10 reasons to choose us

Family and Local company

We are a family and local company, in love with our province and the Aconcagua , we attend to each of our clients as friends. Our relationship with the client is always personal, straightforward, loyal and affective.

Our task is strongly motivated and directed towards the attainment of your goal to reach the summit, but we are also thrilled to meet new people and to do as much as we can so you can leave us with the best memories of our country and of our people.

Of the 5 brothers, Sebastián, Pablo, Gerardo and Florencia reached the peak of the Aconcagua for the first time at the age of 16. Before that age, we had already ascended peaks, higher than 5.000 and 6.000 m, we also have experience climbing mountains in other parts of the world.

Sebastián is the Guide Leader and Main Manager of the company, despite of 32 years of age, he has peaked the Aconcagua more than 25 times and knows all the valley routes and paths like the palm of his hand. His experience as a professional Guide and international climber has allowed him to develop the logistic and technologic aspect that come together to guarantee total safety and service quality hard to overcome.

Pablo is the Responsible Coordinator at the Regional Penitentes Center and he carries out all logistics and control at this strategic point. This is where he receives your equipment and assures its correct packing and then sends it by mule so you can find it once you are on the mountain.

On the other hand, Federico, Net and Telecommunications specialist, is who holds together all the computer and communications technology, in permanent update.

Florencia, the older sister and the only woman is also an experimented climber and helps assist the logistics of the Base Camps and is in charge of many other managing and control tasks on the mountain.

Our parents, Angel and Violeta, permanently monitor and coordinate the hotel and transportation procedures, they receive our clients, perfect the contractual and financial aspects in Mendoza , they are also in charge of meals and food provision for the camps and supplies in a daily manner.

We have friends all over the world and this is most important for us.

Backup and experience

We are the best and most efficient Guide service company on the Aconcagua , we have provided logistic services to over 300 hundred expeditions in the last years and, during the last season, we have provided services to more than 40 expeditions

We are the first local company to organize guided expeditions, open to all climbers of the world and we have guided more than 150 complete expeditions to the summit.

Sebastián Tetilla, Main Guide and general manager of our company, is one of the founding members of the Chamber of Service Providers of the Provincial Aconcagua Park and, is one of the founding members of the Argentine Association of Professional Mountain Guides.

We dispose of the insurance and authorization necessary to run a Tourism company nationally, registered at the National Ministry of Tourism (EVT File Nº 11193) and at the Provincial Subministry of Tourism (File Nº 529). We can offer all institutional guarantees.

When you join one of the INKA Expedition groups you receive all the support and back up of our organization and all its links.

An INKA Guide is permanently interconnected with guides from other groups of our company and with the system of Forest Rangers and the Rescue Patrol, moving simultaneously on the mountain. The Guide receives permanent, precise and updated weather and route information, he also receives immediate help under any eventuality. This cooperation is necessary during emergencies.

The expeditionary group is assisted by our camp personnel, mule drivers, carriers , managers, assistants and other people linked to the company in a coordinated way. All our staff is has experience and are simultaneously at different points on the mountain, organizing an efficient work net around the mountain, complementing each other in their work and backing each other up.

Our Regional Operations Center in Penitentes links all those operations and offers logistic and reception services, load interchange and dispatch at the base of the mountain range and carries out all necessary adjustments for a harmonious expedition. The logistic backup is crucial at this point of the schedule.

All this is supported by the constant and permanent monitoring 24 hours a day, from our Central Office and our homes in downtown Mendoza . In case of emergencies, besides using our own resources, we cooperate with all the governmental organisms to resolve these problems. We have agreements with Medical Service Centers of high complexity and quality, specialized in mountain contingencies and the experience in treating with international insurance companies.

Many times and for various reasons some passengers misplace their passports. This is not a problem for an INKA client, because all the communication and transportation mechanisms are put to work so the client can go on with his purpose of reaching the peak, meanwhile, we stay in charge of the consular procedures so you do not lose a minute of your expedition.

We own our own facilities, vehicles, mules, infrastructure and all equipment required for all services. For many years we have worked with an adequate and responsible staff and we carry out all official controls and have the most experience as Aconcagua specialists.

