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History

Location: Home » Aconcagua Information » History

Aconcagua HistoryCultural heritage

No trace is kept of permanent native settlements but instead, of temporary indigenous populations who climbed in search for the flocks of guanacos. There are tracks of Inca cultures that worshipped Mt. Aconcagua, thus burying their noble people near its summit. Such Indian cemeteries were studied by archaeologists who analyzed the mummies, which happened to be very well preserved due to climate conditions. The current uses of the reserve are focussed on the fact that the Mt. Aconcagua is the highest peak in the western world, thus attracting mountaineers and tourists from all over the world.

An Inca Indian cemetery over 5,300m higher

The expedition that brought about the discovery of Mt. Aconcagua Indian cemetery was made up of Gabriel Cabrera, the Pierobon brothers- Fernando and Juan Carlos- and the Pizzolon brothers- Franco and Alberto. Such expedition was one of the four which, early in 1985 headed for Mt. Aconcagua from different places for the sake of commemorating the 50th. Anniversary of the Mendoza Mountain Climber Club. Fifteen days after the finding, on about January 23rd., 1985, off set the discoverers along with three members of the Archaeology Institute, namely: J. Ferrari, Eduardo Guercio and Víctor Durán, journalist Germán Bustos Herrera, mountain climber Ms. Silvia Centeleghe and archaeologist Juan Schobinger who was the expedition chief.

On January 28, after overcoming a thick wall , they finally reached the place of the finding. It is the above-mentioned ridge which, according to the altimeter, is 5,300m high. Such dividing line is the beginning of the triangular shaped wing wall called the “Pyramid”. Some 50 meters further there starts a high thick wall that must have posed an unsurmountable obstacle for the indigenous people, should they have tried to climb on that way.

During two days they worked in the site, which was carefully surveyed and explored. They found two thick semicircular dry stoned-walls, almost demolished, and circle of stones which was one meter in diameter. Sheltered by one of the dry stone walls there was a funeral bundle containing the tightly folded body of an about 7 year-old child. The same was half-buried due to part of the displacement of the earth. It was wrapped up by several textile pieces: the most outward piece was a cloak fully decorated with yellow feathers, very likely, parrot feathers.

What at first the mountain climbers regarded as “grass”, happened to be a bundle of yellow and black feathers that used to belong to a tuft. The skull showed an erosion-caused fracture since it had been out in the open. The brain, in turn, had gone to pieces due to dehydration.

After working for several hours, the bundle was carefully removed from the hard “permafrost” ( frozen soil ) it was placed in, and while J. Ferrari, the laboratory expert ,dealt with its packing and further preparation intended for the descent, another team devoted their efforts to the excavation, trying to reach the stone wall sideways. Shortly after, they were fortunate enough to find in the same stuffing where the mummy had been placed- six magnificent Inca-style statues. Three of them are human male figures, in their undamaged clothes and plumage, whose heights ( without the dressing ) amount to : namely : the first one, which is gold-plated, 59mm; the second one , silver and copper-alloyed, 52mm and the third one, made of Spondylus, that is a valve which is typical of the Pacific Ocean , 47mm.

The others were three small and slim llama figures: one of them was gold-plated while the other two were made of Spondylus – a material which was very dear to the Incas and which they called mullu – bearing a red streak on one side and a while one on the other. This ¨ dowry ¨ undoubtedly holds a token importance along with a direct connection with other high- mountain archaeological fields which have also rendered this type of statues. Both the extraction and the preliminary analysis of such an unexpected finding account for the crowning moment in their expedition.

Upon finishing the excavation of the funeral bundle, a pair of woven fibre sandals along with two small fibre bags were found. One of them held vegetable elements which, according to a later analysis carried out by botanist Fidel Roig, happened to be an unusual type of bean which had been cooked. ( It thus became quite obvious that it was a token food intended for the Great Beyond journey ).

Once the extraction of the small statues and the careful packing of the mummy were over, they had to hasten their way down due to bad weather conditions. The descent along the glacier took place in the middle of a snow storm

Fortunately, and thanks to the mountain climbers´ expertise, they successfully reached the base camp. The rest of the return journey posed no problems, and they arrived in Mendoza City on January 31st. The funeral bundle was placed in a cooling chamber given by the LARLAC , run by Dr. Deis. Furthermore, one of his offices was laid at their disposal for later works.

