Mount Aconcagua, Argentina 2025

Описание: Here is a montage of my experience at Mount Aconcagua. I didn't make it to the top, but it was still a great adventure!

Aconcagua — the “White Sentinel” — is the highest mountain in the Americas, as well as in both the Southern and Western hemispheres. At almost 7,000m, it is the tallest peak outside the Himalayas. Nestled in the Andes between Mendoza and Santiago, it is the second most prominent and second most isolated peak after Everest, and the second-highest of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. It is considered one of the most dangerous mountains due to its extreme altitude. Several climbers have succumbed to altitude sickness, and at least three people die on the mountain each year, earning it the ominous nickname “Mountain of Death.” Only about 60% of climbers reach the summit, with many suffering from altitude sickness, hypothermia, falls, or heart complications.

At the summit, atmospheric pressure is only about 40% of that at sea level, meaning your body can use only 40% of its normal oxygen intake. Physical performance drops to about 20–25% of normal. Temperatures with wind chill can reach –40°C. Unlike Kilimanjaro, where porters carry gear and set up camp, on Aconcagua, most climbers carry their own loads or hire limited porter support.

As the highest peak in the Andes, Aconcagua held deep spiritual importance within the Inca worldview, in which mountains were powerful protective beings. Archaeologists have discovered a 15th–16th-century Inca mummy high on the mountain, evidence of sacred ceremonies and ritual offerings reserved for holy mountains known as apus, or deities. In Andean belief — still alive today — mountains watch over the rivers and the people. The earth itself, “Pachamama” (the Great Mother), nourishes and shelters all living beings. Because the land is sacred, the Incas made no separation between the holy and the useful; they saw them as two sides of the same coin. For them, nature was not something to be tamed, but something to understand and honour — a worldview both deeply spiritual and profoundly practical.