Concept of total Safety

The concept of total safety is strongly established at INKA. We are a family company that started with an effective practice of mountaineering as our favorite sport and, as fervent climbers, we manage our company with a natural sense of safety over all things.

We mainly focus on safety and this is why we hire the best guides, we have designed a tested and corrected climbing and approach program , we invest in communications and we use our own mules, with expert mule drivers, born and raised in The Andes.

We also exclusively hire modern and enabled units for land transportation, with professional drivers, with years of experience on mountain roads.

We personally control our own equipment and the equipment of the climbers, permanently guarding the quality and amount of food, subjecting it to all environmental, animal health and work safety controls, required by governmental organisms.

Above all things, we leave nothing in strangers hands or outside or foreign to our sport, company and family prestige, recognized in this environment.

We pay special attention to the contingency plans for search, rescue and evacuation if any health problem should occur. The routines and plans have been tested successfully and have been carried out with total success in when they have been needed.

We guarantee Total Safety with: our planning, experience, early detection of symptoms, immediate treatment of Acute Mountain Sickness, a profound knowledge of the Aconcagua and of human behavior in risk situations.

Many times we have succeeded in avoiding the consequences produced from freezing, edemas in the lungs and brain and other traumas and disorders, sometimes irreversible that are a risk with this sport. This has been obtained because of the efficient radioelectric intercommunication with all the organisms and systems cooperating and joining in emergencies.

The Camps, Management and Tracking Posts, Forest Rangers, Rescue Teams, Police, special transportation, Medical Guards and specialized accident Institutes are all immediately on alert and start working for all INKA Expeditions requirements.

For cooperation and prevention under any inconvenient situation in the provision of official services, we have predesigned our own search and rescue plans, primary attention and emergency evacuation.

We have our own facilities for first aid and emergency medication at the camps, besides the guides are permanently transporting first aid kits for group attention, provided with appropriate medications of immediate application and especially with oxymeters for the permanent control of oxygen saturation in blood and the preventive revision of cardiac pulses.

Adding to all this, the company owns Hiperbaric Chambers at Base Camps, new and exclusive for our clients.

We also dispose of our own tame mules and expert mule drivers, in case you need an emergency descent for medical reasons or in the case the official helicopter is unavailable.

The integral communications system, we already described, is on alert 24 hours, contributing efficiently to coordinate all necessary operations to guarantee a happy ending under any circumstance you might have to face.

The day you reach the summit is the most important day for us. All our guides have a full understanding of the individual response of different organisms to all demands during this journey, their care and recommendations will help you be in the best conditions possible to confront the last effort that will take you to the top.

The concept of total safety is our obsession and it is what makes your expedition successful.

The best guides

The guide is the key to safety and success in your expedition, he will personally attend to your needs on the mountain. He will be by your side the whole time, checking the equipment, securing the ropes, assuring the tightness of the crampons, looking after your nourishment and, most importantly, controlling your hydration and the correct regulation of your energy consumption, adapting your physical conditions the best way possible to the height.

The loss of a glove, sunglasses or other elements can seriously endanger your possibilities to reach the peak but, if something like this happened, the guide would solve your problem and, in emergencies where first aid or other health cares are needed, he will be there for immediate attention.

All our guides are experimented and highly qualified professionals, with degrees and licenses from organisms that guarantee their special training. They are graduates from the Provincial School for Mountain and Trekking Guides (EPGAMT), the only school that specializes on the Aconcagua , accredited in the Argentine Association for Mountain Guides (AAGM) and they are members of the AGPMT, the Association for Professional Mountain and Trekking Guides. Some of these guides are also licensed at the UIGAM.

These men are local guides which makes their knowledge of this ground insuperable, they have covered every access of the Aconcagua many times, they have a superlative theoretical and practical knowledge on the particular behavior and conditions of the microclimate.

This singularity allows them to take precautions against hard snowfall and low clouds that unable vision protecting you, in time, of gushes and the intense cold, produced by the fearsome "white wind".

