Aconcagua () is a mountain in the
Principal Cordillera
Principal Cordillera ( es, Cordillera Principal) is the Andean mountain range that makes up the boundary between Central Chile and neighbouring areas of Argentina. It is also a continental divide between the Atlantic and the Pacific watersheds. ...
of the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
, in
Mendoza Province
Mendoza, officially Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the republic o ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. It is the
highest mountain
Currently, There are at least 108 mountains on Earth with elevations of or greater above sea level. The vast majority of these mountains are located on the edge of the Indian plate, Indian and Eurasian plate, Eurasian plates in China, India, ...
in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
, the highest outside
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
,
and the highest in the
Southern Hemisphere with a summit elevation of . It lies northwest of the provincial capital, the
city of Mendoza, about from
San Juan Province, and from Argentina's border with neighbouring
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
.
The mountain is one of the
Seven Summits
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits a ...
of the
seven continents
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...
.
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
Aconcagua Provincial Park is a Provincial Park located in the Mendoza Province in Argentina.
The Andes mountain range draws all types of thrill seekers ranging in difficulty including hiking, climbing, skiing, etc. Besides it draws history lovers ...
. The mountain has a number of
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s. The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about long, which descends from the south face to about in elevation near the Confluencia camp.
Two other large glacier systems are the Ventisquero de las Vacas Sur and Glaciar Este/Ventisquero Relinchos system at about long. The best known is the north-eastern or
Polish Glacier
The Polish Glacier (Spanish language, Spanish ''Glaciar de los Polacos'') is one of the glacier, glacial fields of Cerro Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Andes and the Americas. It was named after the Poland, Polish expedition of 1934.J. Neate ( ...
, as it is a common route of ascent.
Etymology
The origin of the name is uncertain. It may be from the
Mapudungun
Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...
''Aconca-Hue'', which refers to the
Aconcagua River
The Aconcagua River is a river in Chile that rises from the conflux of two minor tributary rivers at above sea level in the Andes, Juncal River from the east (which rise in the Nevado Juncal) and Blanco River from the south east. The Aconcagua ...
and means "comes from the other side";
the
Quechua
Quechua may refer to:
*Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru
*Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language
**So ...
''Ackon Cahuak'', meaning "Sentinel of Stone"; the Quechua ''Anco Cahuac'', meaning "White Sentinel";
or the
Aymara
Aymara may refer to:
Languages and people
* Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language
** Aymara language, the main language within that family
** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
''Janq'u Q'awa'', meaning "White Ravine".
Geologic history
The mountain was created by the
subduction
Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...
of the
Nazca Plate
The Nazca Plate or Nasca Plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction, along the Peru–Chile Trench, of the Na ...
beneath the
South American Plate
The South American Plate is a major tectonic plate which includes the continent of South America as well as a sizable region of the Atlantic Ocean seabed extending eastward to the African Plate, with which it forms the southern part of the Mid-A ...
. Aconcagua used to be an active
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...
(from the Late Cretaceous or Early Paleocene through the Miocene) and consisted of several volcanic complexes on the edge of a basin with a shallow sea. However, sometime in the Miocene, about 8 to 10 million years ago, the subduction angle started to decrease, resulting in a stop of the melting and more horizontal stresses between the oceanic plate and the continent, causing the thrust faults that lifted Aconcagua up off its volcanic root. The rocks found on Aconcagua's flanks are all volcanic and consist of lavas,
breccias
Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix.
The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of d ...
and
pyroclastics
Pyroclastic rocks (derived from the el, πῦρ, links=no, meaning fire; and , meaning broken) are clastic rocks composed of rock fragments produced and ejected by explosive volcanic eruptions. The individual rock fragments are known as pyroc ...
. The shallow marine basin had already formed earlier (Triassic), even before Aconcagua arose as a volcano. However, volcanism has been present in this region for as long as this basin was around and volcanic deposits interfinger with marine deposits throughout the sequence. The colorful greenish, bluish and grey deposits that can be seen in the Horcones Valley and south of Puente Del Inca, are carbonates, limestones, turbidites and evaporates that filled this basin. The red colored rocks are intrusions, cinder deposits and conglomerates of volcanic origin.
