Summited Aconcagua

My dad and I successfully summited Aconcagua on the 27th December 2010 – the highest peak outside the Himalayas and the fourth of our Seven Summits. We had a fantastic trip to Argentina with a wonderful group of people climbing with Alpine Ascents, huge thanks to our awesome guides! 6 out of the group of 10 made the summit, it was a tough climb with a long, hard summit day, even without the often crippling effects of the altitude… But the view from the top was, as always, breathtaking, and completely worth the climb. I learnt a lovely quote from this trip – the ego loves the summit, the soul loves the climb.
Spending Christmas day on the mountain was… interesting to say the least! In it’s own way it was a fastive day – we made a Christmas tree out of ice axes and crampons and stuck a glove on the top of it, and one of our guides carried a mini set of fairy lights too – a pretty, little and very dangerous tree. We sang carols and ate a (kind of) Christmas dinner, it’ll definitely be one of the more memorable Christmasses I’ve ever had!
Now it’s back to exams and university interviews etc. I’ve had an interview for veterinary for Cambridge, and am currently in their “winter pool”, so I’ll hear back from that by the end of the month… I’ll keep you posted! More imminently I have my A level exams in just 2 weeks time, so I will be updating the Aconcagua section of the website as soon as they’re all over. Happy 2011 everbody, and here’s to equally successful climbing this coming year!
On that note, the next of the seven will be Kosiosko whilst on our way to Vinson, at the end of the year, and after that – Everest. Keep watching 🙂 ttfn.