Cerro Mercedario expedition in 12 days

Cerro Mercedario is a challenging objective for those who love extreme mountain expeditions. EPGAMT certified guide Gabriel is happy to guide you there.

Andes

12 Days

Jan - Mar, Dec

High

Intermediate

Description

Join me on this Cerro Mercedario expedition in 12 days to immerse yourself in one of the most beautiful mountains in Argentina.

In the Southwestern face of the province of San Juan, in Argentina, you will find the awesome Cerro Mercedario. It is one of the five high peaks of a powerful mountain range known as “Cordón de la Ramada”, the biggest glacier valley of the region with summits that reach to 6000 meters of height. And I’ll happily guide you up to its amazing summit.

It will be an unforgeable 12-day mountaineering experience across this valley that will show you the best secrets inside The Ramada Range: lakes, glaciers, waterfalls and trek activities.

And as always I take special attention to your acclimatization progress. So We’ll go at your pace and leave some extra days in case of bad weather or of you need to rest some more.

So send me a request if you are interested in this Cerro Mercedario expedition in 12 days, and get ready to discover a remote and pristine mountain in the Ramada range. You won’t regret it!

And if you are looking for another great adventure in San Juan, please also check my Summit in the Ramada Range, San Juan.

Price includes

Accommodation included
Guiding fee
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Transport during the trip
Transportation start and back
Tents
Snacks

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival

We get together in the morning in San Juan, where we check the equipment and solve last minute details for the expedition. Transfer from the airport to the hotel.

Day 2: Transfer and first hike

A transfer will take us from San Juan to a small Andean town called Barreal. We will get to Refuge Laguna Blanca, at 3100 meters of height.

Day 3: Hike to Laguna Blanca

Hike to Laguna Blanca with the help of our porters. It is a beautiful lagoon at 3200 meters. Then we will camp and go back to Refuge Laguna Blanca.

Day 4: Hike to Cuesta Blanca

We will walk for about 3 hours to our next point: Cuesta Blanca at 4200 meters.

Day 5: Hike to Pirca de Indios and down

Together with our porters, we will ascend to Pirca de Indios, a glaciar zone at 5150 meters. After that, we will go back to Cuesta Blanca.

Day 6: Move to Pirca de Indios

We’ll hike to camp 2, Pirca de Indios, in order to continue with the ascent.

Day 7: Hike to La Ollada

We’ll move to the camp 3, La Ollada, at 5700 meters.

Day 8: Summit day

We will finally get to the summit of the marvelous Cerro Mercedario at 6720 meters! After celebrating our goal and taking some pictures, we’ll return to La Ollada.

Day 9 to 11: Extra days

Back up days in case of any problem that might alter the described program, or if we need to wait for good weather conditions or get a better acclimatization.

Day 12: Descent

We’ll hike down to Laguna Blanca and back to Barreal or San Juan city.

Details

More info

-This expedition can also be done in 16 days. The price for this is: 1pax: US$ 6100 / 2pax: US$ 4180 / 3pax: US$ 3300.

Meeting point

About the guide

Gabriel

5.0

(11)

Mountain Guide

I am an EPGAMT guide from San Juan, Argentina.

I am a fanatic of high mountains ice climbing and trad and sport rock climbing, and I know the Argentinean Andes because I've been climbing and guiding since 2001.

I worked mostly in the Central Andes (Aconcagua, Mercedario, all the summits in Ramada Range and Ansilta Range, Vallecitos Range), but also know and work in the Argentinean North West Atacama Region (Pissis, Bonete Chico, Llullaillaco, Antofalla, Nevado de Cachi etc), and in Patagonia, where I climbed the main needles and mountains, such as Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy Massif (including some new routes also in the main summits in the area).

I am a lover of technical ascent, rocky or icy, with a lot of experience guiding and climbing, so you can decide whatever mountain and route you would like to climb, from easy walking treks, rapps, and rockclimbing tours around San Juan City (where I live), to Ice climbing and rock climbing routes in all the Argentinean Andean including winter ascent to the highest Argentinean Mountains!!!

I have also climbed around Spain, Marruecos, Peru, Bolivia, Brasil and Chile.

Languages

English

Certificates

EPGAMT

Request more information

What people are saying about this trip

Kevin

El Cerro Mercedario is a fascinating mountain in the Central Andes, neighbour of Aconcagua, America's summit. It's a similar proposal, but much more wild.

Harry

We went to Mercedario in December. The expedition went extremely well - from picking us up at a different airport as originally planned, to the transportation to Laguna Blanca, the expedition, picking us up afterwards, the hotel "El Aleman" in Barreal (which is outstanding, with a fabulous German owner, and ideal after an expedition for many reasons) to dropping us off in San Juan. Everyone involved (including Anibal, who is a great guy and had also excellent information about Argentina in general) was very friendly, helpful and professional. The communication with Gabi was excellent and always prompt.   Weny is a very good and experienced guide, has been very concerned about our wellbeing, had always had good information about the weather and the ideal time frame to summit and made solid decisions. She is very friendly and helpful and made sure we know everything important to stay healthy and avoid altitude sickness. Her English is very good, she kept reminding us to drink enough, and did her best to provide us with good food, which was very important.    We would certainly not have been able to reach the summit without her guidance, especially as we would not have not know, how to best acclimatize and not having been able to judge the all important wind conditions on both highcamps and the summit day appropriately.

Justin

Gabriel and Weny are two great guides and know very well the region. They did their best so I could reach the summit. Thanks!