The Professional INKA Expedition guides have reached the peak of the Aconcagua at least 10 times and, many of them, more than 20 times. They back this up with international experience on mountains from other parts of the world, their knowledge of the English language and other languages, their leadership techniques, all facilitate your normal integration to the climbing group.

The services our Guides carry out with quality and safety standards are carefully selected, knowing the life of the climber depend on their training and experience. They have first aid training for inhospitable areas and for attending health problems originated from exposure to the cold and altitude.

We are the best Guides of the Aconcagua and this offers you safety and guarantees the best chances of success if you join one of our expeditions.

Climbing programs with experience

As we have already said, the success of our company is based on our own experience as climbers, we are athletes, managing a service company for other athletes, we understand the "know how", like no one else.

We have developed our programs with a philosophy of constant improvement, meaning that every expedition for us is another opportunity to evaluate the results and correct any detail that will improve our next ascent.

We have developed our programs with a philosophy of constant improvement, meaning that every expedition for us is another opportunity to evaluate the results and correct any detail that will improve our next ascent.

More than 12 years of programmed ascensions and the collective experience of our guides, adding up to more than 150 expeditions to the peak of the Aconcagua , have allowed a perfect adjustment of the procedure.

We are perfectly aware of the time demanded by the participants to achieve a correct acclimatization and the amount of days and schedule variation possibilities to be able reach the summit.

The acclimatization is the adaptation of the human organism to the height, because of the minor oxygen saturation in the air and to avoid this problem, we count on a minimum of three days of successive approaches, ascents and descents.

We rigorously apply the worldwide motto for the climber that says: "sleep low and climb high".

 We pay special attention to the ascent between 3.000 and 3.500 meters because this is where the body acclimatization demands are the highest. We practice a "double porting system" climbing up and going back down to the high camps, allowing a natural production of red cells in blood, for transporting the highest amount of oxygen to the brain.

This also allows us to avoid large loads while we ascend, which would result in an important loss of energy.

It is proven that in arid areas like the Aconcagua , above 5.500 m, the energy use is higher than the adaptation obtained, this is why we avoid spending too much time on this level.

Some expedition companies, accustomed to the predominant conditions of other mountain areas on the planet, do not pay attention to these facts. They subject their clients to acclimatization plans that may do very well in the Himalayas , but not here.

Others, used to guiding on lower peaks, like Ecuador , Peru , Europe , the mountains in North America and Africa , do not pay attention to the special cares the acclimatization demands on the highest peak of America .

All our guides and assistants are locals and specialized on the Aconcagua and our schedules and routines have been specially programmed to confront the singular climatic and height conditions you will find on this mountain.

Other climbing plans that look serious can lead you to an erroneous acclimatization scheme, losing your chance to reach the peak and also suffering undesirable and, many times, irreversible consequences for your health. You will surely avoid these problems joining INKA Expeditions.

Coordinated transportation

The design of our expeditions is based on the concept "from airport to airport", meaning that all transportation movements and necessities are coordinated and managed keeping in mind a personalized, planned and permanently monitored attention, in the outline of a global program.

You will not have to worry about rates, reservations, schedules, etc, normally a burden for the common traveler. You will neither have to bear with annoyance, discussions or other problems due to unexpected prices or finding out when it is too late that the conditions are inferior conditions than the services you agreed on.

You will not be sorry for losing equipment, losing time or other take backs originated from inexperience, irresponsibility, ignorance of the language or other inefficiencies you find in improvised, unskilled and unscrupulous providers, unethical and not subject to official controls, you might find here or in any other part of the world.

A representative for INKA will be waiting for you when you get off the plane and, if necessary, he will assist you in the airport if you have problems with your luggage. He will take you to your hotel in a private vehicle, organizing this for each flight and, after arranging permits, transports you to the mountain hotel with your luggage in comfortable and modern vehicles, exclusive for this kind of expedition.

At the mountain hotel, your climbing equipment is separated and properly tied up and is transported with our own mules up to the Base Camps.

There is no way the equipment can break or get lost because the mule transportation is done with strong and perfectly adapted animals of our own property, ridden by mule drivers and expert helpers, born and raised in this mountain area and that have been working loyally and exclusively for INKA Expeditions for years.

