The degree of support services is a very personal choice along a wide
continuum. Some may need a great deal of support simply to have the best
chance at the sumit. Others may be limited by funds. Still others may
choose to increase their chllenge by limiting the services they purchase.
My advice is to get the best and most extensive support you can find and
afford. A professional may be capable of carrying all his own gear to
every camp, cooking his own meals and finding his own route and still
arriving at the summit, but the rest of us will need all the help we can
get
- Tents - A high quality four season tent with plenty of poles and extra guy lines
is a must above base camp. If your guide service supplies personal tents at
base camp that can be left in place with some of your gear, that can be
convenient. A guide service should also include a semi-permanent communal tent
with chairs and tables for meals at base camp.
- Sanitation - Toilet service at Base Camp, and usually Confluencia as well
is included when you contract for mule transport. You must also carry out human
waste from higher camps. Porters will do that for you on most guided trips. The
hotel near base camp, and several vendors at base camp offer showers for $10.
Guide services may offer an occasional no-frills shower from a bucket of
heated water as part of their service.
- Guide - There are a wide variety of guides with different levels of experience
and different personalities. A good guiding company will usually assure a
quality guide. A responsible guide will adjust the pace of the trip to fit
the clients, within the limits that must be set for safety. A good guide will
keep his clients in sight. You may wish to talk with your guide before the
trip. You're going to be together for a lot of days in a row. There are local
guides, and international guide services. A local guide may be cheaper, and
international companies often subcontract much of the logistics to locals. An
international service may give you more peace of mind, but don't overlook the
locals. I have used and would recommend highly the services of
Grajales.
- Food - The more extensive the guide operation, the more likely you are to get
variety and quality in food. Major services will have a dedicated cook.
With small operations, the guide may double as the cook even in base camp.
Don't underestimate the value of appetizing food in keeping you healthy,
motivated and energetic.
- Transport - The most basic support is hiring mules to get your equipment to
base camp. Unless you're trying to set a speed record, the volume of food
and supplies you'll need likely preclude carrying everything yourself to base
camp. It costs $100 for a mule to carry up to 60kg to base camp.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can hire personal porters to
carry your sleeping bag and other gear to the high camps even on a guided
climb. This extra help can make a big difference at higher altitudes. The going
rate for porters is $80 for a carry to camp 1, $120 to camp 2 and $160 to
camp 3. The same prices apply for carries from those camps down to base camp.
Carries are for amounts up to 20kg. Since that will likely be more than the
weight of your personal gear, you may be able to split the cost with
another hiker in your group.
- Weather - Most guides will have either radio contact to support at Penitentes,
or will rely on weather reports supplied by the Internet cafe at Base Camp.
You can also get the reports yourself for a fee. Knowing the forecast before
moving to the high camps is essential. There is at least one concessioner
advertising free reports at base camp.
- Medical Checkup - There is a medical tent at Base Camp where an official
park doctor will give you a check up for free. They will also dispense some
drugs as needed, including antibiotics. If you are in bad shape they have
the power to order you off the mountain for your own safety. They are
very conservative in their approach, although they will defer to guides
they know well, if the guide promises to watch your condition closely. The
better guide services will also have some training that allows them to care
for high altitude medical problems. Most will carry a pulse oximeter, which
will measure the amount of oxygen in your blood, and your heart rate. These
are key diagnostics. Most guides will also carry basic first aid equipment
and drugs. Some guides will carry Dexamethasone for emergency treatment of
high altitude cerebral edema.
- Telecommunications. The hotel near base camp offers Internet for $5 per
15 minutes, but it's quite slow. They also have a phone booth where calling
the US costs about $0.50/min. The phone only accepts Argentinian coins, but
the hotel desk can make change for you.
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