This page presents my individual Aconcagua gear list. I developed it based on many good examples from experienced climbers and tested it personally during the expedition. I have added comments regarding some key items. In addition I am disclosing what I had brought with me or left behind next time.
I rented most of high altitude gear in Mendoza
I am not a climber and did not plan to climb other cold mountains after Aconcagua. Therefore I decided to rent most of the high altitude gear like, double boots and warm sleeping bag in Mendoza. As it was recommended by my Aconcagua company I chose Chamonix Outdoor Equipment. All the other climbers in my group who had to rent something went there too. Thus renting gear was well embedded in the itinerary. We went there as a group with the guides right after they checked completeness of our gear in the hotel. (Gear rent in my Aconcagua documentary) As we went during high season I reserved the needed items at Chamonix via email prior arrival in Mendoza. Nevertheless they have been flexible and allowed to try and different sizes when available. I have been happy with the quality and cleanliness of the stuff. Initially I intended to rent the double boots as well but got an extraordinary good deal for the Asolo AFS8000.
All rented items are market blue in the list below.
Red items have not been used or were redundant.
Green items turned to be very useful or were missing in my original packing list
Feet
| 1 pair | Hiking shoes for approach | Meindl Vakuum Men Ultra |
| 1 pair | Climbing boots | Asolo AFS 8000 |
| 1 pair | Crampons | Chamonix Rent |
| 2 pair | Liner socks | GORE Essential Light Socks + Falke |
| 3 pair | Wool socks | Falke TK4+ |
| 3 pair | Expedition Wool socks | FALKE TK 4 Expedition 2x Smartwool Extra Heavy Crew |
I bought the Asolo AFS 8000 boots at home and had no chance to test them outside. This is the default model Chamonix Outdoor Equipment puts out for rent. The first time I ever wore them was during acclimatization climb to Mt. Bonete (4.300->5.000m). As I have relatively soft hiking shoes and don’t ski the hard boots were completely new experience to me. Surprisingly the only issue I had was relatively wet feet as I tried my summit socks during this warm day. But I have no other problems and was confident, that the following configuration will take me up to the top – so it did!
My tested Aconcagua summit socks and boots:
1) Very tight running socks as first layer (worn before)
2) Expedition merino wool socks Smartwool Extra Heavy Crew (brand-new)
3) Climbing double boots Asolo AFS 8000
4) Iron crampons rented at Chamonix Outdoor Equipment (worn during 2/3 of the summit push)
Legs
| 1 | Convertible hiking pants | Mammut Tempest Zip Off Plus Pants |
| 1 | Primaloft pants | Mountain Hardwear Compressor Pant |
| 1 | Gore-tex wind/rain pants with full-length leg zippers | Arc’teryx – Alpha SL Pant |
| 1 | Soft-shell mid layer tights | Kaikkialla Hannu Powerstretch Tight |
| 1 | Merino wool base layer | Icebreaker Apex Leggings w/Fly 260 |
| 2 | Merino wool briefs | Icebreaker Anatomica Briefs |
| 1 | Breathable briefs | Meru Mora Light Slip M |
| 1 | Swimming trunks | for the Hotel 🙂 |
red = not used
The Mountain Hardwear Primaloft Compressor Pant turned to be one of my favorite gear items. It served as perfectly comfy base camp pants and for all the climbs above base camp level.
My Aconcagua summit push layers for the legs have been
1) Icebreaker Anatomica Briefs
2) Merino wool Icebreaker Apex Leggings w/Fly 260
3) Mountain Hardwear Compressor Primaloft Pant
4) Gore-tex Arc’teryx – Alpha SL Pant
Body
| 2 | Breathable T-shirt | running shirt |
| 1 | Breathable long sleeve | white Asics L2 Longsleeve running shirt |
| 1 | Light merino wool long sleeve | Scott Merino Wool 1/4 Zip |
| 1 | Heavy merino wool long sleeve | no name |
| 1 | Thick synthetic long sleeve | Nike Element Halfzip long sleeve used only for sleeping |
| 1 | High Quality soft-shell jacket | Marmot – Zion Jacket |
| 1 | Light Fleece jacket | Jack Wolfskin Bardu Jacket Men |
| 1 | Warm fleece jacket | Jack Wolfskin |
| 1 | Expedition down jacket | Chamonix Rent |
| 1 | City clothes | for summer in Mendoza |
red = redundant or not used
The weather during our approach was warm enough for t-shirt and shorts. However I personally used a white long sleeve (my favorite Asics running shirt) for better sun protection.
