A rest day! The gang has been hanging out most of the day today catching up on sleep, reading, and calories. Our first night in Aconcagua Basecamp wasn't the smoothest... Despite sleeping quite well most of us were feeling a little lethargic this morning from spending the night at nearly 14,000'. Regardless, spirits are high after moving around a bit and getting prepared for tomorrow's carry/cache up at Camp 1. The guides spent the morning packing group food and equipment and the team has been packing up their personal gear that they plan to cache. The weather has been a little funky but nothing terrible, hopefully tomorrow brings better or at least similar weather for our first foray onto the upper mountain... Hasta mañana, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Greetings from Plaza Argentina! After a very early rise and a FRIGID river crossing our team wound our way up through the Relinchos Valley (a side valley of the Vacas) and arrived at Basecamp. We moved well and made good time on our ascent, with everybody feeling strong on our first bit of sustained elevation gain. We arrived just ahead of a pretty decent squall that gave us a but of wind, hail, and rain but we made short work of setting up tents ahead of the worst of it. Later on we were served up some delicious steaks and a little bit of Cabernet for dinner by the Grajales Basecamp staff. We crashed out around 9 or so when the weather started to get a little squirrelly again and enjoyed a well deserved rest! Adios from Plaza Argentina! RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

Another passage from the annals of RMI Aconcagua #5 history: Today was decidedly less hot and subsequently much more enjoyable than yesterday. Our intrepid crew rose early and made short work of our journey from Pampa de Leñas to our second camp on the approach at Casa de Piedras. Sunny skies and a nice breeze kept our spirits high as we cruised through the enormous Vacas Valley. Right as we were arriving in camp we spotted Pete Van Deventer's crew headed down from their successful summit bid. They were looking tired and skinny but super-psyched on their accomplishment and the fact that they were headed for the barn. We gave them high-fives and settled in to build our camp. We too are in good spirits, moving well, and excited to make it to Basecamp tomorrow at Plaza Argentina. Hasta pronto, RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the rest of the gang.

Greetings from Pampa de Leñas! Our team enjoyed one last night in a bed and awoke this morning to beautiful sunny skies. Seemingly, a great day to begin our long journey. The team thus far has been exceptionally well organized and we were able to enjoy a relatively stress free morning putting the finishing touches on our packing and stashing a bunch of city clothes in the Grajales packing facility. We caught a quick ride over to the trailhead at Punta de Vacas and after checking in with the guardaparques began our journey. Relatively calm winds and scorching temperatures in the nineties caught us all a little off guard and forced us to stop frequently and soak our clothes in the river to cool off! Even after a complete soaking, our shirts were dried off completely in ten minutes! Well, despite the heat we persevered and even made good time into our first camp. More info to come as our expedition develops, RMI Guide Billy Nugent

On The Map

A hearty hello to everyone out there following along as RMI's February 1st Aconcagua Expedition gets started. Most of the team trickled in to Mendoza yesterday afternoon and hit the ground running despite being weary from long stretches of airline travel. We held a team meeting followed by a fantastic dinner at one of the local restaurants. I can assure you that large quantities of beef and wine were consumed as we made our last efforts to pack on a couple pounds before heading onto the mountain. The guides packed group gear late into the night and after a brief nap we rose early to finish up our permitting process and run a few last minute errands. We're headed for Penitentes this afternoon where we'll finalize our packing and help ready the mule loads before spending one last night in a bed for a long time. Busy busy! More to share as our program continues... Stay with us! RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Garrett Stevens and the rest of the gang.