The following are equipment suggestions for a
guided Aconcagua climb. I will be leading a group of 8 climbers and 4 guides on an ascent of what has become known as the 360 Traverse Route on Aconcagua, which involves approaching the mountain via the Vacas Valley to the Plaza Argentina Basecamp, climbing to the Col Ameghino at around 17,200', traversing to Camp 3 on the Guanacos Route, ascending to White Rocks, summiting via the Ruta Normal, and the descending to the Plaza Mulas Basecamp, and finally exiting via the Horcones Valley.
If you would like to follow along you can download the equipment list that we issue to our customers from our website here:
Aconcagua Equipment List. The list is a PDF file mid-way down the right side of the page.
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| Aconcagua Equipment List for guided program |
I always work off an equipment list as it allows me to pack very quickly and efficiently and not stress too much about forgetting something. I use two lists, one for personal gear, and one for group gear. My group gear list is a generalized list for all the guiding that I do as it forces me to consider each item, if only briefly as I pack for a wide variety of trips.
Sleeping Gear for Aconcagua: This year I am taking a full length Thermarest Neo Air inflatable pad, a 1/2 length Ridgerest, and a Mountain Hardware -20F Wraith Down Sleeping Bag. You could get away with a -10F down bag, but I chose the slightly heavier bag given the amount of time I will spend in it on the expedition. It is very important to pack the sleeping bag in a compression sack. For the Wraith I have chosen the 25L OR compression sack. It is a touch on the big side, but this makes it faster and easier to pack each morning on the mountain. I also put a trash compactor bag inside the compression sack and stuffed the bag into that as it ensures my bag will stay dry if one of the mules carry my duffel to basecamp were to fall in a river, which happens.
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| -20F sleeping bag, Neo Air, short Ridgerest, and compression sack |
Footwear for Aconcagua: I can afford to go a bit heavy here because mules will be transporting all my gear to basecamp, and above there I will trim things down radically for the hike out. For my main boot I use the Sportiva Spantik. The Baruntse is a good alternative. I do not use my Olympus Mons boots on Aconcagua as they will be destroyed by all the walking on rocks. I have a super gaiter from Mountain Tools that fits over my Spantiks. While it is possible to climb Aconcagua without super gaiters, I prefer the extra insurance as summit day on Aconcagua can be colder than Denali. You can't use overboots on Aconcagua as these have material on the sole of the boot, which prevents you from walking in rocks, without crampons, which is common. My crampon of choice is the Petzl
Vasak Flexlock, it has a rubber basket style attachment in the front and back, so it stays on and can be easily adjusted when I add my super gaiters up high. I bring 4 pairs of mountaineering socks. One pair will live in my sleeping bag for the entire trip and then become my summits socks, the others will be rotated each day to allow one pair to dry while I climb with the other. You could do it with 3 pairs, but 4 gives you a relatively clean pair of socks to wear each day.
For the approach I use the Sportiva Exum Guide, which is basically a running shoe. I take a pair of OR Flextex Gaiters to use with these on the approach which is very dusty and dirty and it keeps small pebbles out of my shoes on the hike to and from the mountain. I also take a pair of flip-flops, which I use for the flight down, moving about in Mendoza, and for the river crossing between the Vacas and Relinchos Valleys and for any river crossings in the Relinchos Valley. There are no river crossings that are not bridged, below Casa Piedra in the Vacas, or on the exit via the Horcones, but there are a few on the morning of day 3 and you enter the Relinchos. I also throw in 3 light pairs of socks for wearing off the mountain or in my running shoes.
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| Aconcagua Footwear |
Transporting Crampons: I take my crampons, reduce them to their shortest length, place the spikes together, and then wrap the straps around the crampons. If trying to save weight I don't take a crampon pouch, but I often use a small fabric pouch from Grivel that allows me to get these to and from South America without putting holes in everything in my duffel bag. I do not take this pouch onto the mountain. For the approach to basecamp I gather all of the groups crampons and ice axes into one bag, pad the inside of the bag with cardboard, and make things comfortable for the mules.