A merino wool base layer together with a high quality soft-shell Jacket (Marmot Zion Jacket) served well for all the climbs between the base camp and the high camp 3 (6.000)
According to the guides we enjoyed an extraordinary warm weather during the summit day mid of January. Temperatures were between -5°C in C3 and -16°C on top. I personally felt to warm with the rented down jacked and opend the zipper at the beginning. Finally I took it of for the final sunn and not windy ascent during Canaleta.
My Aconcagua summit layers have been:
1) Heavy merino wool long sleeve
2) Light Jack Wolfskin fleece jacket
3) Marmot – Zion soft-shell Jacket
4) Expedition down jacked (only partly with open zip before sunrise)
Head
| 1 | Light hat | Jack Wolfskin Supplex Vent Hat granite |
| 1 | Glacier Sun Glasses | Julbo Trek Cameleon |
| 1 | Nose sun protector attached to sunglasses | Breitfeld & Schliekert (universal product) |
| 1 | Bandana | Buff |
| 1 | Fleece cap (fits under helmet) | Jack Wolfskin Vertiego cap |
| 1 | Ski goggles | no name product |
Because we had no heavy winds I did not use the goggles at at all.
The Bandana has been with me all time. For me it has been primary sun and dust protection. Next time I would take two Buffs.
The nose protector is a universal product attached with a velcro. It does not look sexy but worked well.
Hands
| 2 pair | liners | Polypropylene |
| 1 pair | Lighter weight fleece gloves | my warm running gloves |
| 1 pair | Goretex climbing gloves | Black Diamond Rambla Gloves |
| 1 pair | Expedition mittens | Chamonix Rent not used |
The mittens were in my summit pack but I did not use them. My Black Diamond Rambla Gloves with some Polypropylene liners did the job even during summit night. By the end of first quarter of the summit push with a temperature around -8°C my thumbs started to freeze and I have been close to switch to the mittens. Than I started to move the thumbs and got them warm again. With the sunshine and -16°C on the summit I saw no need at all to wear the mittens.
Expedition gear
| 1 | Ultralight Summit pack (90g/20l) | Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Daypack |
| 1 | Daypack, 35 l, stayed in base camp | Deuter Futura 32+4 |
| 1 | Expedition backpack | Bach Backpack Specialist 1 (68l) |
| 1 | Duffle bag | 110l Ortlieb Duffle |
| 1 | Fanny pack (for Gopto, etc.) | iTECHOR Fanny pack |
| 1 | Bottle Parker | Outdoor Research Water bottle Parka 2 |
| 1 | Insulated water bottle | Camelbak Podium Big Chill 750ml |
| 1 | Wide mouth plastic water bottle | Camelbak Chute 1l |
| 1 | Thermos | La Playa High Performance, silver 1L |
| 1 pair | Hiking poles | BLACK DIAMOND Trail Back |
| 1 | Climbing helmet | Edelrid Shield II |
| 1 | Ice Axe | Chamonix Rent – not rented as per guides advise |
| 1 | Whistle for emergency | ACME whistle Tornado Slimline |
| 6 | Light equipment carabineers | Qxking aluminium 8cm + Elliot Micro 6 |
I have been happy with each and every piece listed above however I want to highlight 2 items I really loved:
The ultralight Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Daypack for the summit push really worked well. It did carry everything I needed not adding any extra weight. The 90g weight is only possible because it comes without any pads which you normally expect to be part of a comfy backpack. But under the circumstance where you have already several layers on you they were absolutely unnecessary. I have been able to attach the crampons to it or squeeze the down jacket into it.
The Camelbak Chute 1l spout is perfect for drinking without splashing water all over my face.
Although the Ice Axe was tagged as obligatory item at the end it has been up to the guide to decide if you need to take it or not. Luckily I new it early enough and did not rent/carry it. Also I did not miss it at any time – except for a cool summit picture maybe 🙂
Sleeping
| 1 | Down Sleeping Bag -35C – high camps | 1100g fill, Chamonix Rent |
| 1 | Light Down Sleeping Bag -7C – until BC | Mammut Kompakt Down Winter, 180R |
| 1 | Sleeping back silk Inlett | Quechua silk 205x85cm |
| 1 | Lightweight inflatable pad (-24C) | Exped AG DownMat UL 7 M |
| 1 | Closed cell foam sleeping pad | Therm-A-Rest Z Lite Sol |
red = not used
Most of the guys in my group had only one thick sleeping bag. I personally was lucky to have two. I generally don’t need a lot of insulation while sleeping. As the temperatures in the base camp barely went below 0°C during nights I have been happy with my down bag with a -7°C comfort temperature. Above base camp the temperatures never dropped below -5 in the tent. Thats why the rented Expedition bag was more than sufficient.
