Aconcagua is a window on the world. Actually, it is a world in itself, with its own peculiar cosmopolitan mix. You could almost say it is a social phenomena, which is not something you can say about every mountain. For me, Aconcagua is my house, my place, my desert. From Aconcagua, you can see the world, and from the world, you can see Aconcagua.

 

My name is Nacho Lucero and this mountain has been part of my life, for more than 16 years. I have guided numerous expeditions up Aconcagua, 33 in all now, and have travelled to climb other mountains in France, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and the north and south of Argentina. I usually lead 6 expeditions to the summit each season.

 

What is an expedition like?

 

Standing at 6962m, Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas which makes it of unique interest to mountaineers and adventurers from all over the world. And because of the difficulties associated with its altitude, Aconcagua is normally compared to the Himalayas.

 

A scheduled expedition along the “Normal Route” takes around 17 days. During the first few days you start to acclimatise to the altitude, staying in Confluencia and trekking to Plaza Francia at 4100m. You can see Aconcagua’s south face from Plaza Francia, one of the most beautiful and breathtaking sights in the area. After Confluencia, the next place for rest and acclimatisation is Plaza de Mulas where groups camp to make their plans of attack and wait for the correct weather conditions to continue.

 

The biggest problems on Aconcagua are acclimatisation and the cold, so it is necessary to use the progressively higher camps to get used to the altitude and the temperatures. Canada, camp I is at 4900m, Nido de Condores is at 5400m and finally Berlin is at 5930m. These camps are used to acclimatise, so food, equipment and fuel is moved up to each camp, one at a time. There are also other camps that were used in the past – Colera, Piedras Negras and Independencia.

 

Summit day is key, when you reap all the benefits of your hard work, acclimatisation, rehydration, training, strategising and above all, your willpower. Everything comes together on that day. There is no one single success factor that will enable you to reach the summit. And conversely, if you don’t make the summit, the final deciding factor will, in reality, have been an accumulation of many factors. And failure to reach the summit does not mean that the expedition was a failure.

 

There is a further factor which need to be discussed separately – an individual’s capacity to keep going. Call it willpower, call it breaking through the pain barrier, call it what you will - at some point on the mountain you will “hit the wall”. Everyone has an inner capacity to keep going through this point, which is more than just something physical, that determines just how doggedly they will push past this point to meet their objectives. Human beings can tolerate an immense amount but it does depend a great deal on the individual’s motivation and their ability to say – I have decided to do this and I am going to do this.

 

The body and training

 

Of course, if you are in good physical condition, you increase your chances of making it to the summit. But it is not necessarily the case. A well trained individual can fail to make it to the top for a number of reasons – because they didn’t acclimatise enough, because they decided to go without a guide, or because of bad weather. On average, 30% of climbers make it to the top. Neither is youth any guarantee of success, as young people are often the more impulsive and so don’t achieve their goals.

 

The body dehydrates very quickly on Aconcagua so it is necessary to maintain a good level of hydration in the run-up to the expedition in order to minimise the effects of the altitude, to prevent blood clots and oedema. On Aconcagua, hydration is one of the most important factors since the body will naturally dehydrate at altitude and Aconcagua is situated in a very dry, desert area with very low humidity, there is a lot of sun, the atmosphere is thin and it is very windy. All these factors work together to dehydrate the body very quickly.

 

However, you have to remember that the mountain is not just about sport and adventure-seeking. It is also aesthetically very pleasing and is somewhere where you can be alone with your thoughts. If I had to describe the mountain in just a few words, I would say that for me it is a lifestyle. I want to grow old with the mountain.

 

Plaza de Mulas

 

This is the base camp for the normal route up Aconcagua and is a very odd place. During the high season there are about 500 people there who have come from all over the world, and so it is a very cosmopolitan place. The authorities are also represented with park rangers, medical centres and police patrols. No permanent buildings are allowed in Plaza de Mulas so everything is in tents – internet, dining areas, showers, beds etc. It’s a temporary village that appears and disappears each season. The other odd thing is that there are very few Argentinians there and, generally speaking, those who are there are working.

 

I hope that the authorities really take care to preserve this unique place, not just ecologically, but also its atmosphere, traditions and peculiarities.

 

What are extreme sports?

 

I don’t like that expression as it sounds very vague, meaningless and almost stupid – a definition that has been invented to define any kind of adventure tourism that appeals to those who prefer to live their lives a little differently. However, there certainly are sports or activities that carry a higher risk or require more effort than others. I would almost define them as a “mutation of man’s war-mongering tendencies”.

 

Every mountain is the same in the sense that you should not underestimate it. In fact it is dangerous to do so. In the mountains you have to always be on your guard. It is not a good idea to run away to the mountains the minute you have problems in your life, because if you do not have your attention focused on the mountain, if your mind is elsewhere, you may miss something very dangerous.

 

Why do we use words normally associated with war to describe the mountain, such as “conquer” or “attack” the summit. They are metaphors which we use in day to day life when talking about mountaineering, and we use them in the mountains too. I think they must have their origins in the first ascents which were always undertaken by military based expeditions. But today this is changing, and now the aim is not so much to conquer in the military sense, and we no longer use words such as “attacking the summit” as much.

 

Many cultures believe that the gods live in the mountains. Mountains have been objects of adoration, pilgrimage or sacred places where you can meet with the gods. I don’t know why, but there can be no doubt – the mountains are near to the gods. Solitude, the mountain and silence is a trinity that can be found in these places – an atmosphere of peace with yourself and your inner being.

 

My theory regarding the ascent of Aconcagua.

 

Today there has been a boom in the number of visitors to Aconcagua. The mountain is now open to tourists as well as mountaineers. It is possible for almost anyone to get to the summit of Aconcagua. But we all have different individual capabilities and potential and it is a matter of harnessing the potential of these qualities and knowing how to use each person’s individual capabilities and how to make a strategy to fit each individual or each group’s characteristics.

 

Everyone can look down from the top but working out a plan with a professional guide who is dedicated to this mountain and who knows its peculiarities, increases your chances of success. But the success of an expedition cannot just be measured by whether you reach the summit or not. Each step that we take on the mountain is an accomplishment but at the same time is a means to an end because of course everyone wants to get to the top. The way I plan an expedition has given me a success rate with more than 70% of my groups.

 

The mountain opens man’s heart. Man is always looking to find himself with every step he takes, but he does not always find himself. In the mountain, you can be sure that you will get closer.