Our story
Half a century of the Andes in one family. Twenty-five seasons in both Aconcagua valleys. It is still the same house.
The story of Pared Sur begins in 1973, when Eduardo Raggio started climbing. Those were different times on Aconcagua: few expeditions, no infrastructure and a lot of learning on the go. Eduardo learned his trade on that mountain, season after season, and became one of the climbers who shaped mountaineering history in Mendoza.
In 1985 he guided the Club Andinista Mendoza's 50th anniversary expedition up the Normal Route. At the ice bridge, the mule carrying LV10's broadcast equipment slipped and fell into the river. Eduardo jumped into the water, caught it fifty metres downstream and rescued the equipment. Thanks to that, the expedition could be broadcast and Mendoza followed it on the radio.
He was also part of the first crossing of the Andes on touring skis, among many other expeditions that made him a pioneer of the mountain.
Pared Sur grew out of that experience. In 2001 Eduardo opened the first bar on Aconcagua at Plaza de Mulas, and it is still open today. Everything else grew from there: the mules, the camps, the high-altitude domes, the kitchens, the guides.
In time Javier, his son, took over. Today he is our CEO and runs operations and infrastructure: the camps, the high-altitude domes, the mules and all the logistics that hold up what happens inside the Park. He decides what gets built, what gets repaired and how each season is run.
We are a family company with structure. We decided to grow, and we grew: our own base camps at Confluencia, Plaza de Mulas and Plaza Argentina, high-altitude domes at three altitudes, 130 mules, guides, cooks, porters and an office in Mendoza that coordinates groups from all over the world and works in three languages.
Growing forced us to professionalise: protocols, contracts, schedules, formally hired staff, veterinary checks, waste management. None of that is negotiable. What is also not negotiable is the other side: that there is a person with a name on the other end, that the bread is kneaded up there, that people come back season after season and that every expedition is still put together in conversation.
More than fifty years after Eduardo first started climbing, we still do mountaineering the same way. That is why, for us, welcoming you is also a way of honouring our legacy.
Since 2001
In 2001 Eduardo Raggio opened the first bar on Aconcagua at Plaza de Mulas. Twenty-five seasons later it is still a compulsory stop for anyone climbing the Normal Route.
In numbers
We are not middlemen. Every mule, every dome and every person you'll see on the mountain works for us.
How we work, in four words.
A family house with the technical structure of a company. Every operation is put together by hand, in conversation: which package, how many days, how much portering, which domes. No expedition comes out of a mould and no system decides for us.
On the other end there is a person with a name, and it is always the same one. When you reach base camp, we know who you are.
Moving dates, adding portering, sending mules ahead, extending nights at altitude, changing base camp. If it can be done on the mountain, we accommodate it. Nobody is going to tell you the system won't allow it.
We answer the same day. Daily weather report, radio between Mendoza and the high-altitude domes, and a closing report when you come down.
Responsible operation
Muleteers, porters and camp staff hired on formal terms, with gear provided and loads within established limits. Much of our team comes back season after season.
Everything that goes in comes out: waste carried down by mule, effluent managed to Park protocol and camps struck without leaving a trace.
We work with suppliers from Mendoza, Uspallata and Penitentes. The expedition has to leave value in the valley, not only in the city.
Controlled loads per mule, rest respected between trips and veterinary checks on all 130. Luis, our head muleteer, runs it, with one of the best animal welfare records in the Park. The oldest trade on Aconcagua, applied to the care of the animal and not only to the load.
Let's start
Tell us when you plan to enter the Park and who you're coming with. We answer the same day, with a concrete proposal and a person with a name on the other end. The way it used to be done, and the way we still do it.
