Aconcagua story 1

I came to Aconcagua not really knowing what to expect. After finishing my 3 Summits project in the Alps I felt that I am fit more than ever and I was still motivated to push myself before the end of the year.

My goal was to test the body in altitude higher than I have experienced before (5500m in Nepal was my highest so far) and see how fast I can move up there. And also to see whether I am motivated to do more of speed climbing.

I approached the mountain with the same protocol as I use in the Alps. Live low, train high. I did not use high camps (except one night at C2). Staying in the basecamps gave me a better recovery. It meant always going the whole way up and down. But the distance was not that crazy (Plaza de Mulas-summit 9,5km). Longest day was the summit day via 360 route from Plaza Argentina basecamp (28km).

Since the first day in the Andes I was training the body to go uphill as fast as possible. This worked well till 6000m. Above that I had to slow down massively because of the effects of altitude. I was breathing hard, barely making 10-20 steps at a time. I thought ‘this is ridiculous’! What am I doing here?!

Everything is trainable though!