Climb Aconcagua with Aconcagua-Express: Why Aconcacgua Express

Aconcagua Express is the best guide service on Aconcagua; here are a few reasons why;

Aconcagua Express is an Official Service Provider for the Cerro Aconcagua Provincial Park, NOT an intermediary.
AE has a very well rounded and talented staff. We bring most of our lead guides from the United States. All of our lead guides guide year round, not just during the Aconcagua season. They are dedicated professionals with an enormous amount of local and worldly knowledge to offer our clients. Our guides climb and guide year round for some of the most reputable and successful guide services in the world such as Jackson Hole Mountain Guides www.jhmg.com , the Alaska Mountaineering School www.climbalaska.org , Adventures to the Edge www.jpmountainguide.com and more. Here at AE we take our business very seriously both on and off the mountain. In joining one of our expeditions you are choosing the most dedicated personnel available. Our office staff will make your experience before, during and after the expedition as enjoyable as possible. Here is a small example to AE's dedication to our clients and expeditions: During the '03 season we were guiding one of the first ever trips to Tupungato. Because this mountain is never guided we didn't have a long history with the muleteers in this region. Upon arrival to our first camp our guides noticed that the cooler with all the meat, cheese and wine was not there. The guide called Joaquin, the AE director, on the satellite phone and explained the situation. Joaquin says "No problem, send in more." "But we were planning on a B-B-Q tonight." "Okay then come right now on a helicopter." And he did, and the group hardly skipped a beat. While mistakes like this rarely happen, this is just a small example of the dedication we have to making your experience with us perfect.
AE has the best safety infrastructure in the Park. Our standard equipment includes hyperbaric chambers, oxygen, high altitude medical kits, and high frequency communications for on mountain communication with Park personnel, base camps, and other expeditions as well as within our own expedition. Satellite phones for the entire expedition, available for personal use on a per minute basis. We are the only company that has emergency bottles of O2 cached at our highest camps. We also have a Gamov bag cached at our highest camp. We carry pulse oximeters as well as an aid to help determine acclimatization rates. Many companies do not carry many or any of these items. Many companies rely on OUR equipment for THERE safety. For the 2006 season all of our local guides and assistants will be required to hold a wilderness first responder (WFR) medical certification. The WFR is a 60 hour course that caters to professionals working in remote areas. These are very complete training programs. Aconcagua-Express will be the only company requiring this of all guides. In the past this has been something out of reach to many locals because of the cost of these programs. AE supplements the cost for our local guides, so everybody benefits.
At Aconcagua Express we plan our itineraries very carefully. Our trips are specially designed to give our clients the best possible chance or reaching the summit. We have plenty of days built into our schedules in case we are forced to wait out stormy weather. We have a safe and slow ascent plan which is necessary for proper acclimatization. We urge you to compare other itineraries against ours. You will notice that we plan on rest days as well as double carry days and we still leave 3 days for summiting. For your benefit make sure that you getting the itinerary that is best for you. We are extremely efficient during the entire expedition, but we do not rush things or skip important details. On the Normal route we take a day at one of our permanently staffed camps to do a day hike to the base of the impressive south face of Aconcagua. To keep things varied we also often climb peaks near Plaza de Mulas as part of our acclimatization program on the Normal Route. We have adopted the climb high, sleep low program on our expeditions. This works well for proper acclimatization and keeps our pack weights down. We also have planned rest days built into our schedules which we have found is necessary for muscle recovery and also aids in acclimatization. Our guides have mountains of experience dealing with the tribulations of high altitude expeditions, sometimes itineraries need to be altered to cater to the individual needs of our clients. Because of our low guide-client ratio we are able to readily accommodate any changes that may occur during any stage of the expedition.
AE has been operating without interruption in the Aconcagua Park for more than 18 years. Our experience is beyond discussion!