Our company does not depend on other mule services and is not subject to outside availability.

Since the mountain equipment is crucial for success in the expedition, we take no risks in letting people outside our company handle it. The transportation of the equipment, with exclusive destination and coordination for each expedition, is also controlled at all times by very experimented personnel, in whom we put all our trust.

Because we respect animal life and to guarantee your safety, we do not overburden our animals, we assign a mule driver every three mules and we never make a mule repeat this journey without the proper resting days. We guarantee your equipment will be waiting for you once you arrive to the camp, in perfect conditions and safeguarded by our men in charge.

You will be transferred from the Hotel Ayelén, to any of the entrances of the Aconcagua Park , starting points for hikes, with your walking backpacks, in vehicles prepared for hard roads. The same thing is done for the return.

The drivers are very experimented and are trained for driving on mountain roads, will be attentive to any requirements, stopping the vehicle in case of dizziness, sickness or simply to see the sights or to take pictures.

If you need to return, in case of an emergency or any other circumstance, out of the programmed date, we can organize this through our communications system.

A good nourishment

INKA Expeditions include two dinners in town, dinner at the restaurant at the Ayelen mountain Hotel and all camp meals for the integrated groups that carry out the agreed schedule.

We pay special attention to the meals we prepare and serve; during hikes, at base camps and at high altitude camps, meaning that all meals depend on our preparation and direct service on the mountain.

We expect the menus proportioned during the expedition to be balanced in calories and carbohydrates, putting our highest effort in making every dish abundant, tasty and well served. If you are a vegetarian or have a special diet, that depends on your religious beliefs or that need special preparation, all you have to do is inform us in advance to be able to attend to these differences.

The cooks have been working for INKA for many years now and agree with our philosophy in believing that our client is a friend.

We count on a permanent provision of vegetable, fruits, cereals, eggs, cold cut, meat, cheese products that arrive fresh and in perfect conditions because they are transported almost every day from the city and immediately sent up with our mules, without interrupting the cold chain.

At the INKA camps you always have cold and hot water, also juices, tea, coffee, soups and broths. These liquids are available at any time to help your hydration.

The meals are accompanied by excellent wines from Mendoza and when you come down, there will be cold champagne in honor of your success.

Comfortable lodging

Our program includes comfortable hotels in the City of Mendoza . We look out for your safety and comfort so you can stay concentrated on achieving your goal. The hotel are placed in a priviledged area from where you are at a walking distance of the main city sites.

You will be staying in modern buildings, with bilingual personnel who have experience working with international travelers, offering you breakfast, air conditioning, cable TV in your room, internet, bar and everything you need to make your stay in the city a nice one.

Once on the mountain, following the preferences of the climbers in the last years, we have selected Penitentes Villa as our lodging point. This Ski Center is placed between Horcones and Punta de Vacas, the two entrances to the Aconcagua Provincial Park , where you will be staying at the Ayelen Hotel, the best choice for this area. Inka Expeditions has a Regional Operations Center where one of its owners ( Pablo Tetilla ) offers his permanent, personalized attention and expert counseling.

If you wish to change options or to stay longer, in the city or on the mountain, we can arrange all your reservations, offering you differential prices.

While you go through hiking and acclimatization, you will be lodged in our own camps on locations previously conditioned. They are well located areas, all four of them in permitted areas of the Aconcagua : Confluencia, Plaza de Mulas, Pampa de Leñas and Plaza Argentina.

The camps are meeting, resting, preparation and acclimatization points, prior to the superior levels that will take you to the summit. Here there are trained staff, who receive and dispatch the equipment brought by mules, prepare meals, communications and general services to attend to your needs.

For meal, kitchen, deposit and latrine services, we have structural domes at your disposal, prepared for withstanding strong winds, snow and any climatic eventuality that could occur. Due to their singular geodesic conformation, they offer more safety and their original design, extra comfort.

The Base Camps count on electric light provided by modern solar panels, the kitchen and the heating is provided by gas, transported regularly by our mules. The water is pure, from defrost and is provided by an appropriate hose and recipient system.