Climbing
![Monte Aconcagua](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Monte_Aconcagua.jpg)
In
mountaineering
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
terms, Aconcagua is technically an easy mountain if approached from the north, via the
normal route
A normal route or normal way (french: voie normale; german: Normalweg) is the most frequently used route for ascending and descending a mountain peak. It is usually the simplest route.
Overview
In the Alps, routes are classed in the following way ...
. Aconcagua is arguably the highest ''non-technical'' mountain in the world since the northern route does not absolutely require ropes, axes, and pins. Although the effects of altitude are severe (atmospheric pressure is 40% of sea level at the summit), the use of supplemental oxygen is not common.
Altitude sickness
Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People can respond to high altitude in different ways. Sympt ...
will affect most climbers to some extent, depending on the degree of
acclimatization
Acclimatization or acclimatisation ( also called acclimation or acclimatation) is the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a change in its environment (such as a change in altitude, temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH), ...
.
Although the normal climb is technically easy, multiple casualties occur every year on this mountain (in January 2009 alone, five climbers died).
This is due to the large numbers of climbers who make the attempt and because many climbers underestimate the objective risks of the elevation and of cold weather, which is the real challenge on this mountain. Given the weather conditions close to the summit,
cold weather injuries are very common.
![Aconcagua SouthSummit2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Aconcagua_SouthSummit2007.jpg)
The routes to the peak from the south and south-west ridges are more demanding and the south face climb is considered quite difficult.
The Polish Glacier Traverse route, also known as the "Falso de los Polacos" route, crosses through the Vacas valley, ascends to the base of the Polish Glacier, then traverses across to the normal route for the final ascent to the summit. The third most popular route is by the Polish Glacier itself.
Provincial Park rangers do not maintain records of successful summits but estimates suggest a summit rate of 30–40%. About 75% of climbers are foreigners and 25% are Argentinean. Among foreigners, the United States leads in the number of climbers, followed by Germany and the UK. About 54% of climbers ascend the Normal Route, 43% up the Polish Glacier Traverse Route, and the remaining 3% on other routes.
Camps
The camp sites on the normal route are listed below (elevations are approximate).
*
Puente del Inca
Puente del Inca (English "Bridge of the Inca"), is a natural arch that forms a bridge over the Las Cuevas River, a tributary of the Mendoza River. It is located near the small village of , in Las Heras Department, Mendoza Province, Argentina. Th ...
, : A small village on the main road, with facilities including a lodge.
* Confluencia, : A camp site a few hours into the national park.
* Plaza de Mulas, : Base camp, claimed to be the second largest in the world (after
Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heigh ...
). There are several meal tents, showers and internet access. There is a lodge approximately from the main campsite across the glacier. At this camp, climbers are screened by a medical team to check if they are fit enough to continue the climb.
* Camp Canadá, : A large ledge overlooking Plaza de Mulas.
* Camp Alaska, : Called 'change of slope' in Spanish, a small site as the slope from Plaza de Mulas to Nido de Cóndores lessens. Not commonly used.
* Nido de Cóndores, : A large plateau with extensive views. There is usually a park ranger camped here.
* Camp Berlín, : The classic high camp, offering reasonable wind protection.
* Camp Colera, : A larger, while slightly more exposed, camp situated directly at the north ridge near Camp Berlín, with growing popularity. In January 2011, a shelter was opened in Camp Colera for exclusive use in cases of emergency.
The shelter is named ''Elena'' after Italian climber Elena Senin, who died in January 2009 shortly after reaching the summit, and whose family donated the shelter.
* Several sites possible for camping or
bivouac, including Piedras Blancas (~6100 m) and Independencia (~6350 m), are located above Colera; however, they are seldom used and offer little protection.