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| Crampons packed with spike together. |
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| Crampon Case with crampons inside |
Top Layers for Aconcagua: I generally carry about 7 top layers for something like Aconcagua.
It is a strange mountain. Most of the trip up to the high camp feels almost like a trek, and then the summit day is generally very cold and windy. At this point I have guided 19 Denali trips and summited 15 times, and I can say without a doubt that summit day on Aconcagua is every bit as cold, perhaps colder. With this in mind my top layers need to work with extremes of both heat and cold and need to eventually all layer together to get you through the summit day. I bring a synthetic T-shirt, then a mid-weight capeline layer, then something like a Patagonia Nano Puff Pullover, followed by a Patagonia Micro Puff Jacket with a hood. I also carry a very light, fully waterproof shell for climbing in wet snow or high wind. On top of everything I have a slightly large Down Parka. I really don't think you need a massive down parka if you have enough loosed fitting top layers, but you do need something pretty warm. In most years I don;t wear my big parka until high camp.
I should also mention that I like the Patagonia R1 Hoody as the hood fits under or over a helmet.
I bring 2 nice shirts, a t-shirt, and a long sleeved shirt for the hot, sunny hike in and for Mendoza
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| Top Layer System |
Bottom Layers for Aconcagua: I take a pair of shorts for town and a pair of Khaki pants for the flight down and around town. There are a bunch of nice restaurants in Mendoza and you will want something presentable when sampling the world famous Argentine beef and Malbec. These will not go onto the mountain with me. For the approach to basecamp and the climb I take a mid-weight long underwear bottom, a pair of Patagonia Simple Guide Pants, a light pair of shell pants with full-length zippers, and finally a pair of Patagonia Micro-Puff Pants. It is important that these layers can all be worn together. On the hike in is will be very hot and sunny and if you wear shorts you will get sunburned and super dusty. Above basecamp I usually travel with the synthetic pants and long underwear and then add the shell pants and insulated pants as needed. Note that everything is something that won't show dirt as Aconcagua can be very, very dirty. I also bring 3 pairs of cotton boxers. I find cotton more comfortable and your boxers are not going to make the difference when it comes to hypothermia. You can rinse these out as needed at basecamp and in the hotel. Wear a belt down as your pants won't fit on the return flight!
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| Bottom Layer system |
Handwear for Aconcagua: I take three pairs of gloves as when I am guiding I can't really wear mittens. As my heaviest gloves are sometimes a bit light for summit day I bring 3 pairs of chemical hand warmers to give me some extra heat. I take at least one pair of mostly leather gloves for working with the stoves that have good dexterity, a medium weight pair that I climb in most days, and a heavy pair that has removable liners as this allows them to dry faster if they get wet. I require that my customers bring a pair of heavy shelled mittens for the summit day. For this trip I am taking OR Extravert Gloves, Men's Motive Gloves, and Men's Remote Gloves. For Mitts I recommend the OR Alti Mitt.
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| Typical guide handwear, you might consider mittens as well |
Headwear for Aconcagua: I lumped everything that I wear on my head into this category. Bring a warm hat (Patagonia Lightweight Ski Hat), a buff (neck gaiter), 2 pairs of dark glacier glasses (Julbo Cat 4, with good side portection), a lightweight baseball cap that will stay on in the wind (OR Sunrunner Hat), a pair of ski goggles, 3 oz. of 70 SPF sunscreen, 2 tubes of lipbalm with sunscreen, a small headlamp (Petzl Zipka Plus), 3 sets of new batteries for the headlamp, and most importantly an OR Gorilla Balaclava. The Gorilla Balaclava is essential as it provides 100% coverage for your face on summit day and can be worn with ski goggles without fogging them up. Many climbers do not take a helmet, but as this is a guided trip I require it and prefer something like the Petzl Elios. With the ski goggles you can get away without them being super dark as you will want to wear them a bit in the dark and once the sun is out I usually do not wear them all day.
