2 U.S. mountaineers among 3 dead climbing Aconcagua, the tallest peak in the Americas

Two Americans and a Norwegian died over the past four days while climbing Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Americas, Argentine police said this week.

U.S. mountaineer Ayn Vincent Day, 41, died on Wednesday after going against the advice of his guide and summiting the nearly 7,000 meter (23,000 foot) mountain, said Deputy Commissioner Marcos Paez, the head of the rescue team.

On Saturday, 62-year-old Moi Oystein of Norway became the first fatality of the 2022-2023 ascent season, which began in December, after becoming ill at a spot on the route known as La Cueva, at 6,000 meters above sea-level.

The following day, U.S. military veteran John Michael Magness, 58, also died having reached Camp Independencia at an elevation of 6,300 meters.

Magness was a member of Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, according to the group which helps veterans and their families with education expenses. Magness and two other Army veterans were participating in the “Aconcagua Challenge” expedition to raise funds and awareness for Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, the group said.

“He was our classmate, teammate, and friend; he was our hero, serving others until the end,” the group wrote on social media.

Situated near Argentina’s border with Chile, Aconcagua is the tallest mountain outside of Asia, and is one of the so-called Seven Summits — a goal of many mountain climbers around the world.

Argentine media, citing official sources, reported the death this season of five other mountaineers, four of them foreigners, in the area of El Chalten, in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, 2,300 kilometers south of Buenos Aires.

Tyler Armstrong, a 9-year-old California boy, broke a mountain-climbing record in 2013 when he became the youngest person to scale Mt. Aconcagua.