AAI guides Andrew Wexler led climbers Kevin Krupp (Oberlin, OH), James Coleridge (White Rock, BC), Gwen Linde (Santiago, Chile), Marcos Del Valle (Ponce, PR), and Burton Vanderbilt (Bellingham, WA).

The weather was consistently windy on the team's three-day approach to the base of the mountain, with 20 to 25 mph winds through most of each day. Andrew said it didn't make things difficult but, "It was always a presence."

The river crossings all went well, thanks in large part to the fact that all but one of the crossings now have a bridge. Andrew and Julia noted that the beauty of the hike in made it quite enjoyable. That's one of the reasons we use this approach even when doing the North Face Traverse (or False Polish, as it is also called). This southeast side of the mountain is far more aesthetic than the Horcones approach which is used for the standard route. While the Horcones is flat and largely featureless, here there is more vegetation, and the valley is tighter, with more interesting features all around. The Horcones is flat and largely featureless.

The team reported that at base camp there were about ninety people, but they were pretty spread out and didn't feel crowded. Having also climbed via the Horcones Valley, Andrew said, "Ninety in base camp seemed pretty nice, comparatively."

They took one rest day at base, did a carry to camp one, then took another rest day to further acclimatize. It was windy during this period, but otherwise good weather. They then moved to camp two and the day after that did a carry to camp 2. They had planned to take to rest and acclimatization days at that point, and the schedule fit in perfectly with the weather that soon hit.

Julia said "the mountain was absolutely hammered by a huge storm, for three days the high winds and heavy snows were pretty much uninterrupted." During this period there were seven storm related deaths on the mountain, some from altitude and others from hypothermia. A number of groups lost their tents to the fierce winds.

Considered the worst storm in memory, conditions were so severe that the Park Service "closed the mountain" for two days and wouldn't let any other teams make the approach. Even the tunnel leading to Chile further west up the road was closed.

Base camp had drifts up to three feet deep with about 18 inches of accumulated snow. Andrew noted, "We were well dug in and really didn't have a problem dealing with the wind. Tents were covered by the snow, then uncovered by the wind, and we only had to dig out once."

When the storm ended the weather was beautiful, so they immediately moved to camp two. They took a rest day there, and Andrew admitted he was feeling pretty antsy, wondering how long the clear skies would last.

But last they did and the team set off for the summit the next morning at 5:15 am. The new snow was well consolidated and as a result, there was really good footing and the climbing was very comfortable.

With temperatures hovering at about 0-degrees Fahrenheit, they kept a slow but steady pace and reached the summit at 12:35 p.m. on January 26th. It was extremely calm there so they were able to spend a half an hour relaxing and taking photos.

They flew a variety of flags and got the compulsory summit shots of themselves and the perfectly clear surrounding peaks. Two groups of two also succeeded on their route that day and they also encountered about thirty-five people coming up the standard route as they descended.

The descent went very smoothly, and they were back to camp two by 5:00 p.m. They stayed one night there and then descended all the way to base camp the next day. They took a rest day at the base while waiting for their mules to come in for the gear, and then spent two pleasant days hiking back to civilization, ice cream, Argentine steaks, and Mendoza red wines.

Special Reports

Photos and first-hand stories describing the details of rewarding climbs and expeditions.