Aconcagua, which is located in
the Andes Mountain Range in Argentina, is the highest
mountain in South America and the highest mountain the
world outside of Asia. My Aconcagua expedition was from
December 3-18, 2003, and we summitted on December 16.
We traversed the mountain, going up the Vacas Valley and
coming down the Horcones Valley. We encountered bad
weather most of the way up this mountain. One of the
members of our expedition contracted both high altitude
pulmonary edema and high altitude cerebral edema--a
double whammy with potential lethal consequences. We
helped him down from high camp and put him in a gamov
bag at a lower camp on the mountain. That night, he
rode a mule 26 miles down the mountain and spent 3 days
in a hospital. Fortunately, he made a full recovery and
joined us for our celebration dinner.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)