Packing Tips

Le voyage était parfait, avec l’immense satisfaction d’avoir été en haut de l’aconcagua !
Excellent guides, very professional and very dedicated to the success of the expedition. Very good logistics (transfers, mules); Pre-Read materials (Aconcagua book, map…) were very good; Excellent hotel in Mendoza (Hyatt!)

I would definitely recommend KL Expeditions / Aconcagua Express Expeditions.

Pascal Tiercelin
France

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

Lieber Joaquin,
Als erstes möchte ich mich bei Dir für Deine Leistungen bei der Expedition zum Aconcagua bedanken. Bergführer Abi Kirschner hat sich sehr lobend über Deine Arbeit geäußert. Auch Pierre Kintgen war mit Bergführer und KL Adventure sehr, sehr zufrieden. Ich denke, das wird unseren gemeinsamen Produkten sehr gut tun – denn die Teilnehmer tragen Ihre Zufriedenheit weiter und das ist die beste Werbung für uns alle. Ich danke Dir und Deinem Team für die hervorragende Arbeit und Bemühungen! Herzliche Grüße aus München.

Michael Roepke
DAV-Summit Club Manager, Munchen
Germany

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

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

Mecha (Gabriel Rocamora) was a great lead guide, I can’t recommend him highly enough !

Edouard Derom
USA

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

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

The two guides were excellent in every possible respect. Everything was well prepared and well organized. Overall I am very much impressed by the dignity, the professionalism and the good manners of the guides. Organization and set up of the expedition was at a very high level.

I will certainly recommend your agency to other fellow climber how will want to try the same experience. Thank you

Sotris Skevis
Greece

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