Penultimate mountain! No breaks between Denali and Aconcagua – I want to have a rest day on Friday before I start Mount Everest.
So here is some information on the mountain to begin with:
Andes are mountains along western part of South America. Aconcagua is the tallest peak in part called Principal Cordillera. At 22 837 feet (6961 meters), it’s the tallest mountain in South America. It’s only 190th tallest mountain in the world, which doesn’t sound so impressive. But here is the impressive part: 189 ahead of it are all in Asia (Himalayas are huge, aren’t they?).
Due to my Polish roots, I think I’m legally required to say this: Aconcagua is covered by glaciers and one of them is called Polish Glacier. It was named after a Polish team who paved a new route to the top back in 1934.
Andes were created when Nazca Plate (one of tectonic plates) went under South American Plate (that’s tectonic plate South America sits on). Aconcagua itself was a stratovolcano. However, during some other shifts in tectonic plates in the area, Aconcagua got lifted off of its volcanic base. So it’s no longer a volcano!
Aconcagua is the highest mountain that can be easily climbed, without knowing how to rock climb, as long as you go the easy route, which is from its north side. There is one challenge though: Aconcagua is so tall that you will most likely get altitude sickness. If I decide to get started on making my way through these mountains, I may need to move to Denver, CO…
Day 1
It’s a weird experience – 450 floors seemed easy today. My endurance game is strong! My days are definitely bouncing between ‘what the hell was I thinking???’ and ‘I rock!’. I will be done soon enough though.
Day 2
I might be a glutton for punishment 😆. I chose to spend a relatively good chunk of my Mother’s Day on running up and down the stairs. It was fun though!
Day 3
I feel like a champion! I’m on top of the world! Zooming right along! Hence picture with my marathon medals. It just seemed fitting 😊
Day 4
I am getting really excited for another summit! It feels like the workouts have been going great this week! I also decided to create a stop motion animation movie about all this climbing and my training in general. I think keeping my mind occupied with that is what helps.
Day 5
My time was really close to what I did yesterday, but it somehow seemed more exhausting… I am sooo ready for a rest day! I will be reaching the summit tomorrow and then I get one day of rest before Mount Everest. Getting there!
Day 6
This picture took ridiculous number of attempts… I am still happy: I made it to the top of the mountain! A bit of a struggle, especially when my house’s fire alarm started to beep on and off (I think it needs new batteries). But I got there 🎉🎉🎉 Just one mountain left to go!