Another windy night in a tent at altitude made getting on the road no problem for the team this morning. We loaded up our packs with everything needed to survive up high and marched down to a warmer season at Plaza Argentina, stopping to pick up our caches along the way. In a few days time it will be summer in Mendoza and the cold we've lived in up high a memory, but until then we have many miles to walk and a grand asado with our mule driving friends.
Talk to you when we hit the tree-lined streets of Mendoza.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Here we go! It is official! Team 3 on Aconcagua is on its way. The entire team made it into Mendoza with all their climbing gear.
However, the first order of business is enjoying the good life in Mendoza. We are at one of the new, hidden gems...Siete Cocinas Restaurante.
After our bellies are full we will return to our hotel and relax getting ready for acquiring our climbing permits. Stay tuned to see what Aconcagua has in store for our team.
RMI Guides JJ Justman, Geoff Schellens & Garrett Stevens
Greetings from expedition skills seminar, Ecuador!
Day two:
Not all of our mountaineering challenges down here should be considered overly stressful. Granted we aren't exactly roughing it here in hotel Mercure Alemeda, we figured starting the team off gently would ease us into the trip's first acclimating hike.
Quito is flanked on its western edge by the frequently active Pinchincha Rucu volcano who's 15,500 foot summit makes for a perfect first excursion to altitude. Oh ya, back to a gentle start. After another delicious breakfast the team loaded into a sporty looking minivan with a sporty looking driver to match and headed ten minutes up the road to the loading dock of Quito's famous Pinchincha gondola. I don't know much, but I do know riding from 10,000 feet to 13,800 feet is better than walking. Who knew? From the top of the tram, views of Quito 's expansive size and beautiful setting blessed us before our trail was soon overtaken by the rising cloud bank. Despite the apparent fitness of our team, much hard breathing was done welcoming in the lower oxygen levels. Soon we found our rhythm and pushed steadily upward further into the cold clouds until the sign on the summit said we were there. By that time we were all in gloves, hats and warm jackets. We then descended quickly before the rain hit.
The rest of the afternoon will be spent relaxing and exploring the neighborhood around the hotel. We are all psyched to be leaving the city and heading north.
More to come,
RMI Guides Adam Knoff, Casey Grom and Team
Casey and Adam, you very successfully guided our entire expedition team to the summit of Cotopaxi on 16 Dec 2011. Your team will easily discover what great RMI guides they have. Happy New Year from Bill, Scott, and the four Mikes
Hello from Quito, Ecuador. The Expedition Skills Seminar - Ecuador has arrived in full, all bags included and is settling in nicely. Today the group had a busy itinerary starting with a top notch breakfast which of course is the day's most important meal. Once fully caffeinated we spent a pleasant hour doing personal introductions and breaking down the week's objectives. After our team's bonding exercises of trust falls and human pyramids in the hotel lobby we put our well being in the hands of our tour operator and ventured into the heart of Quito where traffic can rival the adventurous nature of mountain climbing. We visited many historic sites including the Presidential Palace, Independence Plaza and multiple churches centuries older than the United States itself. This concluded our history lesson, next was science. From the old town of Quito we drove 45 minutes north to the "Mitad del Mundo" translated to the middle of the world. Don't get this confused with middle earth, we saw no hobbits or elves. What we did experience were the wild supernatural effects of being directly on equator. Although no one earned their diploma for balancing an egg on a nail, we did see it happen. Other party tricks include failing a DWI balance test walking the actual line and watching the coriolis effect spin water in opposite directions five feet into each hemisphere. After the tour we rested, regrouped and went out for a well deserved team dinner. Everyone is in good health and excited to begin acclimatizing.
RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Casey Grom
What a proud day for our team! This morning we woke long before the sun came up and proceeded to hide from the bitter cold until a much more sensible option presented itself. All the teams left camp early turned back to protect their extremities while we enjoyed the rising sun and long summer day as we made our bid for the top. Don't get us wrong, it was a cold day but everyone managed quite well and is happy and healthy back at camp.
Aconcagua was most gracious to our team today, but boy did we have to earn it. The light snow winter has left the mountain nearly bare of snow and we did not even use crampons today. Scrambling up loose rock at just under 23,000 feet is a real treat and the team rose to the challenge, huffing and puffing all the way to the roof of the Andes.
