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As I rushed out of my tent to relive dinner I could not remember what it felt like before this altitude induced sickness came on. It was at this point I started to be afraid that the 19000+ ft summit of Cerro Plata was out of reach.
I few days earlier we arrived in Mendoza; a pleasant town known for its wine and high mountains. Since I was unable to make an attempt on Aconcagua due to timing and money my friend Tim (the swiss guy I met in Ushuaia) and I decided to try some less intensive yet still daunting peaks just out of Mendoza. And so it was that despite recovering from a cold I began the two hour ride to the base of the mountains.
Though our initial camp was not very high the altitude gain that day was almost 9000ft. The usual headaches set in on both Tim and myself, but that was expected.
Despite the unusual patch of good weather for this time of year the mountains were virtually empty. We met one guy who apart from interrogating us on our mountaineering skills was rather friendly.
The second day we headed
to our base camp at 13,600ft. Slowly we climbed up a lonely valley and over a rock covered glacier. After running out of water we were forced to stop and gather some snow to melt. But any excuse to take a break was always welcomed.
We found our camp perched between the high mountains overlooking a long valley leading back to Mendoza. A couple bare steel structures sat awaiting the return of spring when they will be covered to provide some shelter to weary climbers.
Though the setting was amazing I felt quite the opposite. The idea was to rest a day at camp before attempting the steep icy ascent of Cerro Rincon and then push for Cerro Plata a couple days after that.
But there I was trying to catch my breath and keep my dinner in when I realized that it may not happen this year.
After three days of waiting I had only managed to eat half a days worth of food and I did not improve. So the only option was to head down.
Tim only feeling a mild headache decided to do a solo night climb of Cerro Vallecitos before
we headed down in the morning. And though I was sad I could not join him I knew I had no energy for the climb.
And so my consolation prize for Aconcagua slipped away. But as I shakily began my descent to the tunes of the Beach Boys I remembered that reaching the summit is never a certainty but only the best case scenario. So in that mindset I was happy to come down on my own two legs with no more than an empty stomach to complain about.
And so it was back to Mendoza to tour the wine country and regain the few pounds I left in the mountains. In time I will return and hopefully finish the expedition and tack on Aconcagua while I am at it.
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Jason
non-member comment
Your consolation prize was that you guys made it up and back without serious incident. We can never take these "safe trips" for granted, especially with the Taliban, the Christian Coalition and Walt Disney trying to steal our souls!