Aconcagua Expeditions – Personal experience climbing the stone sentinel

This short story, which I was writing day by day, in what was one of the most important experiences of my life, and which I am convinced, has marked me forever, by making a dream come true with great effort.It is not intended to be a technical paper on mountaineering, nor an “adventure” book, but rather the feelings, thoughts and emotions that I felt at the age of 54 when I climbed the highest mountain in the West.I have also added in quotes comments from other climbers, whose concepts I fully share, having felt or thought of them at some point during this extraordinary experience.“There are men for whom the unattainable has a special attraction. They are not usually experts, but their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to corner the doubts that more cautious men might harbor. Determination and faith are their best weapons. they are considered eccentric at best, insane at worst…”“In Aconcagua, which in the Aymara language means “The Stone Sentinel”… with its inhuman slopes, where ice and wind are sovereign, extremes are often touched: the beginning and the end of the road; success and failure; the life and death.Mythical mass that raises its top towards the stars, while its shadow is projected from the desert to the ocean. Scene of unusual stories, of great gestures of courage and heroism. Also revealer of vanities and fears. In this demanding environment, man shows himself as he is, there is no room for lies.How far is it worth risking your life to reach the top of it?The answer only fits up there. No one, lounging in the warmth of a Aconcágua timorous life, can judge the one who wastes his own vitality. High-altitude mountaineering involves serious risks and whoever decides to practice it must be absolutely responsible for their actions.Mountains as alpinistic objects only exist in the imagination of man, in his fantasy. Ascension is conceived as if it were a problem and a playful solution is sought for it.The game consists of cleanly overcoming the greatest difficulties with the help of the least possible technological means, with the highest degree of skill, training and audacity. Mountaineering as a means for the human being to grow.Aconcagua Mountain GuidesYou should not fight against nature, but adapt to it, understand it, respect its rhythm and try to assimilate the power it contains. Only in this way will beautiful solutions be achieved for the “big problems” of mountaineering. And only through this vision of the game, whoever plays it cleanly, will have access to unsuspected dimensions of their own being and of the whole world”Actually all this started several years ago, when for the first time I saw the Aconcagua hill from above, traveling to Chile by plane. While the rest of the passengers gave signs of admiration, I made a firm promise to Aconcagua Trekking myself to climb that great mountain that fascinated me for its size and incredible beauty, overshadowing the great peaks that surround it.