All in all a great day with a stellar team. I'm certainly grateful to have gotten to share a beautiful day in the mountains with a great crew of climbers. Those of us that stood on top could not have done it without our team and though not every member shared the view today, they were all with us every step of the way.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
[Summit audio transcription]
Hello. This is Jake Beren calling from the highest point in South America, the top of Aconcagua with a real strong team. Had a great summit day, perfect weather. We're up here with visibility in just about every direction. So, definitely proud of a real solid team and a real solid effort and we're halfway done. So we will give you a shout when we get to our camp. Thanks for all the weather help and we look forward to seeing everybody when we get back. Alright.
RMI Guide Jake Beren calls in from the Aconcagua summit!
Lucky us! We had a near windless evening to celebrate the coming New Year. New Year's Day found us resolving to make it to Camp 3 in good style and we certainly did. We are slowly finishing up camp building in this rarified air and plan to rest for the remainder of the afternoon. If this weather holds for another day, we will have a great chance of making the summit mañana. Wish us some buenas suerte amigos.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Keep going Dawn and team!
I am so proud of you. keep warm!
Posted by: hye kim on 1/2/2013 at 9:42 am
Happy 2013 to Beren and Team from Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who encourages you to stay “strong in will/To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” If the stars are aligned, power on to the summit.
Our last day on the ice turned out to be all about flying. Flagging down an Ilyushin 76 is a big deal. This one set her wheels onto the ice runway around mid afternoon. By then we'd taken tents down and checked our bags at the first class counter (a table in the snow with a roll of stickers, some clipboards and friendly ALE staff who were not checking our ID's). Our Union Glacier hosts even gave us a deluxe final lunch in the dining tent. Once the plane landed, there wasn't any need for us to hurry. It takes a while to unload such a big and powerful jet transport. Eventually we caught a ride out to the ice runway in a comfy tricked out big wheeled van (with Utah plates) and then we were picking seats on the Ilyushin. The plane took off a little after 5 PM and the Russian crew cranked up the heat. 4 hours later we'd crossed the Drake Passage and were floating in over the Straits of Magellan. Punta Arenas lay waiting with flowers and Trees and grass in vibrant midsummer color. The sun set as the bus brought us in from the airport (we hadn't actually seen any sunsets while down on the ice). By 11 PM we'd checked into the hotel and showered and gotten together in the lobby for one last, pleasant, mandatory team function... The victory dinner!
Thanks for following the trip and for the friendly encouragement of the blog comments (which were relayed to us).
Best Regards and Happy New Year,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Brrrr. At least that was the theme of the first half of the day. Fortunately we had warm tents to rest in and after an acclimatization hike this afternoon, we are able to enjoy a little sun outdoors. Clouds have moved steadily over the Aconcagua summit today and it is our team's sincerest hope that they blow out and we are able to move higher tomorrow. Wish us luck, we are ready but prepared to be patient if conditions dictate.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Even the heavy packs of a full camp move could not dampen the team's spirits as we left Aconcagua Camp 1 for our new home at Camp 2 aka "Chopper Camp" aka "Guanocos 3." The team arrived in the grand style to which we have become accustomed, with plenty of gas in the tank and fashionably dressed. We are now starting to feel like all our hard work is paying off, only one more camp before our summit push. Tomorrow we'll have a rest day and then, weather permitting, initiate our launch sequence. Cross your fingers for a solid weather window for us amigos!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
We are back at Camp Uno after a spectacular carry to Camp 2. The weather was quite pleasant and the team chewed up the few thousand feet with a load to prepare ourselves to move higher tomorrow. Once at Camp 2, we enjoyed the new views as the northern side of Aconcagua came into view. You sure can see a long way from 18,000 feet on a clear day!
Wish us good luck on the weather front for the next few days, if these conditions persist we will be in great shape to keep moving higher.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Keep going #1. Thinking of you every day. Enjoy the views man.
Posted by: Jon on 12/30/2012 at 4:10 pm
Stay strong Josh. we love hearing all of the updates and are saying a few prayers that the weather continues to be favorable for the ascent to the summit
Posted by: Matt and Jazmin on 12/30/2012 at 5:34 am
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Congrats Josh and Jared! Glad to hear you were able to summit safely! Looking forward to hearing all about it! Cheers and safe travels!
Posted by: Doug & Kelly on 1/4/2013 at 1:44 pm
Greg barber, you rock buddy, what an adventure enjoy, can’t wait to hear the stories.
Posted by: Rick and Tracy finlay on 1/4/2013 at 1:03 pm
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