Introduction

Mount Aconcagua is the highest mountain of the Andes range; it´s summit is the highest place of the Southern Hemisphere and on Earth, besides the Himalayas; of the six thousand meter peaks that surround it, none rivals its massive size; its glaciers are visible from the Valparaíso Bay and from Mendoza; its unruly and bulky shape is notorious. By no means can this giant remain unnoticed.

On it´s North flank it is dry and abundant in scree slopes, and has an amorphous figure. From the West, it has a triangular shape, being very rocky and abrupt. The quality of the rock on this side is poor, and very few try to climb it this way. From the East, Aconcagua has the classical shape of a triangular peak, although embellished by the Glaciar de Polacos, or Polish Glacier. From the South it is simply impressive. A 3000+ meter wall from it´s base to the summit, abundant in glaciers and seracs that make sure it stays white. The South Face intimidates and is, most of the time, just lurid.


Origins of the name

Numerous theories exist as to what the origin of the name Aconcagua is:

The first of these supports the idea of it having quechua roots. According to it, Aconcagua comes from the quechua word "Ackon-Cahuak", which means "The White Sentinel".

The same word takes a similar meaning in the aymara culture, standing for "The Stone Sentinel".

And finally, some people sustain that the word "Aconcagua" comes from the mapudungun (mapuche language) word"Aconcahue", which means "that comes from the other side", thus referring to the homonimous river that flows towards the Pacific Ocean. Nonetheless, no water course exists that has its source in the Aconcagua and which flows to the Pacific.


Is the Aconcagua also chilean?

Far from what many people believe (obviously chileans), not a stone of the Aconcagua is in chilean territory. It is entirely situated in Argentina, and belongs to the Parque Provincial Aconcagua. As mentioned before, no water course from the Aconcagua reaches the Pacific. Thus, the Divortia Aquarium tenet so frequently used for establishing borders between Chile and Argentina, does not hold. As can be seen in the picture above, a complete valley (Quebrada de Matienzo) lies before the massive mountain, if observed from Chile in west-east direction. The extensive Aconcagua Park (roughly 71.000 hectares) is perfectly safeguarded and administrated, fact that is reflected in the high fees charged in order to visit it.


Aconcagua volcano?

For many years the belief that Aconcagua was a volcano remained. An english observer mistakenly confused an electric strom with a volcanic eruption. The observer just mentioned was none other than Charles Darwin, whom popularized the idea of it being a volcano. Recent studies show that Aconcagua corresponds to the south slope of an once active volcano, some ten million years ago.


Mount Aconcagua and Darwin

Between the years 1832 and 1835, the author of the "Evolution of the Species", Charles Darwin, traveled over a great part of the chilean territory, as member of the renowned adventure of the "Beagle". Darwin crossed the Cordillera de Los Andes twice by its central part (once from Chile to Argentina, by the Nieves Negras pass, Cajón del Maipo; once from Argentina to Chile, by Uspallata). Of the enormous mountain he wrote:

"That huge irregular mass reaches a height more considerable than that of Chimborazo, because, according to the measurements done by the officers of the Beagle, it reaches a height of 23.000 feet (6.900mts)". (July 23^rd, 1835, from the hills of Valparaíso).

In another passage:

"In the cordillera of central Chile, I believe the snow-line varies much in height in relation to summers. I have been assured that during a very long and dry summer, all the snow of the Aconcagua disapeared, even though this mountain reaches the prodigious height of 6.900 mts. It is probable that at such great height, more than melt it evaporates."


Aconcagua milestones

1883: First attempt by its North Face, made by Paul Gussfeldt. Reached 6.600 meters aproximately.
1897: First ascent of the mountain by what is today known as the normal route (North Face). Expedition led by the englishman Edward Fitzgerald. The swiss Mathias Zubriggen reaches the summit for the first on February 14, 1897.
1934: First argentinian ascent. Led by Plantamura, from the argentinian army. Along with the expedition went the chilean arriero Mariano Pastén. March 8, 1934.
1934: First ascent by the Polish Glacier (East Face). Polish expedition formed by Otrowski, Karpinski, Osiecki and Narkiewicz. March 8, 1934.
1940: First female ascent: the french lady Adriana Bance.
1949: First chilean ascent: Busquets and Moder.
1954: First ascent of the South Face. French expedition. Paragot, Poulet, Dagory, Bernandino, Lesseur and Denis. February 25.
1974: Reinhold Messner completes the Direct Route of the South Face. Austrian-italian expedition.
1996: Record ascent from Plaza de Mulas: 5 hrs 29 minutes. José Luis Pauletto from Brazil. February.


Myths and reality

The Aconcagua is a very well known mountain. Each year it is visited by more than 4000 people coming from all around the world, though mainly foreigners from Europe and United States. It is the highest summit of the American continent, and in so being, it is a forced ascent in the race for the "Seven Summits" (invention of a texan multimillionaire named Dick Bass, who couldn´t find a better way of trascending than climbing the highest peak in each one of the seven continents). All this makes it a mountain with many tales. Some are true, others are pure invention. Ghosts there are many, owing to the numerous tragedies ocurred on its slopes. It is said that an arriero (local cowboy) reached the summit riding its "macho" (name used by the arrieros for referring to the male mule); others have hang-glided all the way down from the summit; the chilean Luis Andaur (“Loquito/Crazy Andaur”) gained some notoriety by climbing the mountain loaded with his mountain bike and then descending mounted on it from the summit to the park entrance.

We can not forget the chauvinism of the argentinians in all matters related to Aconcagua. Their pride makes them decorate tales with impresive fantasies. Not to be surprised then if the official bulletin refers to the peak as a "small 8000". Other more hardcore fans will say that because of the movement of tectonic plates, the Aconcagua would gain an inch every year (4000 years to become a 7000m peak). Will the magical anual inch be enough to compensate loss of height caused by wind erosion, snow meltdown and the stones that hearty chileans take down with them in the hope that some day the Ojos del Salado surpasses the Aconcagua in height?

An expedition to Aconcagua is an adventure very hard to forget.