First summit attempt in modern Aconcagua history..

The first attempt on Aconcagua by a European was made in 1883 by a party led by the German geologist and explorer Paul Güssfeldt. Bribing porters with the story that there was treasure on the mountain, he approached the mountain via the Rio Volcan, making two attempts on the peak by the north-west ridge and reaching an altitude of 6,500 metres (21,300 ft). The route that he prospected is now the normal route up the mountain.

The first recorded ascent was in 1883 by a German scientist : Paul Gusselldt, he reached Nido de Condores and kept on climbing up to 6.500m. But because of bad weather and really poor equipment (no tents, no camping gears, little food) he had to backtrack. He accomplish a 31-hour-journey ! In 1897 on a British expedition led by Edward Fitzgerald, the summit was reached by the Swiss guide Matthias Zurbriggen on January 14 and by two other expedition members a month later.

In 1940 the first women to reach the summit is the French, Adriana Bance.

In 1961 the Argentinean Orlando Bravo, Tato Bellomio & Dado Liebich make the first ascent to the Polish Glaciar direct route.

The youngest person to reach the summit of Aconcagua was Jordan Romero of Big Bear Lake, California. He was 11 years old when he reached the summit on December 30, 2007.

And many climbers have broken records on the Aconcagua, opening new routes and variants, doing solo ascent, one-day ascent, etc…

Aconcagua: a family heritage…

Since my early days, while we where having tee time, I saw my father coming on Sundays home from the mountains with his old back pack, ice axe, crampons and rope which we immediately start using it as our toys. His face was always brown because the sun burn. We did always help him to clean his great yellow small tent, tipi style and also clean his benzine stoves. I lately understood that those journey my pa was training around local mountains in the Valparaiso region getting prepare for what was by the time a great local challenge; to climb Aconcagua in March 1954, the highest Andes peak, a great challenge for locals living in the pacific ocean side of the Andes. He also climbed successfully Juncal, Yeguas Heladas & Tolosa all peaks near the Aconcagua massif….

Since that time I am connect with all the heights around the backyards of our home. My family house had plenty of mountain book, from the Andes, the Himalayas, the Karakorum, Europe, etc. and other peaks on this earth, since than I hear my father good and bad mountain story, like altitude sickness, good friend dying on altitude, since than I got connected with a familiar issue: the mountain and since than I been growing, experience and working in and around the heights of the Andes…

Climber Experiences

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

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

Frans Cromme
Netherlands

Cristina and Mariana were perfectos, the very best. Thanks. I will highly recommend Aconcagua Express Expeditions to everyone and I will use Aconcagua Express Expeditions again.

Keith Faulder
USA

Hallo Joaquin
Ich möchte mich auf diesem Weg für Dein perfektes Service bei unserer Aconcagua Expedition bedanken. Es war von Anfang an eine Freude mit Dir zusammen zu arbeiten. Die Transfers, sowie die Reservierung und Bezahlung der Permits haben wunderbar geklappt, auch die Hotels waren einfach klasse.

Es gilt besonders hervor zu heben die Flexibilität von Aconcagua Express bei Terminänderungen und die Freundlichkeit der Mitarbeiter. Ich werde Dich und Deine Firma auf alle Fälle bei den Alpinschulen in Österreich, Italien und Deutschland weiterempfehlen.

Christine und Werner
Austria

Hallo Joaquin,
Nun bin ich schon einen Monat zurück in Deutschland und denke immernoch jeden Tag an die tolle Bergtour zum Aconcagua. Du glaubst nicht wie glücklich ich bin, daß ich das geschaft habe. Dies habe ich im besonderen Dir und Deinem Unternehmen Aconcagua Express zu verdanken. Mit Tom Torkelson hatten wir einen super Bergführer der zum einen eine sehr schöne Route zum Gipfel geführt hat, Vacas Route, die zum anderen auch eine optimale Aklimatisation ermöglicht hat. Die gesamte Organisation war vom Anfang bis zum Ende sehr gut. Es gibt wirklich nichts was ich meine, was besser gemacht werden könnte. Wenn Du neue Kunden aus Deutschland oder Europa hast, die Fragen zur Aconcaguabesteigung haben, kannst Du Ihnen gerne meine email-Adresse geben, damit Sie Kontakt mit mir aufnehmen können.
Vielen vielen Dank!!

