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El Plomo near Santiago

El Plomo near Santiago

Location: Home » Central Andes » El Plomo near Santiago
  • Duration: 6 days
  • Difficulty: Excellent Physical Shape
  • Departures: November to April (AEE7)
  • Expedition cost: US$2,500 with 6 climbers
  • Private Porter: US $1,000 per person
  • Hotel single supplement: US $300
  • Reservation cost: US $900
  • Balance due payment date: 120 days prior departure
  • Space available: 6 climbers

An expedition to Cerro El Plomo (5,430m / 17,814 ft), the tallest mountain visible from Santiago. Presenting no technical difficulties, El Plomo offers similar elevation, wind, and temperature conditions to the Aconcagua, but on a smaller scale, and is easily accessed from Chile’s national capital, Santiago. Known by the Incas as Apu–guardian of the valley– the three-day climb passes an Inca shrine at 5,140m /16,863 ft where the mummy of a young boy was found in 1954. Stunning views from the summit take in the highest peaks of the main range of the Chilean Andes.

Services

Services included

  • Professional Bilingual Mountain Guide.
  • Ratio, Guide to Clients 1-3.
  • All local organization & supervision by AE Expeditions Staff.
  • One hotel night in Santiago, double occupancy with breakfast, at Kennedy Hotel or equivalent.
  • One hotel night in Farellones, double occupancy with dinner & breakfast,
  • Mules for individual and community gear to base camp and return to El Plomo base camps.
  • High quality expedition common gear: The North Face, Mountain Hardware, and Marmot tents, stoves and fuel.
  • Satellite phone during the entire expedition on a per minute payment basis.
  • VHF 2 mt radio communication equipment.
  • Full dining room set up at base camp, with tables, chairs, etc.
  • All meals during the expedition.
  • Permanently available hot drinks and biscuits at base camp tent.
  • Private transportation, including airport pick-up.
  • Assistance in Santiago airport.
  • All local organization and supervision by AEE Staff.

Services not included

  • All personal climbing equipment and gear.
  • International round-trip airfare to Santiago.
  • Single room supplement at hotels in Santiago and Farellones.
  • Meals in Santiago.
  • Porter for personal gear.
  • Drinks (soda, beer, or wine) in
  • Guides and mountain staff tips.
  • Cancellation, accident, and rescue insurance.
  • Cash for extra expenses.
  • Airport drop-off.
  • Any costs involved in an early or late departure.
  • Any other service not mentioned above.

Route Itinerary

Route Overview

Day 1 Santiago – Farellones.  You will be picked up at Arturo Merino Benitez Airport in Santiago or from your hotel am, drive up a spectacular mountain road with views down to Santiago and up into the high Andes, a trip of approximately an hour. Farellones (2,340m / 7,677 ft) is a picturesque mountain village, from where we’re likely to see Andean condors soaring on thermal updrafts.  Farellones’s elevation will allow our bodies to begin the process of acclimatization. We’ll stay overnight at the Hotel Posada de Farellones or similar. On the way up to Farellones, we will stop at our ski shop, located on the same road to Farellones, and check your mountain gear.

Transfer distance 36k / 22 miles / Transfer time 1 hour / Hotel La Cornisa / Elevation Min 543m / 1,781 ft – Max 2,340m / 7,677 ft

Day 2 Farellones – Piedra Numerada.  A vehicle will leave us at the Portazuelo del Franciscano (3,500 mts / 11,482 ft), the highest point of the La Parva ski area.  This access could also be done by Valle Nevado ski area. From here, we’ll descend into the Cepo Valley, hiking about 3 hours to reach our base camp at Piedra Numerada (3,300 mts / 10,826 ft).

Trekking Time – 3 hours / Tent / Elevation – Min 3,300 mts / 10,826 ft – Max 3,500 mts / 11,482 ft

Day 3 Piedra Numerada – La Olla – Piedra Numerada. Today we hike approximately 4 hours to reach La Olla camp (4.000 mt / 13,123 ft), where we’ll enjoy spectacular views of El Plomo’s Iver glacier. We return to Piedra Numerada base camp for the night

Trekking Time – 6 hours / Tent / Elevation – Min 3,500 mts / 11,482 ft – Max 4,000m / 13,123 ft

Day 4 Piedra Numerada – La Olla.  Today we return to La Olla camp where we’ll spend the night.

Trekking Time – 4 hours / Tent / Elevation – Min 3,500 mts / 11,482 ft – Max 4,000m / 13,123 ft 

Day 5 La Olla – El Plomo summit – La Olla.   Leaving our camp very early in the morning, we’ll take the standard route up El Plomo, following the south-west ridge to the right of the Iver glaciar. We’ll pass the site where in 1954 local arrieros (animal herders) came across the mummified body of a young boy, left as a ritual offering by early Inca peoples.  The mummy is kept at the Museum of Natural History, in Santiago. We’ll cross an icefield to reach the summit ridge. From the summit we’ll have outstanding views of the highest peaks in the central Andes: La Falsa Parva (3,888m / 12 755 ft), La Parva, (4,047m / 13 277 ft), El Pintor, (4,180m / 13 713 ft), and La Leonera (4,954m / 16 253 ft). As we have been gaining altitude slowly, allowing our bodies to acclimatize, our summit day will be very comfortable and easy to achieve in about 8 hours. We’ll return to La Olla camp for the night.

