May 4th & 5th: Trip Planning & Prepping in Mendoza -

We woke Sunday morning to discover that Mendoza pretty much shuts down on Sunday's so there was little hope that we could plan and prep for our trip to the mountains...we ended up having a cruisy day - eating well and enjoying a few wines back ot our hostel Campo Base. It costs about US$7 per night and includes a simple breakfast. Its situated in the middle of the town at the edge of Plaza Indepencia - it rocks - also they have great local wine at $2.50 per bottle :) !

On Monday we were primed to get things sorted and it all fell together pretty quickly...climbing around Aconcagua was not an option as the park was closed at it would take at least a month to get a permit. An outdoor shop suggested we climb in the Cordon del Plata region only 50km from Mendoza...it had no permit requirements and offered technical and non technical peaks up to 6000m/20,000ft...and it was free :). We also visted Inka Expeditions (Hunter may be working there someday soon) to sort out a some supported for a non-guided summit of Aconcagua via the Polish route we hope to do in Nov 08 or Feb 09. My big brother Alan will hopefully be joining us! :)

For US$42 each we were able to buy a return bus fare from Mendoza with pick up and return from our Hostel plus a night at Refugio de Montana (elev. 2500m/8000ft)which included an awesome breakfast and dinner.

We then rented some high mountain equipment...double plastic climbing boots, kick ass doule mittens and I also rented some crampons as my racing Kahtoolas wouldn´t fit :(. I ended up buying a liner for my racing sleeping bag when I heard of temps as low as -20F! rental was easy and cheap...about US$35 each for everything.

We then went shopping for food and fuel...we planned on spending 5-7 days camping up to 4200m/14,000ft and you have to eat big when you go high. We brought plenty of pasta, soups, drink mix, and dehydrated food...we also brought a couple of casks of red wine for $1 each :)

That night we did a gear check before heading out for another big meal...the Argentinian all you can eat meat thing (for US$8) is a glory to behold :)

We did our gear check in out room and then it was more red wine and we set our alarm for a 8:30am pick up...things were looking up and as much as we enjoyed Mendoza we were keen to see the Andes up close and personal.

Cheers,
Neal & Hunter