I have been climbing in Nepal and Norway the last three years and thought one more 7000m mountain in the 7 summits series would be great before summiting Mt Everest in spring. I am looking for more high altitude experience and Aconcagua is it!

Aconcagua, with its 6,961m, is the highest mountain outside Asia and the highest point in both South and North America. It is located in the Andes mountain range in Argentina. I decided to sign up with a local guide in Mendoza together with some great friends (Marcus and Sebastian) from one of my first expeditions to Rolwaling in Nepal. The departure is set to the 3rd of December and lasts for wonderful 4 weeks. We will be doing the 360 route which is supposed to be a great route.

I dont really know much about this mountain besides what Annelie Pompe and Robin Trygg have told me in terms of their stories from the mountain. But I expect it to be very beautiful, very cold, windy and very rocky! I do expect it to be tough and prepare my expedition that way. Its the perfect test for my Everest expedition in spring 2018.

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Training is a crucial part of all my preparations and I do it thoroughly, I have to. The training program makes me achieve peace and silence in my soul. There is nothing like the feeling after a 2-3 hour training session: no bad conscience, no stress, peaceful inside, in balance and a cristal clear target of big mountains approaching. It helps me focus on the journey also and assimilate as much positive energy before departure. I started my training program in early September and this will go on until the 3rd week of November. The last two weeks are used for tapering so the body can stabilize and thereby avoid injury. I am cautious about my feet and knees especially. The training could have started better. In early september I became cold with a lung infection on top of it. This stopped me from training during 2½ weeks. In a 3 month program with no margins this isn’t ok, I was so stressed about this. Today I am ok in body flexibility, strength and mental capacity. I still need improvement in endurance and oxygen uptake. I just moved my training program into the endurance phase and initially it feels tough but I´m getting there! Aconcagua will require heavier packing in the backpack and I am testing my new Osprey 88L pack with 20 kg during 10km trek-races and the bag is BIG. Its so different compared to the earlier 33, 38 and 50L packs.  

The last 3 months we had a visitor in our home from Nepal. Pasang is a Nepaleese Sherpa girl from Beding in Rolwaling wanting to understand everything about a swedish home. Its a hughe contrast for her to experience Sweden, its so different to Beding and Kathmandu. She is used to trekking at 4000m-6000m with some 20-30kg backpacks and socks and sneakers on the feet. Comparing all the equipment I need makes me humble towards people like Pasang. Her visit has learnt me to view goals in life from a different angle – maybe goals aren´t always necessary? Maybe its possible to ju stay present in the present moment? Well, I´am  not there completely yet. Aconcagua will be an exciting experience not only in terms of the mountain but also the people during the expedition.

A great friend of mine and a fellow I admire was kind to borrow me an image from his expedition 🙂 : Photographer: Robin Trygg


Photographer: Robin Trygg