Johannes Niedeggen
Deutschland

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

Tatiana and Billi were great guides on the Aconcagua expedition. I’d be happy to climb another mountain with them again!! Our food was better than that from other groups going up the mountain, and it was nice to have hot thermoses brought to our tent in mornings (other groups noticed this, and the fact that they had to go get their own water, among other things less positive than that of our group). I always felt safe, that Tatiana & Billi knew what they were doing on the mountain, and that they had enough energy to handle whatever could come our way. On summit day, Billi brought a guy down to Camp 3 from 1/3 (or more) of the way up, then she ascended and caught up to us, in order to summit from Camp 3 in only 5 ½ hours! A real rock star. Then, when I was really burnt out almost all the way back to camp (with heavier snow coming down and covering the trail), Billi helped me back to Camp3… a real help when it was needed, and on the part of the trail where accidents are most prone to happen (way down from summit day). This was really appreciated. Our staff helped create a real team atmosphere, and our group was the “cool table” at the lower camps, and out dining tent was the social center of activity with several groups joining us for cards, games, etc after dinner. Our pace up the mountain was the right speed, not to fast and not too slow, enabling 5 of 6 of our group to get to the summit, and the remaining 1 doing his personal best on summit day! One guy from another group was “turned around” partway up on summit day; he later felt that he could have made it to the top with a slightly slower group pace. I’ve seen this before on other mountains. Our pace was just right! We were properly aware of the mountain challenges before the expedition, and the challenge met my personal expectations. I came off the mountain without any physical aches and pains, feeling good about the expedition and ready for more mountains in the future! Perhaps Elbrus and Denali, the 2nd with some technical training and practice. I have NO COMPLAINTS about this expedition! I believe our guides, our food were better than that of other groups, that our group gear was appropriate, and that we were properly instructed on how to prepare for the mountain and which gear to bring! I enjoyed the company of the clients as well, and that of the other teams headed up the mountain with us. This was a great expedition, and I’m lucky to have made some new friends on the mountain.

I’d recommend KL Adventure for anyone wanting to climb Aconcagua, in particular Tatiana as lead guide. Likewise I’d climb a mountain (Nepal?) with Billi and recommend her guiding services as well. Best Wishes, Mark.

Mark
USA

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

I would firstly like to thank you all for putting together such a great expedition. I would like to make particularly comment on the efforts of our guide Cristina who did such a great job.
The cooks at both base camps also deserve mention, as the food they prepared was fantastic. Having said that the cooked meals provided at altitude were perfect for the conditions. The hotel at Penitentes was also a little run down, but again there did not seem to be many other options.
This criticisms do not even rate as concerns. The service provided by your company was fantastic and I would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

Stephen Hynd
Australia

Lieber Joaquin,
Ich möchte Dir nochmals herzlich danken für Dein großes Engagement, für die perfekte Organisation und all die vielen Kleinigkeiten, die Du für uns so selbstverständlich erledigt oder geregelt hast. Vielen Dank für die ausführliche e-Mail-Kommunikation und Beratung vor unserer Expedition, für Deine engagierten und motivierten Mitarbeiter im Base-Camp, in Mendoza oder wo sie uns auch immer geholfen haben, für die Auswahl von Rob als Guide und für die exzellente kulinarische Verpflegung. Richte bitte besondere Grüsse an Jorgelina und Juan aus, die uns so erstklassig verpflegt haben. In meinem Kopf habe ich unzählige wunderschöne Bilder und Erinnerungen an diese Expedition, die man nicht mit dem Fotoapparat festhalten kann, die mich aber sicher mein Leben lang begleiten werden. Danke!
Herzliche Grüße,

Nicole Benning
Deutschland

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