Aconcagua Guides

Juan has over 20 years of experience as a professional mountain guide, and has lead successful expeditions for Alpine Ascents since 2020. Today, he is one of the most respected guides on Aconcagua, with more than 45 summits on his resume. He is well-known in the local climbing community for his undeniable professional skills and outstanding climbing resume. Additionally, he is a highly regarded teacher (lecturing at the famed Provincial Mountain School) with a unique capacity to pass on his broad knowledge, and has helped develop some of the best guides in Argentina over the last 25 years. Juan has worked and trained in the Pacific Northwest, and has climbed Denali alongside our Alpine Ascents Senior Staff. Outside of his mountain activities, he also works in tourism, organizing outdoor activities all around the province for companies and local leaders. In his limited free time, he is fully dedicated to educating...

Grant grew up in the backwoods of Arkansas surrounded by nature. This instilled a love and appreciation for the outdoors at a young age. His time was mostly spent climbing, fishing, hunting and paddling around the natural state. With a love for travel, and a desire to see more of the world, he enrolled in a NOLS course in the Winter of 2017. This experience inspired Grant to make a career out of the thing he loves most in life, enjoying the outdoors and spreading that joy to others. Grant went on to graduate from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Recreation & Sports Management. He currently resides in Teton Valley, Idaho, where he spends most of his time climbing, skiing, and enjoying the outdoors as he always has. Take 5 with the Guide If you could only take one album on an expedition… Bon Iver/ Bon Iver...

Born in the province of Buenos Aires, Ezequiel immersed himself in the wonders of nature from a young age. He pursued a career in physical education and teaching, before making the conscious decision to merge his interests in mountains and education. Now guiding with Alpine Ascents, Ezequiel is based out of the southern region of Mendoza and has spent over 8 years as a seasoned professional mountain guide. Best known for his passion to create natural experiences tailored for diverse groups, his extensive travels and ascents have taken him across the breathtaking peaks of Patagonia, and Peru, as well as some of the highest mountains and volcanoes in the northern reaches of Argentina. While Ezequiel primarily guides Aconcagua with Alpine Ascents each season, his talent for guiding draws him to peaks across the globe year round.

Born in the city of Mendoza, synonymous with Aconcagua, Gabriel Fracchia is a seasoned mountain guide with Alpine Ascents and dedicated climber. With a career spanning over two decades, he has extensively explored and climbed prominent peaks in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Throughout this time, he has undertaken challenging rock and ice itineraries, including pioneering several first ascents in Patagonia, which has garnered recognition in the mountaineering community. In addition to guiding successful expeditions each year with Alpine Ascents, he continues to progress mountaineering as a whole. He has made notable contributions to esteemed mountaineering publications and has been acknowledged by the Argentine Ski and Mountaineering Federation (FASA) for outstanding achievements in the central Andes region. Well-regarded in the local community, his extensive knowledge and practical experience in guiding, coupled with his commitment to the craft, have established him as a respected and reliable guide.

Rachel grew up in Oregon and attended college in her home state, earning a degree in International Relations before beginning a series of explorations of many regions of the world, living in several different countries from Asia to Europe. Since 2013 she has made La Paz, Bolivia her home base after discovering a love of exploring the region’s remote glaciated peaks and granite walls. She has been guiding full time since 2014 across various regions of the world including Bolivia, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, and the Pacific Northwest of the US. Rachel has extensive experience in high altitude and international expeditions and has guided climbers to 6000 meter plus summits on over 200 occasions. She has completed numerous female first ascents of technical routes on the highest peaks of the Bolivian Andes, along with a few first ascent routes on lesser explored peaks. Her fluent Spanish language skills are an asset...

Born in Oklahoma City’s Little Saigon to parents who were refugees of the Vietnam War, Don grew up far from mountains but with a curiosity for the outdoors. That pull eventually led him west to the Colorado Rockies to study mountain guiding, and then to the Pacific Northwest, where he began guiding on Mt. Rainier and Mt. Shasta. Since then, Don has built a career leading climbs on some of the world’s most iconic peaks, including Denali and Aconcagua since 2019. Guiding, for Don, is more than a profession. He sees it a a way to share the universal human journey of exploration, and pilgrimage into wild places. Known for his deep care for the climbers he works with, he brings patience, humor, and perspective to every expedition from first timer’s trips to Mount Baker to the seasoned mountaineer on Denali. When he isn’t leading our Alpine Ascents trips, Don...

At the core of Hernán’s life is a profound love for the outdoors and an insatiable passion for exploring the world’s most beautiful wilderness areas. For Hernán, being a mountain guide is not just about numbers or years on a resume; it is about the pure joy of movement, the thrill of discovering new places, and sharing the deep freedom that only nature can provide. ​Rock climbing has been his lifelong sanctuary and a gateway to global exploration. He has spent years traveling and deeply exploring iconic crags and massive walls across France, Spain, Italy, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. Among his most cherished memories are the countless pitches scaled in world-class destinations: from the legendary granite walls of Cochamó and the massive east face of La Esfinge in Peru, to his home climbing paradise in Arenales (Mendoza). His vertical journeys have taken him from the seaside limestone of Sardinia (Italy)...

Juan was born in Buenos Aires, but grew up in the province of Salta. It was there, surrounded by a landscape framed by the imposing Andes mountain range, that he took his first steps on those 3000 and 4000-meter peaks. He developed a love for climbing in adolescence, and quickly began to navigate 5000 and 6000 peaks with ease. In 2000 he summited Aconcagua, marking the first of countless expeditions to the top of the peak. After becoming certified by the Argentine Association of Mountain Guides, Juan established an impressive international guiding career, with successful expeditions in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Patagonia. Aside from guiding Aconcagua expeditions with Alpine Ascents each season, he also guides independently across northwest Argentina and Chile.