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| My usual headgear |
Items for Eating and Drinking on Aconcagua: Bring 2 - 1 liter Waterbottles with a wide mouth, this will make it easier to fill when melting snow. I bring 1 insulated water bottle jacket and wrap the other water bottle in my down parka when climbing. OR makes a good insulated water bottle parka. Bring an insulated cup, a bowl, and 2 spoons. Most importantly bring a Aqua Mira water treatment kit. This will be used to treat all of your water and is a 2% Aqueous Solution of Chlorine Dioxide. I do not use any form of Iodine tablets as I don't like the taste and have friends who have developed thyroid cancer after using iodine for years in the field. One set of Aqua Mira usually lasts me for two trips as we do not need to treat water that is boiled.
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| Keep your eating and drinking gear simple |
Solar Power System for Aconcagua: I will start by saying that this is not an essential item. As a guide service, we feel it is our duty to bring a satellite phone for receiving weather forecasts from our office and I need some way to recharge the phone and have found that a solar system is best. While leading a trip in India this year we ended up in the middle of a natural disaster (flooding) in which over 1000 people died. What seemed like a luxury, a satellite phone to send trip reports to our blog, ended up being used extensively to rearrange logistics, hastily put together evacuations for people we encountered who were injured, and allow families to call their loved ones and tell them they were OK. Once this ball got rolling we needed a decent amount of power.
I have started working with the Goal0 Sherpa 50 adventure Kit, which includes a 13.5 watt solar panel, and a 50 watt battery that can store the energy. As you can see in the photos I have stacked 2 of the 50 watt batteries and used a cable they provide to chain them together. It takes about 8 hours to fully power the battery, so I will never be able to charge both batteries in one day, but if I am vigilant I can keep them mostly charged for the entire trip. They have attachments that allow you to connect a female DC output (one per battery) as well as a single USD port that can be used to charge any USB device. With this in mind I bring a USB AA battery charger so that I can recharge AA batteries on the mountain for use in my GPS.
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| Goal Zero Sherpa 50 Charging system will support a group of 12 w/ 2 50 Watt batteries |
Once we have this much power capability I first use the system to power our Sat Phone and Radios and then open it up to the group to recharge their iPods. While you do not need an iPod to climb a big mountain I find that people do better if they are not wildly bored, and it is amazing what people can bring in terms of music and audio books to get them through storm days or rest days, both which are very eventful at high altitude.
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| Goal Zero 50 Watt Battery |
Communications Equipment on Aconcagua: On Aconcagua I rent a VHF radio from my outfitter. This costs around $80 USD and allows me to speak with both basecamps, to receive weather updates, and to talk with the Park officials if I have a problem and need help from below. I then bring an Iridium 9505A Satellite Phone with a DC charger so that I can charge it off the solar panel. Finally I bring some very simple Motorola Talkabouts so that I can communicate with the guides in the group if someone needs to turn around or stays behind at camp on a carry day. As I have the USB AA battery chargers, I could in a pinch, recharge batteries for use in the Talkabouts. I bring 2 sets of batteries per radio. We use the SPOT device not to communicate with anyone, but so that our office can follow our progress on the climb on Google Earth. Again, this is a luxury item, but the folks back home appreciate seeing exactly where we are and the device is relatively inexpensive ($150 plus an annual subscription fee).
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| Communications system for a group with 8 clients and 4 guides on Aconcagua |
Miscellaneous Climbing Gear: I take a single collapsible trekking pole (3 piece, made by Black Diamond). This fits nicely in my duffel bag. I also take a lightweight climbing harness and a short (60 cm) Ice Axe. I use the Petzl Snow Walker for this trip. I bring a single locking and a single non-locking carabiner for attaching myself to the climbing rope, if we use it. I also throw a 20 foot piece of cordelette in which I have available in the event that we need to haul someone who is injured. It also doubles as piece of cord that can be used to back up tent anchors, etc.
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| My climbing gear minus crampons |
Backpack: I use a Cilogear 75 Liter Work Sack. I love this pack and own some of the smaller ones as well. You really do not need a huge pack for Aconcagua until it is time to come down from highcamp, at which point you need significant capacity. Most of my customers show up with packs that weigh in excess or 7 or 8 lbs. empty, whereas my Cilogear pack weighs about 3 lbs. That saved 4 lbs. equals two full water bottles, which can mean a lot at high altitude.