Camp equipment
| 1 | Pee bottle (colapsable) | Nalgene Canteen 1500ml |
| 1 | eBook | Tolino Vision 4 HD |
| 1 | Small towel | Meru Sport Towel |
| 1 | Mug | Sea to Summit X-Mug |
| Bowl | Sea to Summit XL-Bowl | |
| 1 | Spoon & fork (2in1) | Light my Fire Spork PLASTIC FAILED |
| 1 | Multitool | Leatherman SKELETOOL CX |
| 10+ | Cable ties | Diverse |
| 8 | Compression & transport bags | different sizes |
| 5m | Cord | |
| 1 | Duct Tape | not a new roll as to heavy |
Personal Toiletries, Snacks & first aid
| 1 | Personal Toiletries | incl. wet wipes |
| 1 | Sage drops | helps to cope with light cough and dry air |
| 1 | Electrolyte Replacement | Elotrans powder |
| 30 | cereal & energy bars | my favorite bars from discounter |
| 250g | Haribo | gummy bears |
| 2 | Sunscreen | small containers (SPF50) |
| 2 | Lip Protection Sticks | 1,5 sticks used (SPF50) |
| 1 | 1st Aid Kit + Medicine | |
| 1 | Ear plugs | Ohropacks wax |
Electronics including camera equipment
| 1 | Outdoor watches with altimeter | Suunto Core |
| 1 | Sports pulse watch incl. heart rate chest belt | Garmin Forerunner 310XT |
| 1 | iPhone | iPhone 6S 64GB |
| 2 | Power bars | 21.100 + 14.000mAh |
| 1 | Solar charger | Anker PowerPort Solar Charger 21W |
| 1 | GoPro with 6 batteries | Hero 4 Silver |
| 1 | Wireless GoPro microfone | REMOVU A1+M1 Set + windshield |
| 1 | Timelapse moving head | Flow Mow 360° in 120min |
| 1 | Clamp tripod | very light (cheep plastic) no name product |
| 5 | Eyeglass cleaning wipes | for lenses and sunglasses |
| 1 | Headlamp with 3 AA lithium batteries | Petzl Myo RXP |
| 1 | Apple charger | 2,4AMps + 1Amp |
| 1 | Travel power adapter | for argentina |
Man, thanks so much for this detailed list!!
Thanks so much for the detailed list and informatios, amazing video. love it.
Yep, thanks! I am 8 weeks out from leaving home to do this and the details are suddenly important :-). I’m considered one of those new Gopro fusion cameras but for now the plan is just two android phones. It’s great to see you took big power bank batteries and a solar charger – that’s my plan too.
BTW thanks for the details of your training. I do a fair bit of walking in the hilly area near my home but I’ve been extending those walks recently. Now is crunch time though and it’s 4 – 6 hours with a full pack. I am impressed by your long, fast walks! I find 3 or 4 kph is more like my pace for all-day walks… I suspect your legs are longer than mine!
Scheduled to go in early February. Curious when you started your hikes. I work out hard 6 days a week for 45 min to an hour. And how much weight would you carry during your hikes?
I trained 2-4 times a week. But usually much longer than 1h – including some ultra long “mental training” sessions. Pls checkout the preparation section where I cover quite some details. http://aconcagua-preparation.eu
HI peter ,
Your video and blog is amazing . This helped a lot for prep . i will be leaving in next week for the Aconcagua expedition. I was curious about the backpack , I see you have noted down it at 68 ltr. I was curious how much common gear( food , gas , utensils ) you had to carry ? I see that for Camp1 there is a carry day where load can be distributed but for camp 2 and 3 there is no carry day .
I have a 70ltr and when i pack with my sleeping bag and down jacket and pants , it takes up half the space . so was wondering how much common gear one carries ?
I am glad to hear that you could benefit from my work. In my video I am showing the common gear packages for everybody. Check out @min 16:30 https://youtu.be/52TDprX_xx8. In our case it was the biggest common gear transport and everybody took 4,5kg.
Don‘t worry about the big/light items. In the worst case you can always easily transport them attached outside to your bag… (no need in my case)
Hope that you made it and that it was enjoyable! You were right with your observations. In our group everybody hat to take only 4,5kg of common loads. It got less and less from camp to camp. It really depends on the expedition, the conditions and the guides how the logistic is managed. My experience was that you can always attach the light and bulky stuff outside to your bag pack. I am just wondering how it was for you? Have you been documenting and sharing your experience somehow?
