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Posts from 02/2010

Billy Nugent and Team Arrive at Camp 3

Posted by: | February 11, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 19,200 ft.

Billy called from their high camp this morning. The weather is beautiful and they are ready to make their summit attempt on Aconcagua in the morning. He will call us from the summit, weather permitting, tomorrow.
Wish them luck!

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Rest Day at Camp 2

Posted by: | February 10, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000 ft.

Today we spent our last rest day of the trip laying around Helicopter Camp (our camp 2). There are actually pieces of a crashed helicopter lying all over camp! Bundles of electronics, sheet metal, etc. can be found scattered about and some creative climbers have even incorporated the debris into rock walls that serve as windbreaks for tents.
Our plan is to head up to Camp Cholera tomorrow morning and make a summit attempt on Friday morning, weather permitting. There is some concern about the wind but we’ll see what kind of conditions we wake up to.
Dan would like to send his love to his family; Kristin, Britta, & Anson.

Thanks for following along everyone, we’ll try and check in one last time before our summit bid.

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RMI Team arrives at Camp 2 on Aconcagua

Posted by: | February 09, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000 ft.

A little wind today was no match for our crew as we made short work of our move up to Camp 2 @ 18,000’. Tomorrow will bring our last rest day before we make a concerted push for the summit. Thursday will see us move up to Camp 3, a.k.a. Camp Cholera at just under 20,000’ - such a cheerful name. If the weather cooperates we will be making our summit attempt on Friday morning. We’ll continue to keep you posted on our progress. Much love to everyone back home!

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Carry to Camp 2

Posted by: | February 08, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000 ft.

Well, after a rest day yesterday with crappy weather we awoke this morning to blue skies and very little wind for our carry up to camp 2. The team climbed strongly and it seems after our move uphill tomorrow we should be in a good position to launch our assault on the upper mountain!

Hopefully this high pressure will hold.

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Team Arrives at Aconcagua Camp 1

Posted by: | February 06, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,600 ft.

We made it to Camp 1! All is well, we’re a little tired from battling the wind but our camp is now fortified with rock walls and we’re settling in. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for a LOT of wind so the plan for now is to rest. Then we hope to carry and move to Camp 2 on Monday and Tuesday when the winds should be a little more calm.

Until tomorrow,

RMI team Alpha 9,000 signing off.

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Carry to Camp 1

Posted by: | February 04, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,600 ft.

Today saw a lot of wind on our carry up to Camp 1 at just over 16,000’. Lots of difficult walking in loose rock, scree, and icy penitentes brought us up to our first cache where we dropped food, fuel, and gear that will be needed on the upper mountain. Tomorrow calls for another rest and acclimitization day before our move up the mountain the following day. We’ll check in again tomorrow.

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Final Rest Day at Aconcagua Base Camp

Posted by: | February 04, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800 ft.

We had a windy but great rest day here at basecamp. Drinking mate’, telling stories, and pigging out. We enjoyed another delicious scramble for breakfast and then devoured a fat steak dinner. Tomorrow’s move to Camp 1 should be a big day but we are certainly ready!

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Rest Day at Aconcagua Base Camp

Posted by: | February 03, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800 ft.

Today saw, most notably, the arrival of Leif and Jake here at basecamp. It was about as eventful as a rest day could be. We gorged on a bacon, egg, and cheese scramble with grilled onions and peppers, drank mate (pronounced mah-tay) and told stories all afternoon, and then had steak fajitas for dinner. Ooh yeah, we’re roughing it all right! Oh yeah, we also packed and sorted provisions for tomorrow’s carry to Camp 1. It has been pretty windy, and that trend is supposed to continue, so tomorrow may be a litte tougher than normal. Wish us luck.

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Arrival at Aconcagua Base Camp

Posted by: | February 02, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800 ft.

Another day of hiking under blue skies has finally brought us into Aconcagua Base Camp. A 5 am wakeup ensured that our crossing of the Vacas River was during low flow, long before the heat of the day accelerated snowmelt. Unfortunately, such an early crossing makes for some seriously numb feet! After fording the river we began our ascent up the Relinchos Valley, 3,000 vertical feet later we rolled into Plaza Argentina. And after a nap and a fat spaghetti dinner, we’re ready for a well-deserved rest day tomorrow.

Until then, ciao ciao bacalao!

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Walter Hailes Rejoins Group

Posted by: | February 01, 2010
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Aconcagua

Walter Hailes Rejoins Group!

.... or so the headlines read for this team of hearty mountaineers. Ho ho ho!

Another day of hiking in perfect weather has brought us to our second camp at Casa de Piedra. Today’s walk saw only a slight gain in elevation but took us further up the deep and breathtaking Vacas Valley. Huge amounts of relief, enormous floodplains, intense sun, sapphire skies were among the visual treats along the approach. Spirits are high and we look forward to reaching our basecamp at Plaza Argentina tomorrow afternoon!

Rock n’ Roll,

Billy, Walt, Andy, & Dan.

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