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| The Cilogear 75 Liter WorkSack is perfect for Aconcagua |
Duffel bags: I take everything to South America in 2 Patagonia Black Hole Duffels. If I pack well, I can get all my personal gear into one bag weighing less than 50 lbs. I take a small pack as my carry-on and leave this at Penitentes with my outfitter at the start of the trip. I do take the second bag as we need the excess capacity for the mule loads into basecamp. Whatever you take will get beat up pretty bad my the mules and will be very dirty when you bring it home, so bring something durable and expect it to look used at the end. Take a dozen zip ties if you are worried about security and ziptie the zippers when you check your luggage in the US. I wait to do this at the airport in case my bad is a bit over 50lbs. and I need to pull something out and put it in my day pack to get it on the flight without paying for excess luggage.
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| Patagonia Balck Hole Duffel |
Miscellaneous Items: My toiletry kit includes a razor, small tube of shaving cream, a roll of TP, a package of wet ones, some Purell, a stick of deodorant, a tooth brush and tooth paste. On the mountain I only carry the toothbrush, TP, wet ones, and a small tube of tooth paste. If you bring a small bar of soap you can wash at basecamp. These days you can even pay to take a shower at one of the outfits operating out of either basecamp. For navigation I carry a small GPS, and a compass. These are not required for my clients and I only carry them to allow me to give very accurate time estimates each day when we are underway. If on a private trip I would not carry them. I bring a iPod, and the adaptors I need to charge it by USB, and finally a pulse oximeter, which I can use to check people O2 saturation and see how well people are acclimating.
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| GPS, Pulse Oximeter, iPod, compass and various adaptors for Aconcagua |
Lunchfood: Given the cost of flying excess luggage to Argentina these days I buy most of my lunchfood in Mendoza at local grocery stores. These days there are very big grocery stores in Mendoza and you can buy most of what you need there. It is impossible to find hard cheese, tortillas, bagels, and high-tech foods like Gu, so if you need this sort of thing bring it down from the US and buy everything else there. We hit the mountain with 15 days worth of food and always seem to have plenty to get the climb done. I estimate that I want about a pound of lunchfood per day. Older folks eat 20-25% less, and younger climbers need 20-25% more.
Consider selling your gear at the end of the expedition: There is a crew of very strong porters on Aconcagua who are paid between $150 and $350 per 22kg depending on which camp they are carrying to. It is very difficult for them to get good gear from the US or Europe and they are usually interested in buying anything you want to sell. I often unload as much of my gear as possible before leaving basecamp as it cuts down on the mule loads, saving you some money, and I have found that they are willing to pay good money for used gear. In particular tents get hammered by UV and the local outfitters are always looking to buy tents in good condition. It is not uncommon to pay less to take extra bags down than home on the airlines, so this is a good opportunity to save more money at the airport and the porters make good use of whatever you give them.
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| 2010 Northwest Mountain School Group on Summit of Aconcagua |
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My climbing background. I have been an IMFGA guide since 2006, and I started guiding in 1989. Over the years I have guided 5 Aconcagua Expeditions, 19 Denali Expeditions, and have also worked in Antarctica, on South Georgia Island, Kilimajaro, Alpamayo, Elbrus, Cho Oyu (3 times), Shishapangma (1 time), Everest (twice), as well as various peaks in Alaska. I have always enjoyed expedition guiding and have made every mistake in the book when planning for these types of trips. If this is your first big expedition it can seem challenging to do all the pre-trip planning and packing, but it is worth taking the extra effort to plan for the worst while always keeping an eye on keeping the weight down. From my experience the trips that do best, focus on going slowly, have some extra time built into the schedule, and don't try to make things more complicated that needed. Good Luck!
More Questions: Feel free to call us at the Northwest Mountain School at 509-548-5823 or drop us an e-mail and we will be happy to discuss gear with you. We run an expedition each season and often run multiple trips. Full details are on our websites
Aconcagua Climb page.
