Aconcagua - The Vacas Valley (6962 masl)

We fly from Oslo to Mendoza. The itinerary may vary from year to year and will be announced closer to the departure date. If the itinerary goes via Buenos Aires, we often have time for a little sightseeing here. It may be a good idea to pack shorts and sandals in your carry-on luggage.

Once we arrive in Mendoza, we check into the hotel, have dinner, or go to bed, depending on how tired we are. Mendoza is a very pleasant city, offering good wine and the most tender steak you can imagine. Although the next few days will be spent planning the upcoming expedition, we will also have time to enjoy Mendoza.

We wake up happy and satisfied after a good night's sleep and today we have plenty of time to buy all the food we need to take up the mountain. The trip to Aconcagua is organized as a real expedition, and participants must be more involved in the planning than on, for example, Kilimanjaro, where everything is taken care of for you. But this is fun, and if you have been involved in buying the ingredients for the steak dinner in Mendoza, we can promise you that it will taste even better in the mountains! This is also a day where you get to acclimatize to the new culture, with lots of new impressions and sensory experiences.

Today we will arrange national park permits and make any final purchases. If there is time, we can take a tour around Mendoza and see a little of the city life. The cityscape is clearly marked by the fact that this is the last stop before the mountain trip, and we will surely meet others who have recently been on the trip and who will share their experiences. Good dinner in town, and final packing before departure tomorrow.

After breakfast, we will take a bus to Penitentes, which is the starting point for our mountain hike. We will have lunch on the way or at the hotel, where we will pack the rest of our equipment and get ready for tomorrow's hike. Dinner at the hotel in Penitentes.

We eat breakfast at the hotel before starting the first stage towards Aconcagua. Our heavy mountain equipment is sent by mule, while we carry daypacks. We start from Punta De Vacas, located at 2,400 meters above sea level. We follow the Vacas Valley, winding our way up through a rugged but beautiful landscape shaped by prehistoric glaciers and meltwater rivers. We eat lunch along the way. After about 6 hours of leisurely walking, we arrive at our first camp: Pampa De Lenas at 2,800 meters above sea level. Here we register with the park rangers. A festive dinner prepared by the arrieros awaits us. A beautiful starry sky for those who don't go to bed before dark.

Today we are going to Casa De Piedra at 3,200 meters above sea level. This is a slightly longer hike of about 7 hours. It is a great day's walk and it is exciting to finally see the top of our mountain in the distance! We will have lunch along the way. Another festive dinner from the arrieros awaits! Casa De Piedra is a great camp where we can relax and look forward to tomorrow's river crossing. We will be walking on rocks a lot, so good hiking boots are important.

Today we reach our first destination: Plaza Argentina. We enjoy a delicious lunch along the way. Salted snacks, crackers, and chocolate taste amazing. Plaza Argentina is the base camp on the east side of the mountain, located right at the foot of the mountain. On the way there, we have to cross a river, and if the water level is high, we get a little horseback ride thrown in for free. It takes us about 8 hours to reach base camp, and then it's nice to get into the mess tent. After setting up the tents, we are served a 3-course dinner with a steaming cup of tea or coffee in hand. Afterwards, we crawl into our sleeping bags and enjoy the clear mountain air. From this day on, the program may be adjusted day by day depending on the weather and how we cope with the altitude.

Acclimatization day with lots of rest and relaxation. We relax at Base Camp, read books, and enjoy life. We also make preparations for tomorrow—i.e., packing equipment to be transported up to Camp 1 tomorrow. A short hike up the slope is also a good idea, considering tomorrow's new heights.

There is a lot of equipment to carry for a large group with a healthy appetite. Tents, stoves, food, and personal equipment that we need higher up in the mountains. We walk slowly, because we are now high up and the air is thin, and we feel the weight we are carrying. We will crawl upwards at a snail's pace so that our bodies can gradually acclimatize to the altitude and the extreme conditions. Once we reach 5,000 meters above sea level, we set up Camp 1. We pitch our tents and store all our other equipment inside them. We eat a little up here and breathe in the thin air before returning to Base Camp for the night. All in all, the trip up and down takes about 8 hours. Once back down, dinner and our sleeping bags await us.

A real day of rest at base camp. We will eat three meals and pack our personal equipment for tomorrow's move. Otherwise, we will sunbathe, read books, engage in lively conversations, and mentally prepare for life above base camp, which will be simpler than our luxurious life here. Most people refrain from shaving, but those with mirrors and a little pride are happy to trim their beards here, but there are few of them! Sorry, ladies.

