Seeking: mountaineering partner for Aconcagua 2018

Seeking: mountaineering partner/s interested in the South American Andes between about 15 and 40

To  Plaza de Mulas, the climbing base camp.

degrees South (i.e. Altitudes of more than 6,000m/20,000 feet, relatively little snow or glaciers). 

My objective: to climb Aconcagua in Argentina in 2018 (summit just short of 7,000 m).

I'm looking for people to plan, train (think epic Yukon treks, long Eastern US/Canada through hikes, trips at altitude) and climb this impressive mountain. Regular climbing season on Aconcagua runs from mid-November to mid-March. The trip takes about 3 weeks, but I'll need more time to acclimatize and likely would do so in Bolivia's high mountains. Intrigued? Interested? 

The Polish route sen from Plaza Francia
(not considering that one so much)

Check out:

•  my mountain resume so far
• my Bolivian excursions in 2013
• my 3 months South American trip in 2010

You'll see, Jan, my long-time partner in life and the mountains in many of these posts. Unfortunately, that partnership ended last year, so I am looking for a new 'travel in high places' partner.


Message me here and let's talk!

Aconcagua Normal route seen from Plaza de Mulas
at about 4,450 m. Summit at 6,962 m (22,840 feet)

Patagonia Trip Planning

This map image covers much of the territory we are contemplating exploring further in about 2 years from now along the spine of the Andes.
We've spent about 5 weeks in Patagonia so far: first time in 2007 when we went to the small town of El Bolson, Argentina after our trek to Basecamp at Aconcagua and then all of December 2010 as part of our 3 months Andean trip spanning Peru, Bolivia and Chile.
I am scheming already: can we live there - trekking and climbing mountains - for 3 months again? More boldly, how can travelling become what I do?

Meanwhile I am putting pre-requisites in place:
I'm continuing my Spanish studies begun in early 2010 at UNAM. And we are looking into training re: independent mountaineering skills. We also want to spend some time in the Adirondaks for winter ascents of some of the High Peaks. And we are checking into ski trips to the mountains of Colorado.

More than dreams.

180 South = Trip planning!

We just watched this awesome movie on DVD. There are a few stars in it but none greater than Patagonia itself. I love Patagonia.

I learned that there's a new park about to open to the public: Conservacion Patagonica. Who's behind this new park? A couple of Americans; one who once was a blacksmith, climber and surfer and started first Black Diamond and then, well, Patagonia, and the other the chap who started The North Face and later ESPRIT.

The footage in the movie is everything I have ever seen and loved about being in Patagonia. And, it conspires  with some trip planning: we have begun to think about climbing Aconcagua and when you go that far south it's only natural to want to spend a little more time ... and it is an objective that will take some training to do well.

Meanwhile, check out this movie to see for yourself what it is all about.

Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine

We didn't encounter this in Peru, likely because we didn't spend any significant city time and the mountains were dominated by country food. Both in Viña del Mar in Chile and in Buenos Aires we enjoyed this awesome fusion. There are plenty of connections between Asian and Latin American countries. For instance a Peruvian-Japanese chef evolved ceviche, a South American raw fish dish (fish that is cooked in a citric acid marinade rather than by heat) to its modern form. Certainly, fish and seafood are important in Japanese and many South American dishes.

In Viña del Mar we came across Six bar near the beach and had an unexpectedly great meal, cocktails, coffee and great service all included.

Inga's starter roll. This was so yummy!

Jan's veggie starter - modified to her specifications.

Inga's main. So good.

Jan's giant salad main.

When we were in Buenos Aires - capital of a country known for its notoriously bland food and, well, steaks - we looked for Peruvian-Japanese fusion and had several options to pick from in the trendy Palermo neighbourhood. We walked many blocks only to settle on the first place we had seen - of course - aptly called Ceviche.

Causa peruana sampler - the base is potato, toppings included squid, fish with avocado 

Jan's custom order of a great veggie salad with eggplant

We both ordered a variety of rolls as our mains. Some of mine were warm, and all very delicious!

The beach ...

... is on the Pacific ocean. The waves are amazing here in Viña del Mar, twin city of Valparaiso about 1,5 hours from Santiago. Been enjoying some fine food, well, better anyways in terms of vegetarian options than during much of this voyage when not camping :)

We'll try and get some pics up in the next couple of days so you can appreciate it all for yourself.

Unbelievably, we are supposed to touch down in Ottawa in a few short days. We will spend a day in Buenos Aires on the way home, courtesy of Air Canada's policy-driven ... insanity. More on that later, too  :(

Our private Chilean cooking class was fun today. Looking forward to a tad more beach time before heading north!

Things we don´t blog about

(Click on images to enlarge)

Important instructions - not to be taken lightly.

