Extreme Application Series: Aconcagua The highest weather station in the Western Hemisphere

Aconcagua: Tracking Climate Change from South America's Highest Peak

In partnership with Dr. Baker Perry, Dr. Tom Matthews, and Dr. Pierre Pitte, Campbell Scientific supported the installation of the highest-elevation weather station in the Western Hemisphere—high on the flanks of Aconcagua, Argentina. On his journey, the team installed a total of four new weather stations and relocated an existing station. Building on a legacy that began with the world’s highest weather station on Mount Everest, this new expedition advances our understanding of climate extremes and hydrology in the Southern Andes.

Read The Salt Lake Tribune article to learn more about these two expeditions.

Climbing some of the world’s highest peaks such as Mount Everest and Aconcagua comes with extreme challenges: carrying gear, surviving thin air, and pushing human endurance to the limit. For climatologists, reaching these summits is not only about adventure, but also about installing high-altitude weather stations that transform our understanding of water resources and the climate.

In 2019, Dr. Baker Berry and Dr. Tom Matthews led a groundbreaking expedition to Mount Everest, where they successfully installed the highest weather station on Earth. In 2025, the team joined forces with Dr. Pierre Pitte from the Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA) to install a weather station on South America’s tallest peak, Aconcagua.

These Everest and Aconcagua weather stations, built with durable Campbell Scientific equipment, are designed to monitor water resources, extreme weather, and climate conditions in real time. Together, they represent a major step forward in high-mountain climatology and global scientific understanding.

This video was created with permission from footage supplied by Dr. Baker Perry and Pablo Betancourt.