Jan 18 | Introducing the Aconcagua Ultra Expedition

By The North Face

Expedition Team:
Diane Van Deren and The Benegas Brothers (Willie and Damian Benegas)

Expedition Duration:
January 22 - February 15, 2010

Expedition Location:
At 6,962 m (22,841 ft), Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas, and the highest mountain outside Asia. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza.

After Diane Van Deren won the world’s coldest, toughest footrace in 2009 - the 430-mile Yukon Arctic Ultra race - one might think she’d rest on her laurels. But that isn’t how this super-athlete, mother of three and overall role model is wired. In January 2010 she’ll attempt a record-shredding speed traverse of South America’s tallest peak, Aconcagua (22,841 feet).

Aconcagua is a massive volcanic mountain that is frequently blasted by a hurricane-force jetstream Argentineans call the “viento blanco,” or white wind. It’s a serious mountaineering objective that typically takes a climbing team three weeks to summit. Diane’s speed trek will climb up the “Polish Glacier” route on the East Face to the summit, and then she’ll head down the Northwest side of the mountain. Total distance will exceed 100 miles.

During Diane’s ascent, she’ll be monitored by the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, MN, by being hooked up to performance-tracking portable instruments. Medical science will focus not only on Diane’s athleticism, but also on her singularity as a survivor: In 1997 she underwent radical and risky brain surgery to cure epilepsy. Though she’d been a pro-tennis player in college and multi-sport expert, she found her Ultra running stride after that lobectomy removed a golf-ball sized piece of her brain. For Diane, running was the antidote to seizures. Whenever she felt the tingling sensation that signaled the onset of a seizure, she’d slip on her running shoes and hit the trail. Indeed, she never had a seizure while running, and she’s remained seizure-free since surgery. Running, she reports, puts her into a zone where time and distance evaporate; perhaps that’s the key to her prowess on so many 100-mile runs, like the recent Hard Rock Trail event in Colorado, on which she earned eighth place among the women’s division

On Aconcagua, she’ll join forces with The North Face® alpinists Willie and Damian Benegas. A decade ago, Willie set a world record by blitzing the peak in under 24 hours. This year, he’ll be a team member on Diane’s historic fusion of ultra running and alpinism.

Stay tuned to follow this team's journey.

Comments

[Paul]

Nice! There is nothing quite like that peak after training for months! This ultra looks like a MONSTER. I wish them well!

[Cindy Adams]

Looking forward to reading all of the updates. My brother-in-law and nephew are with the expedition. We wish the entire expedition a safe and sane climb. You're in our thoughts and prayers!

[air yeezy]

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[buy kamagra]

Inspiring. The other challenge for purifying the mind is to live in a 10 sq m hut [10'x10' or 100 sq ft]. Then all 100 items in there would make you want to pare down even further. It seems hard to imagine, but if we could, we can see how peaceful it would be compared to what we normally do - hmmm ??? Why do we do this, anyway?!?

Thanks for bringing us to a modern day Walden Pond.

Inspiring. The other challenge for purifying the mind is to live in a 10 sq m hut [10'x10' or 100 sq ft]. Then all 100 items in there would make you want to pare down even further. It seems hard to imagine, but if we could, we can see how peaceful it would be compared to what we normally do - hmmm ??? Why do we do this, anyway?!?

Thanks for bringing us to a modern day Walden Pond.

[San Diego LASIK eye surgery]

Good luck guys! I will be out there next month if the weather holds.