1-1 through 1-10-10 (pics of asado, various parks in Mendoza)

1-1-10: We flew out of Denver on an overnight flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina then caught a connecting flight to Mendoza the same day thus arriving in Mendoza 1-2-10. We stayed at the Cordon del Plata Hotel for 2 nights before switching to a lovely hostel on 1-4 called Quinta Rufina B & B/hostel. We were within 1 block of Aristides Villanueva Avenue which is a street famous for its eateries and hip bars. Our friend, Collin Hoffman, arrived from the U.S. on 1-3 since he and Mike were climbing 20,000 ft Cerro Plata (Cordon del Plata).

The following excerpt is Mike's account of their climb (1-4 to 1-7-10).

1-4-10: Oscar, the owner of our hostel drove Collin and me to Vallecitos, a ski area at about 9,700 ft. in the evening. We hiked up to about 10,500 feet and camped about 7:00 p.m. Our campsite was in a grassy meadow with some horses grazing nearby and a creek running through camp.

1-5-10 Collin and I hiked up to just over 14,000 feet to the top of a rocky prominence with just enough space for 8-10 tents. Since this spot is considered the base camp for Cerro Plata and several nearby 5,000 to 6,000 meter peaks, it was semi-crowded with several other climbing parties, mostly guided groups. There were Argentinian guides with several European groups and one Canadian group. My Spanish worked for most conversations but by the next evening French had taken over as the predominant language. We had no altitude or other health issues.

Collin wanted to go for the summit on the first good day; I thought a bit about acclimatizing but I felt so good that I also agreed to go for it in the a.m. if the weather looked good.

1-6-10: 5:00 a.m. found us awake, ready and rested thus we set off for the summit at about 5:15 a.m. A group of 7 or 8 guided climbers were right behind us. The sunrise found us at about 15,500 feet with the sun turning the high glaciers a pretty rose color (alpenglow). We slowly made our way up the mountain at about 1,000 feet an hour. At about 17,000 feet, we reached a ridge where we could see the other climbers way below us making their way up. The wind started to pick up at this elevation and Collin had a slight headache. He vomited once, then felt fine and we continued on. We felt great now and we both felt that the summit was a sure thing at this point. The next ridge we gained was about 17,500 feet; it seemed to connect Cerro Plato with Vallecitos and some other peaks. We could see the mighty Cerro Aconcagua (At 6,962 meters/22,841 feet, Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas, and the highest mountain outside Asia) and many other Andean peaks from here. However the wind coming across this ridge was incredible. We continued slowly on an upward trajectory in this constant wind. There was no point where we could get out of the wind for even a brief respite. We were wearing everything we had packed and still our hands and noses were suffering from the cold. The wind was even strong enough to blow me sideways a couple of times; I estimated that it was gusting to 60 mph or so. Due to these conditions and with considerable regret, we turned around at 18,000 ft/5,500 meters with the summit in our sight. When we got back to the ridgeline, some of the guided climbers had made it to that point but none were venturing into the gale beyond it. That made me feel a bit better. It had taken us about 4-1/2 hrs to this point. We reached the basecamp at 14,000 feet at about 12:15 p.m.; about 7 hours after leaving in the morning. We spent the night here.

1-7-10: Collin and I continued our descent and reached a hostel below the ski area which was our starting point. (a 5000 ft descent). My quads were killing me. The downhill was a killer; we descended close to 9,000 feet in the last 24 hours. We ate well and we were happy!! Even though we didn't summit, we had hiked the entire ascent in 2 days with zero acclimatization -it was a true sprint! Up and down in less than 72 hours was a pretty good benchmark for an old man and a young gun new to high altitude.

1-5 to 1-6-10: While Collin and Mike were away, the kids and I walked to a nearby outside pool and cooled off from the intense heat (mid 90s F). The next day we took a taxi to the enormous San Martin Park which had a zoo. We saw black/grizzly bear, tigers, mountain lions or pumas, polar bears, an old wolf, toucans, etc. I wasn't impressed with the animals' care since we saw hunks of meat lying on the floor of the cages which were covered with flies. The seal exhibit was empty since their sole seal had recently died (bummer). Afterwards, we went shopping along Avenida Las Heras which is one of the main streets downtown.

1-9-10: Our hostel was family-run and Oscar and Mabel were our awesome hosts. They went out of their way to make our stay pleasant and helped us find local attractions. They were having an 'asado' or BBQ later this evening for family and friends and we were invited along with a couple of others staying at the hostel. It was held on the rooftop terraza of the hostel and it began at 10 pm; by the time the grilling was done, we ate dinner around 11 pm. It was a wonderful meal. In case you didn't know, Argentina is known for its delicious beef and late dining.