24 interesting facts about Aconcagua

24 interesting facts about Aconcagua

We share the most interesting facts about Aconcagua - from the world's highest art gallery to mysterious mummified remains

I recently climbed Aconcagua in Argentina, the third step in my journey to climb the seven peaks.

Cerro Aconcagua may not be one of the most beautiful mountains in the world and the climb certainly lacks charm, but this huge lump of Andean rock and ice is one of the most desirable mountains in the world.

Every year, thousands of experienced and amateur mountaineers flock to its slopes to test themselves in one of the harshest environments on the continent.

I spent 14 days on the mountain's stormy, barren slopes doing just that. Below, I share the most interesting facts about Aconcagua that I picked up along the way.

Interesting facts about Aconcagua

1. Die genaue Höhe des Aconcagua ist umstritten. Eine Vermessung von 2001 durch ein italienisch-argentinisches Team ergab, dass der Berg 6.961,83 m (22.840 ft) hoch ist. Im Jahr 2012 untersuchte jedoch ein Team von Wissenschaftlern verschiedener akademischer Institutionen in Mendoza den Aconcagua erneut und kam auf 6.960,8 m (22.837 Fuß). (Quelle: Britannica)
2. Unbestritten ist, dass der Aconcagua der höchste Berg Amerikas ist, weshalb er oft als „Dach Amerikas“ bezeichnet wird. (Quelle: Lonely Planet)
3. Das Obige macht den Aconcagua auch zum höchsten Berg der südlichen Hemisphäre, der westlichen Hemisphäre und außerhalb Asiens. (Quelle: Popular Mechanics)
4. Aconcagua ist Mitglied der Seven Summits, einer Ansammlung der höchsten Berge auf jedem Kontinent. Er ist nach dem Mount Everest in Asien der zweithöchste der sieben. (Quelle: Britannica)

alt="Seven Summits graphic explaining one of the interesting facts about Aconcagua">Darq/ShutterstockAconcagua is a member of the Seven Summits

1. Nach dem Mount Everest ist der Aconcagua der höchste topographisch herausragende Gipfel der Welt (dh die Höhe des Gipfels im Verhältnis zur niedrigsten Konturlinie, die ihn umgibt). Dies macht ihn zu einem ultra-prominenten Gipfel – bemerkenswert für seinen außergewöhnlichen Anstieg (mehr als 1.500 m/4.900 ft) über das umliegende Gelände. (Quelle: PeakList)

2. Since climbing Aconcagua does not require any special mountaineering skills, it is considered a non-technical climb and is the highest trekking peak in the world. (Source: The Telegraph)

3. There are several theories about the origin of the name, based on local languages. In Mapuche, Aconca-Hue refers to the Aconcagua River and means “comes from the other side”; Ackon Cahuak means “guardian of stone” in Quechua; and in Aymara, Janq’u Q’awa means “white gorge”. (Source: RW McColl. (2005). Encyclopedia of World Geography. Facts On File: New York)

4. German explorer Paul Gussfeldt made the first recorded attempt to climb Aconcagua in 1833, approaching the summit to within 500 m. (Source: NASA)

alt=“interesting facts about Aconcagua “>Atlas & BootsPeter on the summit of Aconcagua

1. Die erste Vermessung des Berges wurde 1835 von Charles Darwin während der Fahrten der Beagle durchgeführt. (Quelle: NASA)

2. The Swiss climber Matthias Zurbriggen made the first successful ascent of Aconcagua on January 14, 1897. (Source: RJ Secor. (1999) Aconcagua: A Climbing Guide. Mountaineers Books: Seattle)

3. Briton Edward FitzGerald led the successful expedition but failed to reach the summit himself, despite making at least eight attempts between December 1896 and February 1897. (Source: RJ Secor. (1999). Aconcagua: A Climbing Guide. Mountaineers Books: Seattle)

4. At that time it was the highest peak in the world that has been climbed to this day. (Source: British Mountaineering Council)