Trekking Time – 12 hours / Tent / Elevation – Min 4,000m / 13,123 ft – Max

5,430m / 17,814 ft

Day 6 La Olla – El Pintor – Santiago.  On our return to our starting point at La Parva, along the long plateau of Cancha Carrera, we’ll hike up El Pintor (4,000 mt / 13,123), an attractive peak of multicoloured rock which gives the mountain its name:  The Painter. We’ll return to Santiago in the evening for dinner and a good rest at Hotel Kennedy.

Trekking Time – 5 hours / Hotel / Transfer distance 36k / 22 miles / Transfer time 1 1/2 hours / Elevation – Min 543m / 1,781 ft – Max 4,000m/ 13,123 ft

Important

  • All itineraries are subject to change due to changes in the weather, group members’ acclimatization rates, and the guide’s preferences.
  • Any departure dates can be re-scheduled with a minimum of 6 persons

 

Climber Experiences

Gabriel and Mariana are great very sensitive, customer minded and fun to be with. And very well prepared and responsible.

Frans Cromme
Netherlands

Overall I was very happy with the trip. Logistics of the trip were well organized; the pre-trip info, the food at base camp, the hotels, transports and equipment provided by KL / Aconcagua Express Expeditions were good.
Our guides, Kristina and Nenu, were excellent. Very friendly, knowledgeable, and capable. I had every confidence in them.

Brett Mc Fadyen
Australia

Aconcagua Express & KL Adventure was truly a wonderful experience. From the pre- trip client care to the world class guide and staff, fabulous base camp cuisine, traveling safely and ethically, superior route experience and better pricing than most other outfits. Truly a fantastic trip that I have no reservations in recommending to Americans or anyone else interested in a climb.

Eric Hornbeck
USA

Hey Joaquin
We have used Aconcagua Express services every year we have guided Aconcagua and we have been 100% satisfied. Aconcagua Express is exceedingly professional, on time, and a good value. We would not choose another service for our expeditions.
Cheers,

Colby Combs Director Alaska Mountaineering School
Alaska

Beautiful route, and the strategy for adjusting to the altitude was very good. I really enjoyed our team, and Christina and Marianna also seemed to be enjoying themselves very well. Good atmosphere.

Choice for Aconcagua Express Expeditions was also because you were the only ones to actually give me advice on an expedition when I e-mailed you. You offered me a specific expedition and date. So the personal info was important for me.

Martijn de Boer
Netherlands

Hi Joaquin, I was a member of your January expedition to Aconcagua, I was very impressed with the entire setup and I would like to compliment you on how smoothly the expedition went. I was very impressed with the skills of both Gabriel and Mariana and if it hadn’t been for them and the decisions they made I am quite sure we would not have made the summit.

Peter Dignan
United Kingdom

Over the last couple years I had the opportunity to lead many individual and groups to Aconcagua, Patagonia, central Cordillera and Lake District of Chile. I could not have provided the exceptional service my clients have grown accustom to without the help of KL Adventure & Aconcagua Express. Joaquin Oyarzun and his team were perfectly dedicated to the comfort, safety and enjoyment of my clients. It is this type of dedication to service that I search out when I lead trips. It is what guarantees a successful trip. Nature will deliver what it will. Outstanding infrastructure provides the comforts and support that keeps clients coming back.

Jean Pavillard
UIAGM / IFMGA Internationally Certified Mountain Guide World Wide Adventures
Switzerland

Let me just say thank you for how you were with my wife while I was on the mountain. This was a very important to me and I am very pleased that you were so helpful with letting my wife know what was going on.
Leo was a fantastic guide with great energy, and I could not ask for a better companion for the duration of the trip!! All in all, the trip was fantastic and well organized!!
Anyhow, thanks again for all your hospitality and helpfullness…you guys should be proud of your business!

Erhard Zeising
USA

Volevo ringraziarti di tutto per quello che hai fatto tu e i tuoi collabori durante la nostra permanenza in Argentina. Hai dei collaboratori molto bravi anche a Plaza Argentina siamo stati trattati benissimo specialmente da Carolina che con la sua bravura e disponibilità ci ha coccolati per tutta la nostra permanenza. Io penso che, non so ancora quando, ma ritorneremo in Argentina e stai sicuro che torneremo ancora con i servizi dell’Aconcagua Express. Ciao saluta e ringrazia tutti i tuoi collaboratori, un saluto particolare a Carolina.

Renzo Dalla Bona Italian Team
Italy

Everything went very smooth, it was great to have a small bag of stuff sent from Plaza Argentina around to Plaza de Mulas, as we could have clean underwear, socks and our trail shoes without having to carry them to high camp.

Tatiana seemed very knowledgeable with first aid and altitude sickness, and seemed well prepared.  Tatiana’s food was awesome. The other groups in our camps were jealous when all they had was rice and we had fresh baked pizza in Camp 2! A couple mornings in base camp, there was not much provided for breakfast (one day was only toast) and we finally had to ask them each day to make eggs.

Joaquin was very helpful with all of my requests, and very quick to respond, which is one of the main reasons I selected KL Adventure to work with on this trip.

The transfers and transport was fine.  All vehicles were comfortable and there was plenty of room.  Hyatt is awesome of course. Penitentes is not great, but obviously there is no other option.

The trip was great, we will definitely work with you again for our 2010 climb, and also hope to add a Patagonia trip in the near future. It was also nice to have Joaquin meet the group in Mendoza and to spend more time with him on the drive to Santiago. We would definitely want to have Tatiana as our guide again.  She was exceptional and there was not another guide on the mountain I would have rather had than her. It is also very nice to have a local guide as your leader, better in my opinion than having American or European guides.

Billi also did a very nice job, as an assistant guide she was great.  The two of them worked very well together.

Andrew Nachman Northwest Voyageur
USA

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