Arrival in Vallecitos, Jan 10th

It took only a little over 2 hours by car to arrive at the Vallecitos ski lodge, situated at 2900m. The purpose of arriving in the Mendoza region nearly a week before we actually left for Aconcagua was to acclimatize. This means getting the body used to altitude and its thin air, which is done fairly slowly, and if not done properly, can lead to lots of unpleasantness. The body starts creating more red blood cells to carry oxygen and avoid going into oxygen debt, which is inevitable otherwise.

I had clear instructions from Heber Orona, the owner of the company I am traveling with. He has vast experience in the mountains. He is the first Argentine to have summitted Everest without oxygen, and is also a member of the vertical marathon club, meaning that he has climbed the 7 highest summits on all 7 continents, a very arduous feat. And he is only 38! Heber had told me to not tire myself out by carrying heavy loads too long or by trying to summit any of the higher mountains in the area. The purpose was to get my body to create red blood cells in preparation for Aconcagua without getting myself tired out.


So keeping in mind that I was to work myself just hard enough to kick-start the process (just hanging around at high altitude won't get you acclimatized, so being dropped off by car and then just sitting around before going down does nothing) but not so hard as to waste valuable energy, upon arriving, I got set up in one of the lodge's bunk beds, ate, drank lots of water, and then took off for the lesser summit, Loma Blanca, at 3800m.





It was a fun scramble and I felt great until I got to the cross, about 2 hours after setting off. I sat down beside it to admire the view, drink and eat some dried fruit, and my ears started buzzing and the dreaded altitude-induced headache arrived. Well, this is normal, so I just went back down to the lodge where I drank a further 2 litres of water, and was fine within the hour.

The evening was loads of fun! Katie and Jamie, 2 Kiwis (meaning they come from New Zealand) run the place, and they cook up delicious meals in between jokes and stories. It was so nice that we were able to eat outside, and this is how I met Gerardo, from Montevideo, Uruguay.

We had a great time trading travel stories, and decided to go for San Bernardo (4150m) the next day. He is also acclimatizing; he wants to summit La Plata, another mountain in the region, at 6300m.

I slept really well, for which I was glad. I was scared that jumping right away to 2900m to sleep would be a bit much, but it seems that the short trek I did that afternoon was helpful, as were the many of litres I kept on drinking. This element is key, and it is well worth the many trips to the bathroom.