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Three foreign climbers died in Aconcagua in the last week

2023-02-10T00:50:56.114Z


A Norwegian and two Americans have lost their lives on the highest mountain in America. The rescue teams have carried out 28 interventions in a month


Between November and March, the hottest months of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, hundreds of climbers try to reach the top of America, Aconcagua.

Three of them – two Americans aged 41 and 58 and a Norwegian 62 – have lost their lives in the last week on that imposing mountain, 6,962 meters high, located in the Argentine province of Mendoza.

More than twenty, in addition, have had to be evacuated in highly complex operations due to the altitude, extreme cold, wind and ice, according to police sources.

The three climbers broke down when they were more than 6,000 meters above sea level and although they were assisted with oxygen, they did not manage to survive.

American businessman, writer, and ex-military officer John Magness passed away on Saturday;

a day later the Norwegian Moi Oysten;

and this Tuesday the also American Anthony Simmans, the youngest of the three.

"There are accidents all over the mountain, but the most serious are those that occur at a higher altitude," explains Deputy Commissioner Marcos Páez, head of the Mountain Rescue and Assistance Patrol Unit (Upram) in the province of Mendoza, by phone.

Upram has a patrol in the Nido de Cóndores high camp, located 5,550 meters from Aconcagua, which ranges from two to four troops depending on the number of climbers there are.

The busiest months are December, January and February.

From that camp, in response to a call or an email for help, the rescuers take between six and seven hours to reach the summit and an average of between twelve and fifteen to make the way back, transporting the person who requires assistance on a stretcher. urgent medical.

In the last month they have carried out 28 interventions, details the deputy commissioner, including the recovery of the bodies of the deceased climbers.

According to Páez, some incidents are unpredictable, but in other cases they are linked to recklessness by climbers that endanger the entire group.

He believes that was the case for Simmans, who was traveling with another climber and a guide.

After 6,500 meters, the guide advised against continuing the ascent, but was unable to make them give up.

They made the summit, but soon after, as they began the descent, Simmans became unbalanced and his health began to deteriorate rapidly.

The guide assisted him with supplemental oxygen and dragged him to a safe area, at 6,600 meters, where they waited for the arrival of the rescue patrol.

Already at dawn, the 41-year-old American was placed on a stretcher and began the descent to the Independencia refuge, at 6,300 meters, in a high-risk operation due to the altitude, the extreme cold and the presence of ice and hard snow.

Simmans arrived without vital signs and resuscitation attempts failed.

Among the fatalities registered this year at the summits of the Andes mountain range in Argentina are also the Spaniards Iker Bilbao and Amaia Agirre, who died during the ascent to Fitz Roy, in Patagonia, when they were surprised by an avalanche of snow.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2023-02-10

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