Summit attempts are usually made from a high camp at either Berlín or Colera, or from the lower camp at Nido de Cóndores.
History
![Matthias Zurbriggen in the Tasman Valley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Matthias_Zurbriggen_in_the_Tasman_Valley.jpg)
The first attempt to summit Aconcagua by Europeans was made in 1883 by a party led by the German geologist and explorer
Paul Güssfeldt
Dr Paul Güssfeldt (spelled Güßfeldt in German) (14 October 1840 – 18 January 1920) was a German geologist, mountaineer and explorer.
Biography
Güssfeldt was born in Berlin, where he also died almost 80 years later. After attending the C ...
. Bribing porters with the story of treasure on the mountain, he approached the mountain via the Rio Volcan, making two attempts on the peak by the north-west ridge and reaching an elevation of . The route that he prospected is now the standard route up the mountain.
The first recorded
ascent was in 1897 by a European expedition led by the British mountaineer
Edward FitzGerald. FitzGerald failed to reach the summit himself over eight attempts between December 1896 and February 1897, but the (Swiss) guide of the expedition,
Matthias Zurbriggen
Matthias Zurbriggen (15 May 1856 in Saas-Fee – 21 June 1917 in Geneva) was a Swiss mountaineer. He climbed throughout the Alps, the Andes, the Himalayas and New Zealand.
Ascents
He made many first ascents, the best known of which is Aconcag ...
reached the summit on 14 January. On the final attempt a month later, two other expedition members, Stuart Vines and Nicola Lanti, reached the summit on 13 February.
The east side of Aconcagua was first scaled by a Polish expedition, with Konstanty Narkiewicz-Jodko, Stefan Daszyński, Wiktor Ostrowski and Stefan Osiecki summiting on 9 March 1934, over what is now known as the ''Polish Glacier''. A route over the Southwest Ridge was pioneered over seven days in January 1953 by the Swiss-Argentine team of Frederico and Dorly Marmillod, Francisco Ibanez and Fernando Grajales. The famously difficult South Face was conquered by a French team led by . Pierre Lesueur, Adrien Dagory, Robert Paragot, Edmond Denis, Lucien Berardini and Guy Poulet reached the summit after a month of effort on 25 February 1954.
the youngest person to reach the summit of Aconcagua is
Tyler Armstrong
Tyler Robert Armstrong (born January 22, 2004) is an American mountain climber who became the youngest person to climb Aconcagua in Argentina at the age of 9.
Mountaineering career
Beginning
Armstrong started his career as mountain climber at t ...
of California. He was nine years old when he reached the summit on 24 December 2013.
Kaamya Karthikeyan of India at an age of 12 became the youngest girl to reach the summit on 1 February 2020.
The oldest person to climb it was Scott Lewis, who reached the summit on 26 November 2007, when he was 87 years old.
In the base camp Plaza de Mulas (at above sea level) there is the highest contemporary art gallery tent called "Nautilus" of the Argentine painter
Miguel Doura
Miguel Doura was born in 1962 in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he studied fine arts at the school Prilidiano Pueyrredón, standing out in his talks and meetings with his teacher, the sculptor Rubén Locazo (Grand National Sculptu ...
.
In 2014
Kilian Jornet set a record for climbing and descending Aconcagua from Horcones in 12 hours and 49 minutes.
The record was broken less than two months later by Ecuadorian-Swiss
Karl Egloff
Karl Egloff (born March 16, 1981, Ecuador) is a Swiss-Ecuadorian athlete, mountaineer, cyclist and mountain guide, best known for his speed ascents of high mountains, including the Seven Summits.
He was well known in his native Ecuador for a rec ...
, in a time of 11 hours 52 minutes, nearly an hour faster than Kilian Jornet.
The women's record is held by Ecuadorean
Daniela Sandoval
Daniela Cristina Sandoval Bravo (born January 18, 1991) is an Ecuadorian athlete, mountain climber, cyclist, and physical therapist.
