From The Diary Of An Aconcagua Team Leader

Avedis is an LHO Team Leader with tremendous mountaineering experience dating back many decades. His accolades include Everest, Manaslu, Denali and, of course, Aconcagua. Here’s a excerpt from his diary from base camp on his most recent LHO expedition to the highest mountain in the Americas.

5:00 AM

I Woke up suddenly today. Everything appears quiet. The storm that had been battering us down in our tents appears to have passed. The view from outside my tent is astonishing.

I heard a man coughing and my mind immediately turned to the team. Who is coughing? Why haven’t they asked for help from me? Is it one of our own LHOers? The briefing was clear. If there are any issues at all the team has to report it to either me or to our local lead guide Emmanuel.

I pulled myself out of the sleeping bag, put on my prima-loft pants, my parka gortex gloves, head lamp and zipped out of my tent to find. There was no sound. No movement. Everything was still. Was I dreaming? Am I dreaming?

I went back in but just as I put my head back, the cough started again.  I jump back out of the tent immediately. I know I’m definitely awake now. Outside, I find 2 people assisting someone from another group. I walk over to them and offer my assistance but they appear to have it figured out. Moments later, all three people leave the camp down the mountain.

5:45 AM

I hear someone peeing. I go back to sleep. I later find out that it was Jean-Louis because that’s the kind of conversation that comes up in our down time!

8:00 AM

Our LHO guides get us some hot water with cheese quesadillas, 3 slices of cake and 2 cookies. On Aconcagua, “Water is gold” since the climate is so dry.

At camp 2, Nido de Condores at 5,600 m, the guides headed out searching for a nearby lake to get water because there wasn’t enough snow to melt from last night’s dump.

Few of us started to gather in the mess tent and crack some jokes. That’s pretty standard after 10 days in the mountains and another 10 to go.

The guides are running late on their hunt for water. We were supposed to have a walk around the camp to keep the body moving today but water is definitely the priority.

1:00 PM

Finally, they’re back! We prepared ourselves and went for a stroll. Calling it a stroll may feel a little benign and in the context it kind of is. But, to put it into perspective, we’re walking around in fresh powder snow at above 5000 meters in the shadow of the highest mountain in the Americas. It’s that kind of stroll. I was happy. It reminded me of my home, Lebanon.

We walked for a little over a kilometer and got the regular speak from the guides about the importance of movement at altitude. Where we are is 42 meters below the summit of Elbrus, the highest summit in Europe and 295 meters below Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. So we’re high!

2:00 PM

Soon It was time for lunch, and guess what? we had the most delicious mini pizzas ever at 5600m. Can you imagine that? 

3:00 PM

I decided to take a walk after the meal. Then a nap followed. Base camp life is a lot of jokes, walking, napping and reading. That pretty much sums up my afternoon.  

8:00 PM

Dinner time and it’s rice and veggies. Not exactly the pizza we had at lunch but it was good.

9:00 PM

It’s getting dark outside. The famous Aconcagua wind started blowing so fiercely that kicked up all the snow and totally covered my tent. It blocked the sunset for tonight. Luckily we got the sunset yesterday and we’ll probably get the view a few more times before we make our way back down.

9:15 PM

I’m now inside my -40 inferno sleeping bag. I’m inside with all my layers and will soon start removing them one by one as my body heat warms up the bag from the inside. Time to continue my book: Makalu. The first ascent of this 8000er was done by the French in spring 1955.

11:59 PM

It’s minutes from midnight. I’m writing these notes before sleeping. Wishing everyone a good night. Tomorrow we move to camp 3 “ Plaza Colera” at 6000m and from there to the Summit of Aconcagua by dawn of next day.

PS: I can’t sleep. I don’t know what time it is. I’ll continue reading until I fall asleep. It’s 1 AM. Let’s see what happens.