While most of our lead guides are American and our sister company is American (Jackson Hole Mountain Guides) Aconcagua Express is a local company. We hire local English speaking assistants. This benefits us in many ways. Our office staff is able to arrange all of our logistical support better than anyone. AE is also a logistical support company. AE has been helping other expeditions with their logistics for many years with the same dedication that our expeditions receive. Everything from the pickup and drop off at the airport, the hotels we use to the mules will be the BEST! We own one of the largest mule services that operate in the Park. Our muleteers are dedicated to making our expeditions run flawlessly. This is very important to the success of an Aconcagua expedition since we are relying on mule support for much of the expedition. This is especially important for our traverse expeditions, where we need to get a cache of equipment extricated from our basecamp and brought down and around the the other side of the mountain, while we are high up on the mountain and heading for the other side. We are able to make contact readily with our office manager in Penitentes to arrange this transport. We can contact many different people on the mountain to arrange different things for us, such as mule transport or our basecamp chef to have pizzas waiting for us when we arrive to basecamp. We use VHF radios, satalite phones, and radio phones for our on the mountain communications. The gauchos (cowboys) that bring the mules with all of our equipment up and down the trails and occasionally camp with us, know all of our guides and have developed a rapport with them. Believe me when I tell you that this is very important when it comes to the safety of our equipment. We keep our muleateers happy and in turn they keep us happy. The logistics of a guided expedition are meant to be "behind the scenes". With Aconcagua Express you can count on having all these tedious details taken care of before you get to Mendoza.
Our food is prepared for us up to and while at basecamp by local chefs. Beyond base camp the meals are prepared by the guides.Many expeditions on the Guanacos route have been known to eat pizzas at high camps. AE puts a lot of time and energy into planning g and preparing our meals. We’re sure you will enjoy them. We believe that food is one of the most important parts of any expedition. With a proper diet people’s bodies are able to concentrate on what’s important, such as acclimatizing.
AE owns its animals and has direct control over their care during the entire year. This permits availability of mules without reservations for loads and persons between Penitentes, the intermediate camps, and the base camps. The mule care program includes vaccination, feed and vitamins all year round, which assures their good performance from the beginning of the season to the end. AE cares for the animals the same way we care for our clients, with affection! And there is a particularly special relationship between our muleteers and the animals.
Aconcagua Express is a PIONEER in the opening of the new Guanacos route also known as Quebrada Vieja!!! Our muleteers have been exploring this valley since 1995 gaining unprecedented experience in assisting expeditions on this route.
AE is the leading company in investment in renovating expedition materials. Every year we make a big investment in renewing tents, pads, stoves, and communications equipment. During last season AE implemented 3 Mountain Hardware Space Station models as well as numerous new North Face tents and hyperbaric chambers. You can count on high quality equipment on our expeditions during all phases of the trip. For the 2006 we purchased 30 new expedition Mountain Hardware tents. On the approach in to basecamp we carry chairs and tables with us. If our surroundings and environment are comforting then we can relax a little more. We think it is important to have all of the comforts possible while we can. That way we can concentrate on the tasks at hand like drinking lots of water and eating lots of good food. At all of our camps you will recieve the best service possible. Our guides will go over all of your gear with you in Mendoza upon your arrival and make sure that you have everything that you need.
AE offers top quality hotels Aconcagua Express uses the best hotels and restaurants available during the expedition. We can offer this to our clients at an affordable price for several reasons. AE has been working with these local merchants for over 10 years. We offer them a great service and in turn they do the same for us. Joaquin is the master of making deals. He treats people good and we get good treatment in return. He is well liked and respected by the locals and this shows in the treatment that WE recieve by the local businesses. All of our transportation starting from the airport pick up is done by modern Mercedes Benz and Land Rover Defender vehicles. From the time you step off the plane to the time you get back on the plane the details and logistics are taken care of by us with the greatest attention to detail.
Aconcagua Express has been established in this business for a long time and it shows. We have offices and personnel everywhere. We have the best base camp sites. We have multiple offices, so it is never a problem finding a safe location to store equipment. We don't have to rely on public storage rooms for our gear, or yours, that we leave behind in town waiting for our return from the mountains. That's the last thing you want to have to worry about while you’re on the mountain.
AE offers the Aconcagua expedition at a reasonable price considering the quality of its service. Its promotion with international flight included makes it perhaps the best service alternative in both quality and price.
AE DOES NOT charge for extra expenses such as the dinners at Hotel Penitentes or mule expenses if a client has to leave ahead of time! The mules are permanently available!!
FINALLY if you wish to hear the experience of other Aconcagua Express clients, we invite you to contact our list of references www.aconcagua-express.com/eng/references.shtml

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