Mt Elbrus or Aconcagua?

[ylingli]

If you were to choose between Mt Elbrus or Aconcagua, which would you choose and why? Thanks in advance for all responses!!!

[climbing_rob]

Having done both, definitely Aconcagua. Much more beautiful and more of a physical challenge. Elbrus was fun (I climbed it twice), but Aconcagua was a blast (heading back for a 2nd time next winter).

[jbchalk]

With Rob on this one for total experience of the trip - Argentine culture and the mountain. However, you can ski Elbrus and downtown Moscow afterwards is pretty darn fun. Getting a VISA though is not fun.

[12ersRule]

Haven't been up either, but given recent current events, Aconcagua is the clear choice.

[RobertKay]

I think you have created a limiting choice (and possibly for a personal reason you don't elaborate on here). I didn't enjoy Aconcagua - I found it cold, windy, dusty and not particularly attractive. Elbrus is fun because you can ski it but Russia is not a good choice for trips right now (IMHO). What about all the other beautiful peaks out there that are also fun and don't have the drama?

Nepal is an easy option. It's inexpensive, beautiful, incredibly different from the US and the mountains are amazing. The Himalayas are the biggest, baddest mountains on the planet; that counts for a lot in my book.

France (Chamonix being my only experience) is super fun. Mont Blanc is great and there is a ton of great peaks in the area plus many are skiable. Of course there is also Switzerland, Italy, Austria, etc.

Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia all have great climbing plus interesting cultures.

One easy way to find ideas is to look at places the guiding companies run trips to. They are very experienced and knowledgeable and since it is there business they try to choose the best destinations while maintaining safety, reasonable logistics and affordable prices.

[herdbull]

I'm partial to Aconcagua myself mostly because I haven't climbed Elbrus I had plenty of days in Mendoza and found it to be a very nice, friendly place with tons of culture to soak up and wine to drink if you want to. It's also fairly easy to get to having an airport right there.

The weather was also awesome that time of year (climbing season) in Mendoza. I just had an all around great experience and highly recommend the trip if someone is interested.

As for the views......... I thought they were alright.

[uwe]

Aconcagua - Vacas Valley route.

[Scott P]

Since many people are weighing in on Aconcagua, maybe I'll weigh in a little about what I thought about Elbrus.

For me, the attraction of Elbrus wasn't Elbrus itself, but the views of the surrounding mountains from Elbrus. Elbrus is just a big volcano, but the mountains around it are very spectacular, some of the most spectacular in the world. Here is a shot that was taken on our trip:



Elbrus will be cheaper and take less time, but getting a visa is sort of a pain. The camps at least on the south side were pretty dirty. The Caucasus Mountains in general though are very spectacular. If I went back, I'd probably climb something other than Elbrus since there are a lot of spectacular mountains down there.

[SarahT]

My advice would be neither. The 7 summits are so overcrowded it feels like you're at Disney World. At least that's how I felt on Acon and I wasn't even there during a "busy" time of the season. There are so many other awesome peaks in the world.

[MountainHiker]

On Elbrus you can avoid the crowds and the filth by going to the less travelled north side. There will be other parties, but nothing like the south side. You’ll have to pack up to a high camp instead of riding a chair lift and then having a cat ride. Guide Yuri & I had the summit to ourselves. But then after all the activity along the way on Aconcagua, my partner & I had Aconcagua summit to ourselves also.

Although Scott found Elbrus to be cheaper than Aconcagua, that won’t be the case if you add Moscow & St Petersburg tours. We knew it would likely be our only trip to Russia so we stayed for another week after the mountain. If you speak and read Russian you could probably save some money compared to us. But having a private tour guide made for very efficient travel through the historic sites. In St Petersburg especially there seemed to be a private tour guide gets to jump the line policy that saved us a bunch of wait time. Just be prepared to hemorrhage money for the privilege.

[scalba123]

My advice would be neither. The 7 summits are so overcrowded it feels like you're at Disney World. At least that's how I felt on Acon and I wasn't even there during a "busy" time of the season. There are so many other awesome peaks in the world.

Could you please provide some suggestions? I'm going to Kilimanjaro in May and wonder what would be my next awesome experience. The other seven summits really aren't on my bucket list. Thanks for providing any ideas.

[geojed]

My advice would be neither. The 7 summits are so overcrowded it feels like you're at Disney World. At least that's how I felt on Acon and I wasn't even there during a "busy" time of the season. There are so many other awesome peaks in the world.

Could you please provide some suggestions? I'm going to Kilimanjaro in May and wonder what would be my next awesome experience. The other seven summits really aren't on my bucket list. Thanks for providing any ideas.

Lots of fun stuff in Bolivia (Cordillera Real) or Peru (Cordillera Blanca), Ecuador volcanoes...