Aconcagua
Dispatches

Casey Grom

Photo by Team Member Tim Amos

February 12, 2008 (10:41 a.m. PT/ 4:41 p.m. Mendoza time) :
SUMMIT DAY! Hey, this is Casey. Our group reached the summit of Aconcagua today on a very windy, very cold day. Most of our group is now back at Camp 2 with a few more arriving shortly. We plan to stay at Camp 2 tonight and then descend tomorrow to Base Camp. The following day we will get an early start and hope to get to the trailhead and drive all the way back to Mendoza if things go well. We are looking forward to hot showers, a good meal and a soft bed. We will check in again when we arrive in Mendoza.

February 11, 2008 (10:25 a.m. PT/ 4:25 p.m. Mendoza time) :
Hello, this is Casey checking in from Camp 2. We just moved to Camp 2 today. After some not-so-nice weather, it has changed for the better with a slight breeze instead of the high winds that we have had. We are getting ready for our summit push in the morning. We plan on getting up at 3:00 a.m. and leave around 5 a.m. Keep your fingers crossed for us in hopes of reaching the summit tomorrow.

February 7, 2008 (10:06 a.m. PT/ 4:07 p.m. Mendoza time) :
Hello from Aconcagua.  This is Casey and the team checking in from Camp 1.  We made a carry yesterday from Base Camp to Camp 1 (16,200') with half of our equipment.  Then today we moved to Camp 1 with the rest of our gear.  While we rested at Base Camp we enjoyed warm, sunny days, but half way to Camp 1 it began snowing and it is still coming down.  We have a few rest days scheduled to get us acclimatized and ready to make our next move so we are hoping for a change in the weather.  Our team is doing very well and we miss everybody back home.  We will check in again in a few days.  Talk to you soon.

February 4, 2008 (8:04 a.m. PT/ 2:07 p.m. Mendoza time) :
Hi, this is Casey checking in from Aconcagua. We reached Base Camp yesterday afternoon. We got up early to try to arrive into camp before some other groups and after an invigorating river crossing on foot arrived into camp around 2 p.m. We had perfect weather, sunny with a light breeze, the last few days for our trek which was a relief after the weather we had in Mendoza. Today weather is warm with clouds up high and possibly some rain later today. Everyone has been talking about the SuperBowl and we are eagerly awaiting the score. We are enjoying a rest day here at Base Camp today. We had a great breakfast of burritos with eggs and bacon. We brought six dozen eggs in with us and not one broke! That is good packing. We will decide later today whether we make a carry tomorrow to Camp 1 or wait another day. Everyone is doing great and we will check in again in a few days.

January 31, 2008 (received via email 12:00 PT/6:00 p.m. Mendoza time) :
Hello everyone. This is Casey, Billy and Paul checking in from the RMI Aconcagua expedition. The whole group arrived two days ago and all our luggage made it too. Nice !

Down in Mendoza, most of the the group took a power nap to catch up on a little sleep, only to be awoken by the sound of pouring rain. We had a big rain storm pass through town and it left the streets flooded for about two hours. Luckily, we were all safe in our rooms and nothing got wet.  We had a great traditional Argentine steak dinner and washed it down with some fantastic local (Malbec) wine.

Yesterday, we went and picked up our climbing permits and grabbed our last hamburgers before heading up into the mountains to a small ski resort called Penitentes. After our 4 hour bus ride here, we went for a small hike and then enjoyed yet another steak dinner. Sweet!

We spent most of the day today packing up all of our gear for the long trek into Base Camp. Most of our gear will be carried on mules, which is kind of like putting your bags on a paint shaker for four hours! Needless to say, we spent a lot of time making sure everything was well-packed.

That is all for now, everyone is doing well and we will check in upon our arrival at Base Camp in a few days. Stay tuned!

January 29, 2008 : Program begins.
 

Joel Kauffman

February 14, 2008 (2:45 p.m. PT/ 8:45 p.m. Mendoza time)
Hi, this is Joel checking in from Argentina. We spent last night at Las Lenas, our last mountain camp and enjoyed a great asado dinner. We awoke early this morning to start the last leg of our trek out in order to arrive at the trailhead with time to make the drive back to Mendoza. We are now back in Mendoza and have checked into our hotel. Everyone is in high spirits and we are heading out to enjoying a celebration dinner.

February 12, 2008 (9:30 a.m. PT/ 3:30 p.m. Mendoza time)
Hello from Base Camp. We are staying one more night here and then hike out tomorrow. Our plan is to reach Los Penitentes the following day. The team is feeling great and we are looking forward to a hot shower and a celebration dinner.

February 11, 2008 (10:25 a.m. PT/ 4:25 p.m. Mendoza time - Relay from Casey Grom)
Joel's team moved to Camp 2 yesterday and then went for the summit. They made it to 19,600' and turned the climb. The team is now back at Base Camp.

February 4, 2008 (8:04 a.m. PT/ 2:04 p.m. Mendoza time)
We are checking in from Base Camp on Aconcagua. We enjoyed great weather for our trek to Base Camp, nice sunny weather and a light breeze. Our group is doing well and we are taking a rest day today but plan to make a carry to Camp 1 tomorrow. We will check-in again in a few days.

January 29, 2008 (10:10 a.m. PT/ 4:10 p.m.)
This morning we hiked for about 3 hours today across from the Hotel Ayelen. We gained about 1,800' to an elevation of 10,100'. We practiced our breathing exercises in anticipation of our trek to Base Camp tomorrow. Everyone is feeling strong. We are packing up and sorting food to weigh our packs. The equipment and food has to be evenly distributed to load onto the mules. The weather is really nice today with a few clouds building up over the mountains. We had light winds and t-shirt weather for our hike. Tomorrow we will leave at noon and reach basecamp around 6:00 p.m. It will be a few days before we are able to check in.

January 28, 2008 (1:12 p.m. PT/ 7:12 p.m.)
We left Mendoza this afternoon after purchasing our permits for the climb and getting some additional climbing gear.  We are now at the Hotel Ayelen at Los Penitentes, the "climbers central" at the base of Aconcagua.  We will spend time tomorrow packing our gear for the trek to Base Camp and taking an acclimatization hike.

January 27, 2008:
Our group has arrived in Mendoza and everyone is doing well.  We are doing some food shopping and making sure we have all the of the equipment needed for the climb.  We plan to enjoy an authentic dinner and then we will spend the night at the Hotel Aconcagua.

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