Recreation

Mendoza Province [1] is a prime outdoor recreation area, offering climbing and hiking, cycling and mountain biking, skiing, and white-water rafting and kayaking. It’s possible to organize many (though not all) activities through city agencies listed below, but other providers have on-site services in the Andes along RN 7 (the main route to Chile) and the Río Mendoza. Most operators handle more than one activity.

For specific information on climbing Cerro Aconcagua and support services, see the Parque Provincial Aconcagua [2] section.

The Club Andinista Mendoza (Fray Luis Beltrán 357, Guaymallén, tel. 0261/431-9870) is a general information source for climbing and hiking. Orviz (Avenida J. B. Justo 532, tel. 0261/4251281) rents and sells climbing and hiking gear.

Several places in town rent or sell ski gear, including Esquí Mendoza Competición (Avenida Las Heras 583, tel. 0261/429-7544) and Rezagos de Ejército (Avenida Mitre 2002, tel. 0261/423-3791).

Betancourt Rafting (Lavalle 35, Local 8, tel. 0261/429-9665, www.betancourt.com.ar [3]) does the Río Mendoza’s lower stretches from its Cacheuta base (25 kilometers south of town); Cacheuta [4] is, in a sense, a dead-end destination since the Panamericana’s rerouting.

The other white-water operators, Ríos Andinos (Sarmiento 721, tel. 0261/429-5030, www.riosandinos.com [5]) and Argentina Rafting (Primitivo de la Reta 992, Local 4, tel. 0261/429-6325, www.argentinarafting.com [6]), are based near Potrerillos [7], on the upper Río Mendoza.