The Cerro Aconcagua (6959m, Argentina: an adventure touristic destination: a mythical and symbolical high place

Abstract

The aim of this article is to understand the organization and working process of a high altitude touristic destination. After the definition of the concept of touristic destination, it describes the historic example of Chamonix. Then, by the way of the observing participation method, realized during an amateur expedition, the concrete organization in situ of the Aconcagua destination is analysed. In conclusion, the author underlines the fact that, more than the services offered, the price of such a destination is, for the mountaineer clients, in the symbolic sense given to the destination, in the physical and mental suffering tried out, and the lived sociability of the cultural mountaineering world.