Sandoval was born in Quito. She is best known for climbing and descending Aconcagua, a tall mountain, in 20 ho ...
at 20 hours, 17 minutes.
On 25 September 2019, an
Airbus Helicopters
Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturer, helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located ...
H145 landed on the very peak of Mount Aconcagua. This is the first time in history a twin-engine helicopter has landed at this altitude. It took a total of 45 minutes for the entire trip, 30 minutes from
Mendoza and another 15 from the base camp up to the peak. Temperatures were reported as low as , with wind gusts up to . This is not the highest a helicopter has landed before, as a single-engine Airbus Helicopters
H125
H1, H-1, H01, H I may refer to:
Places
*Interstate H-1, a highway in Hawaii
* Area H1, the area of Hebron controlled by the Palestinian Authority under the Hebron Protocol
Science
* H1 (particle detector)
* Histamine H1 receptor
* Histone H1, ...
landed on Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.
Dangers
At nearly ,
Aconcagua is the highest peak outside of Asia. It is believed to have the highest death rate of any mountain in South around three a which has earned it the nickname "Mountain of Death". More than 100 people have died on Aconcagua since records began.
Due to the improper disposal of human waste in the mountain environment there are significant health hazards
that pose a threat to both animals and human beings. Only boiled or chemically treated water is accepted for drinking. Additionally, ecofriendly toilets are available only to members of an organised expedition, meaning climbers have to "be contracted to a toilet service" at the base camp and similar camps along the route. As of 2015, from two base camps (Plaza de Mulas and Plaza Argentina), over 120 barrels of waste (approx. ) are flown out by helicopter each season.
[Barros, A. and Pickering, C. M., 2015, "Managing human waste on Aconcagua". In: J. Higham, A. Thompson-Carr and G. Musa (eds.) ''Mountaineering Tourism'' (London: Routledge), pp. 219–227.] In addition, individual mountaineers must make a payment before using these toilets. Some large organisers will charge up to , while smaller ones may charge per day or for the entire stay; thus, many independent mountaineers choose to defecate on the mountainside.
Mythological meaning
For the
Incas
The Inca Empire (also Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift, known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechuan languages, Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) wa ...
, Aconcagua was a sacred mountain. As on other mountains (e.g.
Ampato
Ampato (possibly from Quechua ''hamp'atu'' or from Aymara ''jamp'atu'', both meaning "frog") is a dormant stratovolcano in the Andes of southern Peru. It lies about northwest of Arequipa and is part of a north-south chain that includes the volc ...
), places of worship were built here and sacrifices, including
human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...
s, were made. The sites discovered in 1985 at an elevation of 5167 m are among the highest in the world and are the most difficult of all Inca sites to reach. Here, the remains of a child bedded on grass, cloth and feathers were found inside stone walls (
Aconcagua mummy
The Aconcagua mummy is an Incan ''capacocha'' mummy of a seven-year-old boy, dated to around the year 1500. The mummy is well-preserved, due to the extreme cold and dry conditions of its high altitude burial location. The frozen mummy was discovere ...
). The clothing indicates that the child was a member of the highest social class. Other offerings found included figures and
coca leaves
Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine.
The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...
.
See also
*
Aconcagua mummy
The Aconcagua mummy is an Incan ''capacocha'' mummy of a seven-year-old boy, dated to around the year 1500. The mummy is well-preserved, due to the extreme cold and dry conditions of its high altitude burial location. The frozen mummy was discovere ...
*
Ojos del Salado
Nevado Ojos del Salado is a dormant complex volcano in the Andes on the Argentina–Chile border. It is the highest volcano on Earth and the highest peak in Chile. The upper reaches of Ojos del Salado consist of several overlapping lava domes, ...
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Aconcagua in Andeshandbook*
Centro de Investigación en Medicina de Altura (CIMA) de Aconcagua a consortium of researchers and mountaineers working to improve the understanding of high altitude illness.
Blog with information from a successful Aconcagua ascentLive webcam from Aconcagua base camp(December to March)
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