SummitPost.org

I was planning to climb Aconcagua in February, and had asked for 15 days off of work. Meaning I had 4 months to prepare.
My employer just ruled out February as a big project is launching for me at that time. They have however been very generous in offering me 4 weeks off in December instead :shock: .

PRO's
- Obviously I'll have more time there. SO I could spend some days in Mendoza and do some small hikes in the area. And then spend the full 20 days on my permit to summit.

CON's
- I am in decent shape, but not super fit. I do some sport at least twice a week, and am not overweight. But I'm not exactly running marathons at the moment either.


Any other PRO's or CON's that I might be missing here? Do you think 2 months will be enough to train for Aconcagua, considering the fact that I'll have a full 20 days to summit. All comments welcome.

I would get in good running shape prior to going (I'm assuming you don't have mountains near you), then I would spend at least a week doing heavy high altitude hiking prior to your summit attempt. Peaks that high are hard to prepare for without doing hard aerobic activity at similar altitude.

Thanks Ulu. Unfortunately, I no longer have mountains near me. The four weeks in December would drain my vacation days. So that week of heavy high altitude hiking won't really be an option I fear. The only time to do it would be the week before the climb, but that's probably not the right time to do it.

Plenty of hard aerobic activity wouldn't be a problem though. All my mountain training over the last year have been done cycling, and I could just kick that up a notch now. With some hikes over the weekend.

I'd ask yourself how many chances you'd get to do a simiar trip in the future. If it's not that many, I'd say go for it. Lots of people climb big peaks who don't live or train at altitude. Having said that, I'm not sure what your experience at altitude is so, even if you do get in decent shape, you may or may not perform well. If you're short on time and don't have any peaks near you, you might want to look into a training program like Mountain Athlete. It's most weight and strength training, but people have reported good things from their programs. I've done some of their workout (well, I try to finish one) and it kicks my butt.

Life is short. Go for it.

Hey, stranger things have happened....
8 Weeks to SEALFIT: A Navy SEAL's Guide to Unconventional Training for Physical and Mental Toughness
http://www.amazon.com/Weeks-SEALFIT-Unc ... 125004054X

Yury wrote:You have a better chance to succeed with 2 months of preparation and 4 weeks of acclimatization than with 4 months of preparation and 2 weeks of acclimatization (assuming you have a good weather there).

+1. Acclimatisation is more important than super-fitness. Most people don't acclimatise enough for these popular peaks and find them harder than they should.

In the case of Aconcagua, the Cordon del Plata just outside of town makes a great preparation area. It's a 90 min taxi ride (maybe $60?) to the closed ski resort of Vallecitos then you can hike up valley as far as you want, camping at your own pace, walking up hills or actually attempting the peaks like Cerro Rincon etc. There is a guidebook available in the gear stores in Mendoza.

I did this several years ago with my girlfriend, we spent a few days up around 4000m doing not much. But after a shower, feed and sleep in Mendoza we went to Aconcagua, and summited in 16 days total, including waiting for weather and making two attempts from C1. Pre-acclimatising made the walk-in and first carry much easier, leaving us stronger for up high.

http://www.summitpost.org/cordon-del-plata/170924

Knowing you I can`t see any problem. Was training for my first ultramarathon and got injured 4 months before. In the end it is all about how much you can suffer and how much you can save energy in the first days. When seeing a general schedule for a 2 week roundtrip on Aconcagua (if you plan on doing some acclimatization) it is just a matter of not getting injured during this process of acclimatization. Time to start packing I would say!

[quote="Stefan"]Knowing you I can`t see any problem. Was training for my first ultramarathon and got injured 4 months before. In the end it is all about how much you can suffer and how much you can save energy in the first days. When seeing a general schedule for a 2 week roundtrip on Aconcagua (if you plan on doing some acclimatization) it is just a matter of not getting injured during this process of acclimatization. Time to start packing I would say![/quote

agreed