Safe Arrival at Plaza Argentina (Aconcagua Base Camp)!

After 6-7 hours of trekking today from Casa de Piedras (10,500 ft.), the guys made it safely to to Plaza Argentina (Base Camp) at 13,800 ft.  They checked in with the park rangers and tomorrow they have a medical check with the Base Camp doctors.  There have already been several climbers who had to be taken by mules down to lower elevations due to altitude sickness, so the doctors are being very precautious.

Scott said that he likes the Base Camp on this route much better than the one from the normal route that he took in 2008/2009.  Their trek has been much more scenic, and they have a good view of the summit from here.  Their 3-day trek to Base Camp took them along the edges of the Relincho Stream and to an ascent of a steep slope by the same name. This is where they were able to see the last native vegetation before climbing towards the glaciers, where Plaza Argentina is located. 

It has been a really dry winter this year.  In fact, Scott & Aaron stayed at a hotel in a very small ski resort in Penitentes (only 3 lifts - just a little bit bigger than Mt. Holly, according to Scott!), and they have had no snow at all there this winter.

It is extremely windy and cold – now that they have their tents set up, they are bundled up and going through their gear to plan what supplies they will cache at each camp along the way.  They will be hanging out at Plaza Argentina all day tomorrow to acclimatize and make sure they are healthy and feeling strong before they move to Camp I.

Scott said they have been constantly talking about which route they are going to take – it seems the Polish Glacier is not in good shape because it’s so bare (really just rock & ice due to the lack of snow).  This means they would have to set protection, so they would be much slower to summit.  He said they will make the final call when they get to Camp II.  They could traverse over and pick up the normal route once they are at 21,000 ft. and then head for the summit from there.  It would be 1.5-2 hr traverse on rock, so it would be high altitude trekking rather than a technical route.

Scott also said they have met some nice Canadians (are there any other kind?) along the way, though their group is disbursing as some of them have had health issues.  However, there are two (a guide and his client) from their group left at Plaza Argentina.

So for tomorrow they will enjoy their great view of the summit – windblown and massive as it is - and they are hoping the weather will clear up when they start climbing again on Thursday.  Scott said that yesterday was a bluebird day, so hopefully they will have similar weather for their summit bid.

The dry cold air has been a little rough on his throat, so they are trying to keep drinking hot water.  Otherwise, they are feeling strong.