At our camps, you will be able to enjoy good music, comfortable couches, camping tables, chairs and stools are always ready for breakfast and other meals. You will always find kitchenware and all the elements necessary for table serving.

The sleeping tents are new and of the best brands (The North Face, Marmot, Mnt Hardle, etc..) all connected and placed on leveled ground and joint areas. Inside the tents you will find a mat (uncommon in mountain camps), making your rest a more comfortable and repairing one.

What stands out the most is the personalized attention; cooks, camp managers, helpers, carriers, radio, telephone and internet operators. They will always be at your disposition, ready to attend your requirements.

In spite of their youth, our staff are all very responsible professionals and experts, always receiving you with a smile on their face.

Integrated communication

A complete integrated communications system stands out at our company, guaranteeing the correct coordination of all operations.

Our idea is that all members involved in an INKA expedition must be permanently informed on the whereabouts of each client and their equipment. We also inform the necessities of each camp, the products needed for each meal, the fuel, batteries for energy, mule availability, etc..

We also have VHF and HF equipment at each Base Camp on the mountain, at our mule Management Area at Puente del Inca and at all our Centers: Regional Operations in Penitentes and General Conduction in Mendoza , 24 hours a day. All this is complemented with the use of telephones in our buildings and cellular phones and 2 m transistor radios on our vehicles and our staff in movement. controlling and guarding, we have this equipment in our own homes.

The 2 meter transistor radios are fundamental when the expedition is at the highest level, through which our guide can permanently inform us on the whereabouts of each member of the group.

Our communications are coordinated with the frequencies of the Forest Rangers, Mendoza Police, Medical Emergency Service and connects the whole area with our staff of guides, camp managers, mule and equipment managers, vehicles and regional and zone coordinators and with the main center in downtown Mendoza.

The antennas are installed on structures we own, technically designed and strategically placed, to keep a permanent, strong and clear communication between all of us. At any time or place you find yourself you can, circumstantially, receive information from your home or job and also send messages. We also have a private e-mail service at your disposal, and at a convenient price.

If you wish to make an efficient and private telephone communication we also offer a global satellite telephone service through which you can attend to your business or contact your loved ones, in any part of the world, as if you were in your own office or home.

INKA is the first company to offer its own satellite telephone service in the Aconcagua Park .

The Best Price

Our constant concern is the balance between safety, quality and price. We are supportive of this sport, but competitive commercially. We always offer more at a fair price. We are satisfied knowing our clients around the world are happy with our prices and high quality services.

We offer the best prices on the market due to the unique comparative advantages you can count on.

We own our commercial premises and warehouses, our infrasturcture, facilities and equipment, logistic and transportation vehicles, also all antennas and other items and tools for communication.

We have developed our own information systems and data base through Internet and we possess our own satellite telephones.

Because of our commercial importance and prestige, we obtain the best rates for hotels, restaurants and transportation. Because we make use of our own mules, this influences our rates for camp equipment and supplies and our clients mountain equipment transportation.

The family management is also an additional economic advantage, joining efforts reduces unnecessary expenses; we save on rent and large and difficult administration systems, we are located at the base of the mountain, where we directly operate our own services, avoiding subcontracting that make prices increase.

Eliminating intermediaries makes the money we charge our clients transform directly into safer, mores trustworthy and higher quality services.

We are dedicated to offer you the best quality services at the most convenient prices, do not waste your time analyzing other options, focus on enjoying this experience the best you can, focus your energy on the peak and leave the organization in the hands of experts.

Conclusion

With INKA Expeditions services you will achieve your goal with complete safety and with additional advantages that will satisfy you.

You will be making the best investment in your adventure tourism project due to our prices that have no competition, our company backup, safety, service quality and fair prices, impossible to reach by other local or foreign companies.

To prove what we are saying here, we offer the testimony of clients from all over the world and if you decide to stand on the highest point of the Southern Hemisphere, the "Stone Sentinnel", stop your search and join one of our programmed expeditions.

CONCENTRATE ONLY ON THE ATHLETIC AND RECREATIVE ASPECTS OF YOUR NEXT OURNEY. CONTACT US.