What we believe, and why we work this way.
Handmade mountaineering since 2001. Twenty-five seasons in both Aconcagua valleys, in which we watched almost everything change: the prices, the rules, the number of people, the way the mountain is sold. Some things we are not going to change. These are they.
The mountain is not a product.
Mountaineering isn't consumed: it is prepared, walked and sometimes abandoned. Selling a summit as if it were a beach package is disrespectful to the mountain and to whoever climbs it.
The person who answers you is the person who climbs.
We started by climbing, not by selling. The people coordinating your expedition from Mendoza walked those valleys and slept in those camps. That's why we understand what you're asking before you finish explaining it.
We operate what we sell.
The mules are ours, the camps are ours, the high-altitude domes are ours and the people you'll see up there work with us. We don't resell someone else's mountain.
No two expeditions are alike.
Every group arrives with its own dates, experience, budget and mindset. We build each operation by hand, in conversation. It is more work for us and much better for you.
On the other end there is a person.
No call centre, no chain of forms, no three-day replies. You speak to the same person from the first message until you come down off the mountain. When you reach base camp, we know your name.
Safety is not traded for a summit.
When the viento blanco blows, you wait. When a body doesn't respond to altitude, you go down. No summit is worth more than the person attempting it, and no client is going to convince us otherwise.
The mountain has to stay accessible.
Aconcagua is a provincial park, a public asset. It worries us that climbing it is turning into a luxury. We work with competitive prices and without stacked commissions because we believe the mountain has to be within reach of the real mountaineer, not only of whoever can pay for a premium experience.
Behind every load there is a muleteer and a mule.
Controlled loads, compulsory rest between trips and veterinary checks on all 130 mules. Muleteers, porters and camp staff hired on formal terms, with gear provided. Our people come back season after season: that is the best audit there is.
Everything that goes in comes out.
Waste carried down by mule, effluent managed to Park protocol and camps struck without leaving a trace. The mountain is left as it was before we arrived.
The valley lives off the mountain too.
We buy in Mendoza, Uspallata and Penitentes. We hire local people. The expedition has to leave value in the valley, not only in the city.
We are a family company and we don't want to stop being one.
Eduardo Raggio, a climber since 1973, founded Pared Sur in 2001 and the family is still at the head of it. We decided to grow and we did: today we have protocols, contracts, 130 mules and the capacity to run groups from all over the world. But we are still a house. Nobody should have to choose between being treated well and having the operation work: the two go together or neither is worth anything.
The Raggio familyPuente del Inca, MendozaSince 2001
If this sounds like what you're after, let's talk.
Tell us about your project: a summit, a trek or a whole group that needs logistics. A person will answer you, today.