 It´s true. We are having awesome experiences, getting to know out there places beyond civilization and meeting interesting people along the way, too.

But really, do we tell all? No! Of course not!

So for the fun of it here´s a list of things we don´t blog about:

1. The specifics of various bathrooms we encounter
2. The physical requirements of bathroom use (depending on number 1 above).
3. How long it takes to break the habit of flushing toilet paper, even though the systems here can´t handle it.
4. And if you throw it in, under what circumstances do you try to remedy the error.
5. Asking your hiking guide to buy feminine hygiene products.
6. The awkwardness of getting  the conjugation of Spanish verbs in both tense and person wrong.
7. Trying to eat the entire Pique de lo Macho plate even though it would feed a family of 4 - or 6! - and what happens afterwards.
 



Bolivian national dish. Pique do lo
macho is basically protein. Tons of protein
and a little bit of potato starch.


8. Generally, the bodily functions that follow food one is not used to eating.
9. Undertaking secret calculations of how much pasta it takes to become seriously allergic to it.
10. The discovery of the intrinsic connection between panty-liners and panties.

Well, there.

El Bolsón, Argentina

We had a great time in this small town at the 42nd parallel in Northern Patagonia  in 2007.
This brief compendium offers a view into the heart of the town. (Click on images to enlarge)

1. Isometric ab-strengthening exercise - or just an odd thing to do in a park, before drinking up?

2. Piltriquitron Mountain - after Aconcagua base camp, we were still drawn to the mountains. This one not nearly so high :)

3. "To go or not to go" - this was a rather large horned animal roaming in the bushes

4. We opted "to go" ... for a beer in this funky in the middle-of-nowhere-in-particular spot just outside of El Bolsón. Check out the assorted stories unfolding on the wall - from Lennon and Ono to local ferias to...

5. Guy on bike with galloping horse ... for all I know this was the one I rode the next day up the Canyon Azul (I'd never even been on a horse before, and we decide to ride up a Canyon that was worth its name - I faked being relaxed and confident all day on that horse!)

6. Yes, finding the bus stop. That was a challenge. We eventually settled on this corner after we realized that one simply waves at the bus driver anywhere along his route and they stop for you. The lady who explained this to us was very nice ... 

Aconcagua, the Andes, Argentina

Penitentes, particular to Aconcagua

The (legible) itinerary: overview

• Oct. 11: Ottawa to Lima, Peru (fly)
• Oct. 12-15: Lima to Huaraz, Peru (land)
• Oct. 16-31: Huaraz - Cordillera Blanca
• Nov. 1: Huaraz to Lima (land); Lima to La Paz, Bolivia (fly)
• Nov. 1-6: La Paz (meet up with friends)
• Nov. 7-17: Cordillera Real, Bolivia
• Nov. 18-21: Lake Titicaca, Bolivia
• Nov. 21-22: Lake Titicaca to Peru (Puno)
• Nov. 22-28: Puno; Arequipa, Peru
• Nov. 28: Arequipa to Iquique, Chile (land)
• Nov. 28-Dec. 5: Atacama Desert, Iquique/Arica, Chile; Sala de Uyuni, Bolivia
• Dec. 6: Iquique to Punta Arenas, Chile (fly)
• Dec. 6-12: Punta Arenas
• Dec. 12-26: Torres del Paine, Chile
• Dec. 27-Jan. 5: Ushuaia, Argentina
• Jan. 8: Head north to fly home (via Buenos Aires) Based on my early ventures into airfares, it looks as if we would be going through Buenos Aires.

Here it is -- the itinerary

There is something quite wonderful about planning an adventure on a Saturday morning, coffee in hand. With the weather data spread out on the bed and a calendar in hand, I scribbled down our ideas. (There is something equally wonderful about writing ideas down on a piece of paper.)

Preliminary itinerary

What we are thinking re: itinerary (subject to completely changing our minds)

October - Week 1-2: Costa Rica
November - Week 3-5: Peru (Cordillera Blanca)
November/December - Week 6-7: Bolivia
December - Week 8-10 - Chile (Atacama Desert, Torres del Paine)
December/January -Week 11-12 - Argentina (Aconcagua, Tierra del Fuego)

The Chile and Argentina parts might go back and forth, across the border a couple of times, as Aconcagua is located half way between Atacama and Torres del Paine. Also, we really liked Santiago when we visited in 2006 and I would be happy to spend a couple of days in the city. Santiago is a good starting point from which to get to Aconcagua.

In terms of Bolivia, good friends of ours are planning a trip to visit their family in Bolivia in November. We don't have their dates yet, but hope to meet up with them for a few days. Depending on timing that might reverse the Bolivia and Peru parts.

Aconcagua, Argentina, November 2007

Dreaming of hiking higher and staying longer. Will take more time to acclimatize this time around.