The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about 10 km (6 mi) long, which descends from the south face to about 3,600 m (11,800 ft) in elevation near the Confluencia camp.

Aconcagua used to be an active stratovolcano (from the Late Cretaceous or Early Paleocene through the Miocene) and consisted of several volcanic complexes on the edge of a basin with a shallow sea.

However, sometime in the Miocene, about 8 to 10 million years ago, the subduction angle started to decrease, resulting in a stop of the melting and more horizontal stresses between the oceanic plate and the continent, causing the thrust faults that lifted Aconcagua off its volcanic root.

The colorful greenish, bluish and grey deposits seen in the Horcones Valley and south of Puente Del Inca, are carbonates, limestones, turbidites and evaporates that filled this basin.

Aconcagua is arguably the highest non-technical mountain in the world since the northern route does not absolutely require ropes, axes, and pins.

[12] Although the effects of altitude are severe (atmospheric pressure is 40% of sea level at the summit), the use of supplemental oxygen is not common.

[13] Although the normal climb is technically easy, multiple casualties occur every year on this mountain (in January 2009 alone, five climbers died).

The first attempt to summit Aconcagua by Europeans was made in 1883 by a party led by the German geologist and explorer Paul Güssfeldt.

On the final attempt a month later, two other expedition members, Stuart Vines and Nicola Lanti, reached the summit on 13 February.

[19][20] A route over the Southwest Ridge was pioneered over seven days in January 1953 by the Swiss-Argentine team of Frederico and Dorly Marmillod, Francisco Ibanez and Fernando Grajales.

The famously difficult South Face was conquered by a French team led by René Ferlet [fr].

Pierre Lesueur, Adrien Dagory, Robert Paragot, Edmond Denis, Lucien Berardini and Guy Poulet reached the summit after a month of effort on 25 February 1954.

[25] In the base camp Plaza de Mulas (at 4,300 m (14,100 ft) above sea level) there is the highest contemporary art gallery tent called "Nautilus" of the Argentine painter Miguel Doura.

[28] In 2016, Fernanda Maciel [fr] set the first women's record for climbing and descending Aconcagua from Horcones in 22 hours, 52 minutes.

Their climb was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Bolivia and the expedition is now detailed in a documentary film called 'Cholitas'.

Here, the remains of a child bedded on grass, cloth and feathers were found inside stone walls (Aconcagua mummy).