New fastest known time on Aconcagua 6962m
/ the highest peak outside of Asia
Aconcagua 6962m
New record.
3h 38min 17sec
On 27 December 2019 I managed to climb Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America, in 3 hours, 38 minutes and 17 seconds. Starting at 10:10 am from Plaza de Mulas base camp (4400m), I followed the normal route and reached the 6962m summit at 13:48, setting a new fastest known time.
I traveled to Mendoza, Argentina at the beginning of December 2019. Initially, I approached the mountain via the East side. I made my first basecamp-summit push from Plaza Argentina BC on 17th December. Frozen feet and lack of acclimatisation made it very difficult but I made it.
After moving to the West side of the mountain to Plaza Mulas basecamp I went for another summit push on 23rd. I clocked 4 hours 38 minutes. I felt better and more acclimatised. But cutting an hour to get close to the record time was unthinkable!
I still don’t understand how it happened. On Friday 27th December I went for another push from Plaza de Mulas basecamp (Ranger’s office). I was hoping for a sub 4 hours time. When I got to La Cueva (about 6600m) I was on 3h10mn. If I can make the last 400m in half an hour I can break the record! Those 30 minutes will forever be forged in my memory. Pushing the body at that altitude hurts! I was stumbling, falling over but just kept moving as fast as I could. Last 50 meters I crawled on all fours. Muscles were failing. But I made it! I was lying half-dead after that for 20 minutes breathing so hard..