Aconcagua

Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas and the tallest mountain outside of Asia. It rises 6,961 metres above the Andes mountains of western Argentina, near the border with Chile. Aconcagua is one of the more accessible of the world's very high mountains, with a route to the top that requires no technical climbing, but altitude and weather still make it a serious challenge.

• Height6,961 mTallest outside Asia
• CountryArgentinaIn the Andes, near the Chilean border
• RangeAndesLongest mountain range on Earth
• First climbed1897By Swiss climber Matthias Zurbriggen
• Climbers/yearapprox. 3,500About 30 to 40% reach the summit
• Standard routeWalkingNo technical climbing needed, but very high

Aconcagua compared to other Seven Summits

Height (metres)

Everest8,849

Aconc.6,961

Denali6,190

Kilim.5,895

Elbrus5,642

Aconcagua is the second-tallest of the Seven Summits. It is also the highest mountain in the entire western and southern hemispheres of the world.

What is Aconcagua?

Aconcagua is a massive peak in the Andes mountains of western Argentina, approx. 110 km from the city of Mendoza. The name comes from the Quechua words "Ackon Cahuak", meaning "Stone Sentinel". Although Aconcagua looks like a volcanic cone from a distance, it is actually a non-volcanic mountain made of folded and uplifted sedimentary rocks. The summit area has two summits, the main one and a slightly lower south summit, separated by a saddle.

How do you climb it?

The standard route up Aconcagua, called the Normal Route, requires no rope work and no actual climbing in the technical sense. It is a long, steep walk, usually taking three weeks to allow the body to adjust to the altitude. Climbers spend nights at progressively higher camps, gradually moving equipment up before making a summit attempt from the highest camp at around 6,000 metres.

Even though there is no technical climbing, only approx. 30 to 40% of climbers reach the summit. The mountain's extreme height means everyone suffers altitude sickness to some degree, and many turn back. Aconcagua has its own brutal weather called the viento blanco ("white wind"), a powerful storm wind that can drive temperatures to -40 °C even in summer.

Fact The youngest person ever to reach the summit of Aconcagua was nine years old. The oldest was 87. Both records have been hotly debated, with some critics arguing the children especially should not be allowed to climb at such extreme altitude.

Wildlife and access

The mountain is protected as Aconcagua Provincial Park, established in 1983. Wildlife in the lower valleys includes the Andean condor, foxes, guanacos (camel relatives), and the rare puma. The high slopes are too barren for permanent wildlife. The park entry station is at Penitentes, easily reached by bus from Mendoza along the road to Chile.

Did you know? A 500-year-old mummy of an Inca child was found near Aconcagua's summit in 1985 at 5,300 metres altitude. The boy had been sacrificed and buried as an offering to the mountain god. The discovery showed that the Inca regularly climbed to extraordinarily high altitudes for religious ceremonies, hundreds of years before the first European ascents.

Deeper dive: the Andes, viento blanco and South American mountaineering

The Andes are the longest mountain range on Earth, stretching over 7,000 km down the western side of South America from Venezuela to the southern tip of Chile. They were formed by the ongoing collision between the Nazca tectonic plate (which makes up most of the floor of the eastern Pacific) and the South American plate. The Nazca plate is being pushed (subducted) under the South American plate, and the friction has built the Andes upward over the last 50 million years. The same subduction also creates the active volcanic chain of the Andes, with hundreds of active volcanoes from southern Colombia to Patagonia.

Aconcagua's viento blanco ("white wind") is a sudden severe storm caused by the interaction of moist Pacific air with the high Andes. The air is forced upward over the mountains, cools rapidly, and dumps huge amounts of snow with extremely strong winds. The viento blanco can hit the upper slopes of Aconcagua with little warning and reduce visibility to zero in minutes, with wind speeds over 100 km per hour and temperatures down to -40 °C. The mountain has a saying: "Aconcagua doesn't kill you, the viento blanco kills you."

The pre-Columbian Inca and earlier Andean civilisations regularly climbed to altitudes that European mountaineers did not reach until the 20th century. The Inca built mountain-top sanctuaries on several peaks above 6,000 metres, including Llullaillaco (6,739 m, on the Chilean-Argentine border), where remarkably well-preserved mummies of three sacrificed children were found in 1999. The high altitudes meant the bodies froze and were preserved with their clothes, faces, and even internal organs almost intact. These discoveries have given archaeologists an extraordinary window into Inca religion, society and physiology.

The country is Argentina. The range it sits in is the Andes.