Aconcagua — Attraction in Mendoza

Amazing mountain. I really liked being here. The nature is stunning. The people are very friendly and helpful. It's a really nice atmosphere. In the beginning of the park, you can still mingle with day trekkers. Up to Confluencia, there are still people who walk there. After that, it's only expeditions.

I booked my expedition through Lanko as they are very helpful and responsive via text. Also, the food at the camps is really(!) good. However, I only booked my park permit through them. If you do this, it is cheaper but you need to get a certain number of services from them (we stayed one night in Conflu, 2 days full board in Mulas and one mule). The rest we did unsupported. This is not as bad as it sounds because you are never truly alone. A lot of people are around you all the time.

We booked our bus directly from Mendoza to Penitentes, and there a van picked me up to go to the entrance of the park. This you can do in one day. I don't like Penitentes, so it feels like a waste of a day to stay there. The first day does not take long anyway.

It's a 2h walk to Confluencia. After one night, I did the big walk to Plaza de Mulas (8h). Some people stay one additional day in Confluencia for acclimation. We felt good, so we continued. Then, a gradual walk to the higher camps: 1 rest day in Plaza de Mulas 1 Porter day to Camp 1 (5000m) 1 day at Camp 1 1 Porter day to Camp 2 (5500m) 1 day at Camp 2 1 rest day 1 day to Camp 3 (5950m) Summit (6962m)

On summit day, only 2 people (non-guides) made it. It is an amazing walk but also very(!) hard. We had perfect conditions (barely wind, sun, nice temperature,...) but the lack of oxygen is what makes it hard. It took me 8h30 to go up, for the 4,8k. Also, depending on the season, the last part (from the Cave to the Summit) has really hard terrain. We did not have much snow, so most of it was gravel. And this is not pleasant to walk.

Overall, we went faster than average. The reason is that I slept in a high altitude tent for 5 weeks at home (so was already acclimated) and the lack of snow in Camp 1. You need snow for water and food. As such, we needed to go faster to camp 2. Once there, it makes more sense - if you feel well - to continue,...

Aconcagua (Spanish pronunciation: akoŋˈkaɣwa) is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain outside of Asia (although there are 189 mountains higher than it in Asia alone), being the highest in both the Southern and Western Hemispheres with a summit elevation of 6,960.8 metres (22,837 ft). It lies 112 km (70 mi) northwest of provincial capital, the city of Mendoza, about five km (3.1 mi) from San Juan Province, and 15 km (9.3 mi) from Argentina's border with neighbouring Chile. The mountain is one of the so-called Seven Summits of the seven continents.Aconcagua is bounded by the Valle de las Vacas to the north and east and the Valle de los Horcones Inferior to the west and south. The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Aconcagua Provincial Park. The mountain has a number of glaciers. The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about 10 km (6.2 mi) long, which descends from the south face to about 3,600 m (11,800 ft) in altitude near the Confluencia camp. Two other large glacier systems are the Ventisquero de las Vacas Sur and Glaciar Este/Ventisquero Relinchos system at about five kilometres (3.1 mi) long. The most well known is the north-eastern or Polish Glacier, as it is a common...

Very beautiful. 4 hours to confluencia go&return but taking time for pictures and walking quiet. Please be aware of this: you suppose to buy the tickets online, but at the main entrance office they dont have internet. So if you dont have a way to go online to buy it, the workers send you to the business next door managed by an old nice man, that actually cheat you. He tries to say that he will borrow you the internet for free but it never works, then he use his cell phone and take you to a web page where he makes you pay much more than the real price. He charge 8 dolars per person whrn the real price in dolar blue is 3, and make you write your infornation in a book. So what probably happens next... he enter the information in the real site, and pay the cheapest price,. So he keep the rest of the money and make you feel like he is actually trying to help you and making you a favor. And even worst...the workers of the park, receive the paper that this man writes and recognize it as valide so you get your tickets.....maybe there is someone getting some extra money there??? Everything is very weird. If actually at least they tell you what is going on and then you decide if you do it or not, it is perfectly fine. But cheat people is not cool. So be aware of this. Anyway...the mountain is...