We leave behind the mess tent, three-course dinners, and pancakes after breakfast. Now we have to fend for ourselves and carry everything ourselves. We will sleep in thinner air and set up camp at Camp 1. The climb up is tough enough in itself, but we have been here before. Fortunately, we have acclimatized well to the altitude after several days of following the “walk high, sleep low” principle. It will be an early evening after catching our breath and rehydrating.

Rest day at Camp 1. If we are in good shape, we will ascend to the intermediate camp at 5,350 meters above sea level. The weather and our physical condition will determine everything. Lunch and dinner at Camp 1. If anyone does not feel fit enough to ascend to a higher altitude, they can wait at Camp 1 or take a shorter trip up the traverse. The important thing here is to acclimatize and give the body a rest.

Carrying day to Camp Guanacos. This is a tough day and we spend about 5-6 hours going up and down. We eat lunch at Camp Guanacos – and try to endure the thinner air for a little while – it feels good when we get back down to Camp 1. Dinner at Camp 1.

A day of rest and a little exercise keep us in the shape we need to reach the summit. Playing cards, sleeping mats, and good food make this a wonderful day. We analyze the weather forecast and decide whether to continue climbing tomorrow for a summit attempt a couple of days later. The rest day may be canceled if the good weather is about to disappear, or we may get another rest day down here if we wait for the good weather.

Moving day up to Camp Guanacos. We eat breakfast and lunch at Camp 1 and linger a while before moving on. The move takes 3-4 hours. We eat dinner at the new camp. Now the weather reports are becoming crucial – go or no go... A long and exciting night in the tents.

Here we don't have to move our luggage as we have eaten most of it, and on moving day we go straight up to Camp Colera. We eat breakfast at the Guanacos camp and linger here for a while. The move takes 3-4 hours, depending on the weather and our fitness. Now we feel that the summit is calling us! We set up our tents and heat water, eat a light lunch, and crawl into our sleeping bags. After that, we make our final preparations before the summit night—packing and getting our equipment ready. We don't get much sleep here, because now we are excited.

This is a tough day! If the weather permits an attempt on the summit, we will set off early in the morning. This is a hard session, so we will take it easy and have regular breaks on the way up. We will use crampons if conditions require it, but it is not a technical trip and we do not need ice axes. The summit push has many milestones on the way up: Independencia and the windswept hut, the really tough and long traverse, and not least the steep and tough canaleta. We have to fight for every step and every meter up, but the struggle is rewarded with happiness and a view you will never forget! From the summit, it takes about 3-4 hours to descend to Camp Colera. It will be a good night's sleep. We have set aside three days for the summit attempt to give you the best possible chance of reaching the top of South America's highest mountain.

If we have reached the summit, we will start the descent to Base Camp in the morning. We will have breakfast at Camp Colera and save lunch for Camp 1 or possibly Base Camp. We will need to clear away and carry down all the equipment we have at Camp Colera, Guanacos, and Camp 1. It will be hard work, but we will make it down. The descent to Base Camp takes 5-6 hours.

If we reached the summit on the first night, we will begin our journey out of the mountains today! Where we spent three days on the way in, we will now spend a day and a half on the way out. A beautiful but hard day. We eat breakfast at Base Camp and set off when it is light. We walk about 30 kilometers to Pampa de Lenas, the first camp we stayed at on the way in. We treat our blisters and enjoy the fantastic view and the fact that we are almost alone in the valley. The last night in the tent will be good, and now we are looking forward to a proper bed, red wine, and a proper steak dinner.

If we reached the summit on the first night, we will leave the Andes today. We will eat breakfast at the camp before cleaning up and walking the last mile out of the mountains. At the warehouse in Penitentes, we will wash tents and cooking equipment, clean everything, count and organize our gear, and get everything ready for the next trip. We will probably spend the night in Penitentes, or alternatively return to Mendoza. The official program ends after we return to Mendoza.

It's good to eat good food and enjoy the warmth again. Perhaps a visit to a vineyard or spa is tempting.

If we reached the summit on the first night, we have this day to relax, go shopping, eat good food, and drink good drinks. Mendoza is a very pleasant city, and it's just a matter of enjoying our time here and gathering our strength after a fantastic expedition.