5. The highest contemporary art gallery in the world is located on Aconcagua. Located at the Plaza de Mulas base camp at 4,300 m (14,107 ft), Nautilus is a tented art gallery featuring works by local artist Miguel Doura. (Source: Guinness World Records)

alt="The art gallery is one of the interesting facts about Aconcagua">Alfredo Cerra/ShutterstockNautilus art gallery at Plaza de Mulas base camp

1. Im Dezember 2019 stellte der tschechische Skyrunner Martin Zhor einen neuen Rekord für den schnellsten Auf- und Abstieg des Aconcagua auf. Er absolvierte die Rückreise vom Basislager in nur 3 Stunden, 38 Minuten und 17 Sekunden. (Quelle: Planet Mountain)

2. In 1944, the Frenchwoman Adriana Bance became the first woman to climb Aconcagua. Tragically, she and her husband later died on the mountain. (Source: Joy Logan. (2011). Aconcagua: The Invention of Mountaineering on America's Highest Peak. University of Arizona Press: Tucson)

3. In 1947, a British plane allegedly carrying Nazi spies and a cargo of gold mysteriously disappeared near Aconcagua. In 1999, wreckage was discovered 100 km away on a mountain called Tupungato. Despite extensive investigations, the mystery surrounding the gold, the spies and a cryptic Morse code message sent shortly before the crash remains unsolved. Much of the debris remains hidden in glaciers. (Source: The Guardian)

4. Aconcagua appeared in a 1942 Disney animation called Pedro. Pedro, a "baby plane," nearly crashes in Aconcagua while carrying mail over the Andes while covering for his father, who was "laying with a cold in his cylinder head." (Source: IMDB)

5. In January 2009, there were five deaths in four separate incidents on Aconcagua. It is unusual for so many people to die in such a short period of time on Aconcagua, and the events sent shockwaves through the local community. (Source: Outside Magazine)

6. One of these deaths was that of the Italian Federico Campanini. Controversially, video footage was uploaded online showing a team of rescuers trying to help Campanini. Campanini's father sued the rescuers, saying they had not done enough for his son. The case was dismissed. (Source: National Geographic)

7. In 1985, mountaineers discovered mummified remains of a seven-year-old boy on Mount Aconcagua at 5,300 m (17,400 ft). His body was wrapped in cloth and surrounded by six small statues. It is believed the boy was a child sacrifice. During Inca rule, children were sometimes taken to high mountain peaks where they were killed or left to die. (Source: BBC News)

8. In 2019, Airbus landed an H145 helicopter on the summit of Aconcagua. This was the first time in history that a twin-engine helicopter had landed at such an altitude. (Source: Airbus)

9. Aconcagua's notoriously unpredictable weather is made worse by the peak's relative distance from the equator. The further you get from the equator, the thinner the Earth's atmosphere becomes. Therefore, the effects of altitude are more extreme and the weather is more unstable. (Source: Jim Ryan. (2018). Trekking Aconcagua and the Southern Andes. Cicerone: Kendal)

10. The youngest person to climb Aconcagua was nine-year-old boy Tyler Armstrong. He climbed the mountain with his father Kevin Armstrong and Tibetan Sherpa Lhawang Dhondup. (Source: BBC News)

11. The oldest person to climb Aconcagua was Scott Lewis, who reached the summit in 2007 at the age of 87. (Source: Irish Independent)

12. There are no official statistics, but it is believed that over 100 people have died attempting to climb Aconcagua. (Source: BBC News)

13. Finally, one of the most interesting facts about Aconcagua is that, depending on the season, simultaneous winter climbs occur in the Himalayas and Karakoram Mountains in Asia, and that peak times on Aconcagua typically correspond to night time in Nepal and Pakistan, so when a climber climbs Aconcagua, it is likely that he or she will briefly (like me) be the highest person stood on the earth. (Source: The Independent)

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Mission statement: alfotokunst/Shutterstock

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