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Japanese Climber, 20, Rescued Alive on Aconcagua After 300–400 Meter Fall

A coordinated police–ranger operation executed a rare high‑altitude hover extraction after a satellite distress alert.

Overview

  • Authorities received a satellite SOS around 6:50 p.m. Saturday with coordinates near 6,700 meters, triggering emergency protocols and staging at high camps.
  • Rescue teams located the injured mountaineer mid‑morning Sunday at extreme altitude, reported between roughly 5,629 and 6,100 meters depending on the source.
  • Pilot Horacio Duro Freschi hovered where landing was impossible as a rescuer disembarked to secure the victim from steep scree near the La Cueva sector.
  • The climber was stabilized at Plaza de Mulas and then evacuated by helicopter to Horcones before an ambulance transfer to Hospital de Uspallata for ongoing care.
  • Doctors reported cranial trauma with brief loss of consciousness, facial fractures, and third‑ to fourth‑degree frostbite on both hands after a night exposed on the mountain.