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Aconcagua
Facts and History
Name/Mountain
Aconcagua,
"The Sentinel of Stone". Its name has roots in the Quechua
language and when translated means "The Sentinel
of Stone".
Aconcagua, at 22830 feet
(6959 meters) is the highest point in the Western and
Southern hemisphere, towering above the surrounding
peaks in the Argentine Andes. The mountain stands on
the border with Chile, some 30 km (a day-and-a-half
hike) from the Puente del Inca settlement. Aconcagua
does not lie in the actual Andes, but in the Frontal
range, slightly to the east. It has a very steep and
massive face on its south and a gentle slope on the
north, with a huge glacier, the Polish glacier,
flowing to the east and a series of aretes and
couloirs to the west. As the
highest point in South America, Aconcagua
is one of the
much sought after "Seven
Summits" and a world renowned peak.
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The mountain has two summits
- North (6959 meters) and South (6930 meters), joined
by a ridge (Cresta del Guanaco) approximately one kilometer
long. Various ridges radiate from each summit and the
whole massif is isolated from other high peaks. Only
to the northwest is it connected by a high snow ridge
with the surrounding mountain systems. The usual
approach is from the south up the Quebrada de los
Horcones, which circles the western flanks of the
peak, to the Plaza de Mulas base camp at a height of
4230 meters. From here 3 routes start: the normal via
the Horcones Glaciar Superior and north ridge, the
West Buttress route, and the South-West route. The
best climbing period is mid-November to March. On the
normal route, refuges exist at heights of 5850 meters
and 6480 meters.
First
Ascent
While the first summit of Aconcagua is credited to Swiss
Climber Mathias Zurbriggen, there are traces of Inca
civilization and culture near the summit. The name itself
hearkens back to indigenous roots, the Quechua word Anco
(white) and Cahuac (sentinel). Much like the explorers of
the Himalayas, the passes around Aconcagua came into play
during military expeditions. In 1817, General Jose de San
Martin crossed the range in successful efforts to liberate
Chile from Spain. By 1950 most sides of the mountain were
climbed with variations of these routes being added to the
long line of successful summits.
More
History
Paul
Gussfeldt, the German mountaineer, made the first known
attempt on Aconcagua in 1883. He reached 6000 meters on
his first attempt by following the North ridge. On his 2nd
attempt he failed to get to 6000 meters! The Fitzgerald
expedition, in January 1897, attempted the mountain and
they
were the first expedition to use the Horcones valley
approach. On 1/12/1897 Fitgerald's Swiss guide
Matthias Zurbriggen reached the ridge between the two
summits. Matthias Zurbriggen made the summit two
days later by himself. Matthias Zurbriggen was already famous
in Switzerland
and New Zealand, where Matthias made
numerous first ascents as well as the second ascent of
Mount Cook. The Polish Glacier was the second route to be
pioneered on Aconcagua.
Other expedition members followed later. V.M.
Conway was the next to reach the Summit nearly two years
later; however, he stated he stopped short of the very top
out of deference to Fitzgerald, something later regretted.
Eilert Sundt made the first winter attempt in 1915
with two other climbers; However, the party were unable to
reach the Summit because of a cornice.
The 1934
Polish Andes Expedition established a new route, climbing
what is known as the Ruta del Glacier de los Polacos, on
the East face in alpine Style !. In 1947, Thomas Kopp and
Lothar Heroldd made the traverse of the summit ridge to
the south peak, discovering a carcass on of the guanaco en
route. This discovery has led to speculation about the
possibility of Inca ascents of the great peak. In 1953 the
Swiss couple, Frederic and Dorly Marmillod, with two
companions, traversed across the western flanks from Plaza
de Mulas and ascended to the South Peak via the South-West
ridge. In 1951, W. Foerster, L. Krahl and E. Meier,
repeating Gussfeldt's route, succeeded in joining up with
the ordinary route at 6200 meters. Finally, in 1954, a
strong group of French climbers made a route up the south
face, one of the hardest in the whole of the Andes.
Since
1954 the face has been climbed by a variety of routes. In
1966, the Ruta de los Argentinos was climbed to the right
of the French route and, in the same year, the Central
Couloir, which runs between the French and
Argentine routes, was climbed. In 1974, Reinhold Messner, solo climbed
a direct finish to the French route, while yet another
variation was added by the 1981 Japanese expedition.
Deaths
Several
climbers normally die on Aconcagua every year.
