Transfer Airport / Hotel
We’ll be waiting for you at the airport to drive you to the hotel, allowing you to enjoy your trip fully.
Hotel in Mendoza
You will stay in a comfortable hotel for two nights, both when arriving in Mendoza and when returning from the mountain. The rooms included in our program are double (each passenger will have to share his / her room with one of his / her expedition partners) and breakfast and taxes are included in the price. If you prefer a single room, please do not forget to let us know in your Booking Form. For this service, you will have to pay some extra money.
Assistance to buy the climbing permits
Mount Aconcagua is located in a provincial Park, managed by the Government of Mendoza.
To get into the Park, you should get a permit, the price of which will depend on the activity that you are going to participate in (climbing, long trek, short trek). This working paper must be done personally, as a government rule. That is why each passenger should go to the Park’s office with his or her own passport. The guide will assist you with the payment of the permit, and with the working paper.
Transfer Mendoza / Puente del Inca / Mendoza
We will pick you up from your hotel and take you to Puente Del Inca in our own vehicles. We will drive over 180 kilometers, which separate Mendoza City from Puente Del Inca. The scenery throughout this journey is boasted as one of the most spectacular landscapes in the Central Andes.
Meals
Throughout the expedition you will enjoy all meals (B: breakfast / L: lunch / PL: packed-lunch if you are on the move / D: dinner), that are carefully planned by professionals to have a balanced diet during those days on the mountain.
Our cooks always prepare every meal, with fixed menu from day nº 3, except at the high altitude camps, where our guides will be in charge of the cooking.
The meals mentioned in the itinerary are included.
If you are vegetarian or celiac, or if you need a special diet, please let us know in your Booking Form. It will be a pleasure for us to prepare a special menu for you. For this service, you will have to pay extra money.
Lodging in Puente del Inca
During the Inca Empire, this spot was a strategic point for the crossing of the Andes Mountain.
Over the last years it has become the point of departure of every expedition, whose aim is to get the summit of Mt. Aconcagua.
Puente Del Inca hotel was built here and it is the only lodging in this strategic zone, five kilometers far from the Aconcagua Park trailhead. For the people working in Aymará Tourism, there is a great satisfaction to be the ones responsible for the running of this hostel, offering the best services to mountaineers.
You will spend one night in this beautiful place at the beginning of your expedition, in rooms for three to six people, according to the number of members in the group, and with a private toilet.
A complete breakfast and an unforgettable dinner in the restaurant of the hostel are also included.
Assistance for the arrangements of loads to be transported by mules
Our mountain guides will advise you on what to include in your luggage and the way in which it should be arranged on the mules.
Load mules
Aymará Adventures & Expeditions owns more than 100 mules which carry people or belongings. The difference between mules that carry people and mules that carry gear is that the ones for people are tamer.
These animals pasture during autumn, winter and spring, this means from the middle of March to the middle of November. Before starting with the summer season, these animals are tested and given medicine by veterinarians. They are treated with caution.
At the beginning of the Aconcagua season, they are transported by lorries to Puente del Inca without shoeing, to avoid any injury.
During the season, they are treated with a lot of care and attention. It is important to take into account that after two trips to Plaza de Mulas and one to Plaza Argentina, the mules rest 4 or 5 days, so as to recover from this activity.
The negative aspect of these animals is their untamed character. That is why we have selected a professional team of muleteers, called “arrieros”, who have dedicated their lives to the country animals. Experience has taught them how to deal with these animals.
From Puente Del Inca to the intermediate camps, Pampa de Leñas and Casa de Piedra, from here to Plaza Argentina and in the return to Puente del Inca, your belongings will be carried by mules. Each mule can carry up to a limit of 180 kg, but our mules only carry 60 kg to move comfortably on the mountain. Every client may transport on the mules a maximum of 30 kg on each stage of the approach. We strongly recommend you to bring a strong duffel bag.
Transfer to the entrance of the Aconcagua Park
You will be driven in our own vehicles for 16 kilometers, from our hostel in Puente del Inca to Quebrada de Vacas, in order to start with the trek.
Camp in Pampa de Leñas and Casa de Piedra
While you are gaining height, your body needs some time to start with the process of acclimatization. Therefore, it is extremely important to stop for a night in Pampa de Leñas and the following day continue with the trek to Casa de Piedra.
