Aconcagua Expedition: Wedel & Team Spend Stormy day in Mendoza
Walking back from dinner tonight, we were talking about the daily dispatch and I asked, “so… what should we include?”
Unanimously, everyone said: “the tornado hurricane lightning downpour.”
This was said as we stepped over fallen tree branches and ducked under hanging power lines. So yes today was eventful.
Was that the worst weather of the trip? We sincerely hope so. Ideally, we’re getting it all out of our system now while we’re still in Mendoza.
Picture this: it’s mid-afternoon. We’ve just wrapped our big orientation meeting (what to expect, how to pack, what’s the mountain actually like…) and finished gear checks. Everyone is scattered around town doing last-minute shopping, soaking up the city. I’d just gotten back to the hotel and noticed the sky turning that color. You know the one. As the wind started picking up, I crossed my fingers that everyone had already made it back.
Spoiler alert: they had not.
Cardboard was flying through the air. Tiny birds were fighting for their lives. Water was pouring through elevators and doorways. Hail, graupel, and torrential rain come down all at once. Streets flooded. Ancient trees went down. One of us got stuck at a gear shop for over an hour and eventually just… swam home. Another tried to wait it out under the awning of a music store (with guitars in the window, for added drama), but eventually gave up and sprinted through the flash floods back to the hotel.
It was truly wild.
So while today was supposed to be a calm, uneventful Mendoza day, it turned into something a little more chaotic. But the skies eventually cleared, we walked past town clean up crews to a delicious dinner, and now we’re all back, dry(ish), and ready to hit the trail tomorrow.
Hopefully it will be a sunny bluebird day.
RMI Guide Jess Wedel and the Aconcagua team
P.S. Yes, of course we had more gelato. I think amongst the team we’ve tried at least 15 flavors since arriving. The great debate about the best one will continue until we’re back off the mountain for more.
