Recently, one of my friends and climbing partners made a self-guided attempt (in a party of 4) at climbing Aconcagua (6,962 meters/22,841 ft). Since he was carrying a SPOT satellite beacon with him, I was able to track his progress throughout the trek. Once he reached camp 2, his position did not change for several days. The next time that his position updated, he was back in Mendoza. Given that he was not going to descend the mountain via the same path that he used to reach camp 2, I knew that something must be up. Not long after I began to worry, I heard news that there had been several deaths on the mountain in the past few days. As the news gained details, I learned that three people (a guide and two climbers) had perished. Upon returning to Mendoza, my friend wrote the following on his blog:
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Hello constant reader.
Bad weather, developing sickness, and death of friends above us led us to pull the plug. Lots of snow and viento blanco forced us down from our high point at camp 2 (5800m). I have a respirtory issue and Matt was getting mild HAPE (all of us are sick now). Crazy week on the mountain.
Back safe and sound in Mendoza now and we will be enjoying wine, steak and showers until we return next week. We love and miss you all, but thanks to smart decisions we will all be coming home to see you. More updates later.
Cheers and Namaste!
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A few days ago, some footage of a failed rescue attempt was released to the media. It caused an uproar in the mountaineering community. The video shows a rescue team reaching the injured guide:
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