In every stop, you will meet the Arrieros, who will give you your gear to spend the night. The guides will help you to set up the tents, and will prepare dinner and breakfast
Plaza Argentina Base Camp
Once you have arrived at Plaza Argentina, you will spend the night in our own campsite, fully prepared to make the trip around the magnificent South American Mountain, as comfortable as possible, with tents for eating, another for the kitchen, a third tent for equipment storage, and toilets. You will spend 5 nights here and excellent workers, who will prepare delicious meals and provide an excellent service, will attend you.
Our Guides
Our mountain guides are qualified professionals of the AAGM (Argentinean Association of Mountain Guides) and the EPGAMT (Provincial School of High Mountain and Trekking Guides). The last qualification is the result of 2 years and a half of study. We believe that, to succeed in our expeditions, professionals with experience and the ability to offer security should guide our teams.
The expeditions are led by a mountain guide to every 3 or 4 clients. Their equipment includes: VHF radio, a first‑aid kit, complete with the appropriate drugs for altitude sickness, ropes, an altimeter, and professional clothing and equipment. All these will provide security and comfort.
Tents
Normally, during the summer high season, Aconcagua is a mountain with good weather conditions. Yet, if you happen to have a few stormy days, you will be responsive to nature’s whims at high altitudes. Therefore, we will be sure to provide you with the highest quality tents at these high altitude campsites. We use The North Face products, which have proved to work well for our clients over the years. Usually, two climbers will sleep in each tent, but if our guide considers it necessary, a maximum of three climbers may sleep in one tent.
Remember that you will have to set up your own tent with your partner. The guide will help you when necessary.
Extra days
Our expeditions include two extra days in case of contingencies that may prevent the normal development of the itinerary. Aymará takes the responsibility to develop the program as it has been described. However, sometimes conditions are out of our control, and our guides reserve the right to modify the schedule in response to circumstances and safety of the group. If this situation arises, the client will not receive any sort of severance pay
Communication
You will see that we keep track of where we are at specific sites along the way. We take advantage of the VHF and BLU radio lines that help us maintain contact between the high‑altitude campsites, Plaza Argentina, Puente del Inca and Mendoza. Therefore, we can respond almost instantaneously to whatever issue that may arise.
Climbing permit
The only way to enter the Aconcagua Park is by getting the permit personally in Mendoza city. If the ticket is not used within the dates established by the Park authorities, the money will not be refunded. The ticket will be invalid in future years.
The entrance fee’s payment supports the maintenance and care of Aconcagua Provincial Park and aids to preserve and protect it. It also supports the maintenance of the medical services, the park rangers and the rescue service. (Helicopter)
Drinks and other personal costs not mentioned in the itinerary
Extra expenses like food or drinks separate from those described in the itinerary should be paid by you, as they are not included.
Expenses for giving up the expedition
In order to have better but cheaper services, the expedition is quoted taking into account the whole group. In any case that you give up the scheduled itinerary because of personal problems, mountain sickness, etc, you start taking private and individual services. The extra expenses that you will pay for, if necessary, are: mules from Plaza Argentina to Puente del Inca (around U$D 260.-), the transfer from Puente del Inca to Mendoza city, etc. Once you give up the itinerary, the transfer in a regular bus is included.
The night in Mendoza hotel, when you return, can be taken as soon as you get to the city, but if you are alone and do not have the possibility of sharing the room with some of your partners, you must pay U$D 40.-. This would be the difference between the single room and the double room.
If you need to stay more nights, they should be paid in Aymará agency.
Sleeping bag and personal equipment
Neither the technical nor the mountain equipment are included services, so you would have to buy it or rent it. Take into account our guides if you need assistance.
If you rent equipment, you will be responsible for it. Apart from that, you must give the equipment back to the mountain shop in time.
Personal Insurance
Having a personal insurance is not a fundamental requirement to climb Mt. Aconcagua. However, we suggest you to contact an insurance company if you wish to take insurance out, taking into account the risks involved in climbing a mountain.
Porters
The porters to carry the personal equipment or the ones that carry the ordinary gear of the expedition (food, tents, etc.) are not included. So the whole group will have to help to carry this equipment.
The porters may help you to transport your belongings from one camp to another, one offering you a better result on the mountain. So do not hesitate in letting us know, if you decide to hire one. The price will depend on the stretch that your equipment will be carried.
Problems with your luggage (Loss or delay during the flight)
If your luggage is lost during your flight, or it arrives later than you do in other flight, you will have to work the problem out with the corresponding air line. Aymará is not responsible for such an event.
In the same way, if your luggage does not arrive in Mendoza in time for the departure of the expedition group to Puente del Inca, the expedition will be carried out as initially planned, and you will be responsible for those extra expenses caused by this shortcoming.
