A typical gear spread at my house prior to expeditions.
Depending upon your Spanish skills, Aconcagua can mean either of the titles above. The Stone Sentinel sounds better so I’m going to stick with that. I dropped Howard off early this morning at the airport and will be joining him on Saturday, after finishing up my last few days of work. We have been preparing for this expedition since concluding Kilimanjaro this summer, in July. Howard has been hitting the circuit training like a champ and I feel pretty good about my present level of fitness, given it is the holidays and I always have a few extra lbs this time of year.
We will be using Grajales for our expedition services and commence properly on Dec. 22. You will find expedition dispatches on Grajales website along with my instagram and twitter feeds found here.
I am hoping for an illness free sojourn for us both. Everything else can be managed in my head.
So, Merry Christmas to all. Please feel free to share, comment on our varying platforms and send good energy as we take on the highest mountain outside of Asia. At 22,800 feet, Aconcagua is definitely an exercise in altitude. That is why summit stats place successful ascents at around 35%. This mountain requires some serious load hauling at altitude, no Sherpas involved on this peak for me. I look forward to visiting Argentina and my stopover in Santiago, Chile.
Thanks for following and Happy New Year to everyone.
John