Aconcagua

highest mountain in both the Southern and the Western Hemispheres (6962 m)

Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas, and the highest outside Asia. The altitude is 6,962 meters, or 22,841 feet. It is one of the Seven Summits.

Aconcagua
Aconcagua from the south
Highest point
Elevation6,960.8 m (22,837 ft)[1]
Prominence6,960.8 m (22,837 ft)[1]
Ranked 2nd
Isolation16,533.4 km (10,273.4 mi) Edit this on Wikidata
ListingSeven Summits
Country high point
Ultra
Coordinates32°39′12.35″S 70°00′39.9″W / 32.6534306°S 70.011083°W / -32.6534306; -70.011083
Naming
PronunciationSpanish: [akoŋˈkaɣwa]
/ˌækəŋˈkɑːɡwə/ or /ˌɑːkəŋˈkɑːɡwə/
Geography
Aconcagua is located in Argentina
Aconcagua
Aconcagua
Argentina
LocationMendoza, Argentina
Parent rangeAndes
Climbing
First ascent1897 by
Matthias Zurbriggen (first recorded ascent)[2]
Easiest routeScramble (North)

Mortality

change
 
Matthias Zurbriggen reached the summit in 1897.

Aconcagua is considered to have the highest mortality rate in South America (approximately three deaths per year). This is due to the fact that it is possible to achieve the ascent with relative ease, people without the proper preparation present themselves to make the attempt. Climbers blanch at altitude sickness and extreme weather changes, with strong winds as a result of the mountain's proximity to the Pacific Ocean.

Since records began in 1926, more than one hundred people have died on Aconcagua. Between 2001 and 2012, of the 42,731 people who sought to reach the summit of Aconcagua, 33 died, which indicates a mortality rate of 0.77 per 1,000 individuals.

Location

change

It is the Andes, in the Argentine province of Mendoza. It is in Aconcagua Provincial Park.

References

change
  1. 1.0 1.1 "Informe científico que estudia el Aconcagua: el Coloso de América mide 6.960,8 metros" [Scientific Report on Aconcagua, the Colossus of America measures 6960,8 m] (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  2. Secor, R.J. (1994). Aconcagua: A Climbing Guide. The Mountaineers. p. 13. ISBN 0-89886-406-2. There is no definitive proof that the ancient Incas actually climbed to the summit of the White Sentinel [Aconcagua], but there is considerable evidence that they did climb very high on the mountain. Signs of Inca ascents have been found on summits throughout the Andes, thus far the highest atop Llullaillaco, a 6,721-metre (22,051 ft) mountain astride the Chilean-Argentine border in the Atacama region. On Aconcagua, the skeleton of a guanaco was found in 1947 along the ridge connecting the North Summit with the South Summit. It seems doubtful that a guanaco would climb that high on the mountain on its own. Furthermore, an Inca mummy has been found at 5400 m on the south west ridge of Aconcagua, near Cerro Piramidal