Summiting Superstitions: When Not Standing on the Mountain’s Peak Becomes a Way of Life

Aconcagua is generally regarded as the mountain with the highest death rate of any mountain in South America — around three per year average. It has the nickname, “Mountain of Death” for some people — which probably would have stopped me from climbing it truthfully had I known that. I take measured risks in my adventuring but I do not have a death wish and, after recovering from a broken back and four surgeries, I don’t like to be injured. Only about half of the people who attempt to summit Aconcagua will succeed and many of those are paying top dollar and being…