3 Bengal climbers conquer Mt Aconcagua and Ojos del Salado
Times of India | 3 February 2025
123 Kolkata: Three climbers from West Bengal made it to the summit of Mount Aconcagua—the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, and Ojos Del Salado—the highest volcanic mountain in the world. While the three of them reached the peak at 22,838 ft around 12 noon on Jan 22, the same team summited Ojos Del Salado on Jan 29.
Mount Aconcagua, the second highest after Mount Everest, is one of the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.Budget 2025 UpdatesIncome Tax Slabs Budget 2025 Live: How much income tax will middle class taxpayers save? FM Sitharaman's big tax announcements decodedNew vs old income tax regime after Budget 2025: Post income tax slab changes, which tax regime is better for salaried middle class taxpayers?Latest income tax slabs FY 2025-26Known for challenges like exposure, altitude, extreme cold, and lack of resources, Aconcagua has a high rate of fatalities. The number of deaths has earned notoriety for the mountain as a Mountain of Death.
Abir Hudait (36), a software professional and climber from Ghatal, started from Los Penitentes, the border area between Argentina and Chile, on Jan 11. "We reached the base camp on Jan 17. We decided to ferry the load, kept our luggage at Camp I, and came back. That helped us to acclimatise to the weather conditions. We rested at the base camp for a day before we started to climb," Hudait said over the phone from the base camp.
Fast-changing weather conditions are the biggest hurdle for climbers at Mount Aconcagua. "Blizzards, high winds, and snowfall throughout the day are common features here. It makes a climber depressed and indecisive. The challenge is to accept the weather conditions and use the window in between blizzard conditions," said Hudait.
The team of four climbers reached Camp II on Jan 19 and started for Camp III the next day. "In Aconcagua, a climber should set out for the summit push on the day he reaches Camp III. We followed that same schedule," said Jagabandhu Manna (34), also a software professional from Bagnan. Both Hudait and Manna climbed the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in 2023.
As the four members of the team were nearly 100 metres away from the summit, one of the climbers, Arpita Patra, started feeling unwell. "She is an experienced climber and summited Mount Kilimanjaro last year. But weather conditions took a toll on her this time," recounted Chirag Chatterjee (37), a resident of Naihati. Chatterjee reached Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse in 2023.
After they came down from Aconcagua, the team set out for Ojos Del Salado, the highest volcanic mountain at Copiapo, Chile. "We were not sure of giving a shot to Ojos Del Salado as team members were tired and we didn't take any rest. But we decided to climb the mountain after we came down. We made it to the summit on Jan 29 at 12.45 pm," Hudait said.