CLIMBING ACONCAGUA ROUTES

You will stay in an excellent hotel, centrally located in Mendoza city for two nights: one night will be upon arrival, and the second night will be after completion of the climb. The rooms are double-occupancy (two people to a room) with breakfast and taxes included in the price. If you prefer a single room, this can be arranged at an additional cost.

Guides will host a thorough orientation on the first day of your program. We will discuss all details of the climb with ample time for questions and answers. Following this, we will perform a complete gear check. If you need rental or retail gear, our guides will assist you.

AMG will assist you with the paperwork to acquire a climbing permit. On the day of our departure to the mountain, our group will go to park headquarters where each climber must pay and sign for their personal permit.

We will pick you up from your hotel and take you directly to Penitentes in our comfortable van. Our drive is approximately 180 km. The scenery throughout the drive is one of the most spectacular landscapes in the Central Andes. We also deliver you back to Mendoza after the climb.

From the moment we leave Mendoza until our return, all meals are included.

During the expedition, we will provide all meals (B: breakfast / L: lunch / PL: packed lunch if you are on the move / D: dinner), which are carefully planned by our professional chefs to provide a balanced diet and plenty of food during your climb. If you are vegetarian or celiac, or if you need a special diet, please let us know on your Booking Form. We will be happy to accommodate a pleasure for us to prepare a special menu for you. This service has an extra cost.

The group will spend one night in Penitentes in a quaint hotel at the beginning of the expedition. Rooms sleep two to four people and have a private bathroom. A great breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included at the hotel.

We will transport climbers in our vehicles from Penitentes to the ranger station where permits will be reviewed and you will be informed about the park rules before we start trekking.

ACONCAGUA MOUNTAIN GUIDES owns more than 140 mules to transport our gear and sometimes people on the approach to Base Camp. Mules move gear three times during our climb. First, from Los Puquios to Confluencia; second, from Confluencia to Plaza de Mulas; and finally, from Plaza de Mulas back to Los Puquios (See Itinerary). Every climber may transport by mule a maximum of 30 kg on each stage of the approach and descent. We recommend you bring a strong duffel bag to protect all your personal gear during transport. (Please see Gear List)

We will spend two nights in Confluencia Camp (see Itinerary) for a thorough acclimatization and a spectacular view of the South Face of Aconcagua. It is a well-established camp with dining tents, lights, chairs, and a chef.

On the fourth day of the expedition, we will visit the base of the mythical South Face of the Aconcagua. This is the most vertical face of the mountain, with glaciers and walls almost 3,000 m tall. During this trek, we will ascend 700 m, giving your body further acclimatization.

Once you have arrived at Plaza de Mulas, you will spend a total of six nights in our lovely Base Camp, which is fully prepared to make your climb of Aconcagua as comfortable as possible. Like Confluencia, we have dining tents where you can eat and relax, read, or play cards. They are warm from the sun and keep you out of the weather. Well-trained chefs will prepare all your meals and provide hot drinks as desired in our kitchen tents. We have two-man VE25 sleeping tents along with clean toilet facilities for your use. Hot showers, Wi-Fi, and bunk beds (dormitory style) are available for an extra cost.

At Plaza de Mulas we will spend one day trekking to the summit of Mt. Bonete, a 5,100-m peak, to get a spectacular view of the West Face of Aconcagua, and to gain further acclimatization. It is a wonderful day of climbing.

In our expeditions, we employ porters to carry part of our climbing gear in order to keep your backpacks at reasonable weights while ascending the mountain. If you would like to hire additional porters to carry all your gear between camps, you can do so at an extra cost. For the Normal Route, porters carry our sleeping tents from Plaza de Mulas to all the higher camps on the mountain. In addition, porters carry expedition equipment and food between Plaza Canadá and Nido de Cóndores (See itinerary). Porters also carry all human waste and trash down to Base Camp.

Our mountain guides are qualified professionals and certified by the AAGM (Argentinean Association of Mountain Guides) and the EPGAMT (School of High Mountain and Trekking Guides). The last qualification requires three years of training and exams.

We carefully vet all of our guides as we know they are the most important part of our clients’ experience, and we understand our reputation lies on the experience your guide provides. Our guides are passionate about their work and do not simply guide, but serve as teachers, medics, and friends as they share mountain knowledge along the way.

We can guarantee our mountain guides have an outstanding knowledge of the mountain, are well-trained, and understand the personal nuances of guiding others (great climbers do not always make great guides). All guides are medically trained as well, and carry first-aid kits to handle situations that may arise on the mountain (This is important not just for emergencies, but in making decisions that help clients acclimatize better and stay healthy). All guides carry VHF radios to communicate with other guides and Base Camp.

On the Normal Route, we offer a 20-day program round-trip from Mendoza. This is longer than any other company and is very important to increasing chances for a successful summit experience, and is a prime example of our commitment to put quality first. These extra days allow us to wait out bad weather or rest if needed. Many other teams retreat early if they have run out of time or move too quickly up the mountain (which often causes climbers to become ill). If we finish on time, you will be able to enjoy the beautiful city of Mendoza and the surrounding wine county, or fly home early. See Itinerary, Normal Route.

All of our Base Camps are equipped with a system of communication via radio frequency, BLU, VHF, and satellite phone. This keeps us permanently connected with our headquarters in Mendoza city and Los Puquios, as well as with all our expeditions on the mountain. This allows us to facilitate those coming off the mountain (whether scheduled or unscheduled) in a timely manner. Should an emergency occur, we are in close contact with park rangers and a helicopter service to move climbers efficiently to additional services off the mountain.

We use the highest quality climbing gear, and all of our equipment is well-maintained and replaced regularly. We are the only company whose entire fleet of tents is North Face VE 25 tents. These are the most comfortable and the strongest tents for withstanding high winds, perfect for Aconcagua.

Once your expedition is over you will receive a summit certificate and an Aconcagua T-shirt from our company as a gift.