my plan. So you would know how fast you move at that elevation.
I just talked to a friend from Colorado, similar conditions as here in Utah, she reached the summit in 8 days. Also the elevation doesn't feel as hard as in Alaska for example. Also did you see the video, it will give you an idea of how steep is the glacier, it is very reasonable.
markhallam - Jan 17, 2011 2:16 pm - Voted 10/10
What a trip!I am amazed at how high you got so quickly! 21,000 feet in a week!! Did you not feel very ill - or were you already acclimatised from being somewhere else?
I was very interested to see your trip report since I am coming to try the Polish side of Aconcagua, also solo, leaving UK in 2 weeks time. But I am allowing myself 15 days at Plaza Argentina, which I hope to reach around 15th Feb. Yes I think 100 pesos worth it to keep dry feet - I'll remember that, thank you.
All the best, Mark
Lubos - Jan 17, 2011 9:52 pm - Hasn't voted
Hi MarkI live at 1500 m elevation and we ski or do mountaineering pretty much every week around 3500 m. I naturally acclimate quickly as well and I spent one day acclimating at 17,000 feet. I met a several guys from UK, it looks like you guys are the mountaineering nation, I always admire you guys living on sea level doing such trips. You will certainly need a few days more but I would recommend staying at camp 1 a few days. It is a more pleasant camp then the base camp. Talk to the guides, you will get valuable information from them. The weather forecast is supper exact. I heard the glacier is very hard this year, meaning the surface. They say it is hard to kick steps. I am not sure what it really means, I thought I would go for it. Bottom line is the speed. You need to climb the glacier in eight hours and track your progress. If you fall way behind, you have to go back, climbing backwards, it is steep. You need to reach the first rock, the bottleneck in three hours for example. If you have luck with the weather run up the normal route and then do the glacier, which was my plan. So you would know how fast you move at that elevation.
I just talked to a friend from Colorado, similar conditions as here in Utah, she reached the summit in 8 days. Also the elevation doesn't feel as hard as in Alaska for example. Also did you see the video, it will give you an idea of how steep is the glacier, it is very reasonable.