Aconcagua: The Everest for the Rest of Us

If all of this summit talk on Everest, and throughout the Himalaya, the past few days has you inspired to climb a mountain, then perhaps you should consider Aconcagua, which Men's Journal calls the Everyman's Everest.

The 22,834 foot mountain is located in Argentina and is the tallest mountain in South America. Considered one of the Seven Summits, it also happens to be the tallest mountain in the world not found in the greater Himalaya range. It offers an actual mountain expedition, spread out over a couple of weeks, that is more of an alpine style approach, but still offers a mountaineering experience that is challenging and rewarding.

In this case, the author, Tim Sohn, had a some expert help getting to the top. He climbed with Ed Viesturs and Peter Whittaker (who just summitted Everest earlier today), along with ten time (soon to be 11!) Everest summitteer Dave Hahn. Who could ask for a better crew to shuttle you up the mountain? The expedition was an early test for the new line of First Ascent gear from Eddie Bauer.

The article does a good job of showing the approaching to climbing Aconcagua through the eyes of a guy who is in reasonably good shape, but had never been higher than 14,500 feet before. He also had just one month to prepare for the expedition, when typically 3 or 4 would be better. It's interesting read for armchair mountaineers to understand what goes into this type of climb before they set out for one themselves. Reading this may have you plotting a trip of your own soon enough. :)