Aconcagua, Normal Route, Youngest Person to Ascend. On February 14, Tony Martin, Berkeley Tilton, Richard Garrett, and Ron Garrett reached the summit of Aconcagua by the normal route, the northwest ridge. The ascent was special in that Richard Garrett, at 14 years of age, became the youngest person to climb Aconcagua. After resting two days at Plaza de Mulas Superior, camps were placed at 16,000, 18,000, and 19,800 feet (Berlin). Each camp was occupied two nights for acclimatization. The summit was reached from Berlin in approximately eight hours. The Gran Canaleta was almost completely void of snow which made scrambling up the last few hundred feet to the summit an ordeal of sliding and slipping on loose rocks.

Ronald C. Garrett, Talkeetna, Alaska