It is very handy that you have written this overview of gear. Thank you for the honest side notes on what gear happend to be useless.
I think your list was “prepare for everything” kind of list. It could be shorter but more risky. I presonally would take less clothes, one big Ti mug, 2 pairs od gloves ( one “via ferrata like ” and one warm mittens)
Any way, thank you. and congratulations
Thanks! You have put it very nicely with „prepare for everything“ kind of list.
Yes, this was more a mountain tourist than a mountaineer setup 😉
Things like shaving and smelling nicely are definitely optional during high mountain expedition ;-)))
Thank you so much for documenting this. We’ll referring back to this very often
You are welcome!
Do you like the movie as well?
When do you want to go?
Wow man, very good site and video, so much details. Thanks! Can you give some details on rental equipment prices to understand price ranges?
Many thanks for your kind feedback 🙂
Here are the prices I paid for rental @Chamonix in Mendoza back in Dec 2016
Sleeping back (-35C) 160USD
Down jacket 75 USD
Crampons 50 USD
Down Mittens 40 USD
The ice ace we did not need to rent was 35 USD
Other guys paid 110 for the plastic boots.
When do you want to go?
All the best!
peter
Great detailed packing list! What was the total weight of your pack? I’m struggling a bit with the 20 kilo’s that is recommended, already at 23kg……and still have to add snacks….
I never had more than 20kg on the way up. 20kg was from base camp to first high camp during first carry day. And that was only because I took more than required and wanted to test myself. When you book a guided tour incl. logistics I do not see a reason / need to carry more that 20kg.
Well, I personally trained beforehand with up to 30kg in order to have some reserves…
As I have been telling my friends, family and co-workers, everything which was within the realm of human control for this trip lived up to the expectations. I definitely feel up to another attempt at Aconcagua in two or three more years (NOT in another El Nino year!!!), with a trip to the Mexico or Ecuador volcanoes next December to see something new.
Hi Peter,
thanks for giving these detailed information – not only about the gear-list!
We will have our summit day hopefully on 2020-01-16 and some of your recommended items are in my backpack 😉
Greetings
Micha
Thanks for your comment and the appreciation. Make sure you enjoy every step!
Viel Glück!!
CONGRATS MASTER!!!!!congrats master for his excellent and very useful information on everything (equipment, training ect. ect) Very well explained !!!! CHAPEAU !!!!!!
I am a mountaineer, and I study the history of mountaineering (I would like to climb Aconcagua, but I have other climbing plans in the Mont Blanc group) However you have done a very excellent job !!!!!!
Kind regards and best wishes.
Many thanks for your kind comment! I am not a mountaineer but a bloody mountain tourist 🙂 However me and some of my Aconcagua buddies (btw: some new friendships since that time!!) would like to attempt Mount Blanc as well. So if you have some plans or even tips I would be glad to learn more. Take care!
Hi Peter, very much enjoyed your video, and likewise your website. I have only climbed to 5650m in Nepal, and wondered whether I should attempt Aconcagua next. While I’m also just a bloody mountain tourist, I sense I have a similar mentality to you regarding fitness, mental preparedness, expedition logistical planning etc. I’ve looked at lower 6000m peaks in Chile, but I fear if I take this route, I may never have the opportunity to return for Aconcagua later. Honestly, how did the climb itself compare to your ‘expected case’ beforehand? P.s. the lightweight Sea to Summit bag for summit day sounds very smart. Any further details on this? I sense it may attract attention/questions for guides?! Thanks for all your documenting of a great journey!
Hi George, many thanks for your appreciation and kind words!!
Honestly?! Don’t wanna sound pretentious but Aconcagua was to easy for me.
Well, of course I said the truth: it was my hardest exercise so far but mentally and physically I was prepared for much harder weather conditions (temperature, wind, snow) Secretly I had been even dreaming of a small whiteout and also prepared my camera gear to stand the forces of nature.
But please take into account that a) our weather was extremely good. b) my body seems to adapt quickly c) The other guys except for one had almost no reserves.
The minimalistic summit pack did the job well for me. But others also made it with an ordinary day pack. Probably also this one had a mental component for me: I simply felt much lighter 😉
The guides were extremely lovely people and we all treated them with maximal respect and not like our waiters in the camps – like you sometimes read from other expeditions.
They noticed that I took the film job very seriously and were even more surprised about the result. When you check Inkas FB page, you will see their authentic reactions. This makes me really proud.
Wish you all the best for your decision process and and efficient preparation 🙂 You’ll get there 🙂
Let me know when you have more questions.
Cheers, peter