Entries from Expedition Dispatches
We're fortunate to be in the midst of a very stable and almost perfect weather pattern here on Aconcagua: the days are clear and calm and today was no exception. After a great night's sleep at Camp 2 we packed up our gear and left for high camp by mid-morning. The trail to high camp ascends a broad north facing gulley, occasionally intersected by small cliff bands and large boulders. We weaved our way up, crossing sporadic patches of snow and across pockets of yellow dirt and rocks that smelled of sulfur. After a few hours of climbing we reached a small cliff band and followed a natural weakness in it to scramble up and over our final obstacle and right into our high camp.
Sitting at 19,540', Camp 3 is a small flat area ringed by rock towers on nearly all sides. Between the towers we can catch views over the Vacas Valley to the east into Argentina and all the way around to the west over the Horocones Valley and into Chile. Above us stands the final 3,000'+ of Aconcagua with the first portion of our route visible from Camp.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon in camp, finalizing our gear for the summit push and trying to rest up and hydrate as much as possible. We are sharing camp with a few other teams and we traded notes on conditions and forecasts: we all agreed, tomorrow is predicted to be a great summit day!
We've retired to the tents even though the sun is still quite high in the sky in hopes of getting some rest tomorrow. We are planning on making a pre-dawn alpine start tomorrow morning and going for the top! We're all doing well, feeling strong, and excited to make an attempt! We'll check in tomorrow after the climb.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Today is another rest day for the team at Plaza Argentina. After our carry to Camp 1 yesterday it serves us well to take advantage and fully acclimatize. The team is doing really well. The agenda for today is resting, eating and taking showers.
Everyone on the team says hello to family and friends...
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
JJ and Team:
So very good to hear all is well as you journey along!
Praying for your spiritual journey as well as your physical safety. Take a moment if you can to…
“Fall on yours knees, and Hear the Angel voices! (On this) Night Divine!
Blessings from David’s Mom
Posted by: Ruth Sorensen on 12/24/2013 at 2:39 pm
“One does not climb to attain enlightenment, rather one climbs because he is enlightened.” - Zen Master Futomaki
Posted by: Bill Gately on 12/23/2013 at 3:47 am
Posted by: Jake Beren, Steve Gately, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
A big hola from Mendoza! The team is assembled in this summery land, all bags ready to go and all our paperwork complete with crossed t's and dotted lower case j's. Now all that remains is to start this Aconcagua adventure by loading up and heading into the mountains. Tonight we will have our last meal at a proper table for a few days and start our walk in tomorrow. Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Jake Beren, Mike King and Steve Gately
Hola Mi Amigo Jake , excited for you guys looking to be a great trekk,
weather looks good. Enjoy each step as you go for a nice walk.
Keep an eye on Bill hes a trouble maker so ive heard. Looking forward to seeing some more post and pictures. Randy
Posted by: Randy on 12/22/2013 at 8:25 pm
The southern solstice treated us to a long, restful, and relaxing day here at Camp 2. We waited until the sun reached camp before stirring and then had a relaxed morning, watching the long shadows coming off the mountain above us gradually fade as the sun rose higher. From camp, we have perfect views of a good portion of our climbing route on summit day. There was hardly a puff of wind coming off of the top of Aconcagua and we could make out our trail crossing the wide scree slope called the Acarero and up the gully known as the Canaleta to reach the summit ridge. The perfect weather, views of the route, and time to rest and recover has motivated us and we are excited about the coming days. Tomorrow we plan to move up to Camp 3 at 19,500' in hopes of making a push for the summit in the following days. We are all feeling strong, rested, and ready for the next push. We'll check in tomorrow from high camp.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Bill Dorn- Wishing you a Merry Christmas from Rita and Carol in sunny, hot Florida.
Posted by: Rita Powella on 12/22/2013 at 9:21 am
Bill Dorn! We are so proud of you and your entire team. Can’t wait until we can hug you on January 23 (our next breakfast club) and get all the stories. Climb safely. Love, Dav’ne
Posted by: Dav'ne Stahley on 12/22/2013 at 8:34 am
Hello everyone in the lowlands! We thin-air breathers are now back in base camp after a terrific day. The team carried gear up to Camp 1. Aconcagua is a big undertaking which requires a lot of food, fuel and gear.
We established Camp 1 at 16,200 feet. The team is honestly doing so well! We moved as one unit up and down. I like this because it keeps people motivated and we can pass the time with chit chat.
Once we arrived at Camp 1 we emptied our packs and then Leah and I filled a couple of duffel bags full of food and gear. Now back at base camp we are surviving the heat and several climbers are in a championship round of Yahtzee.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
On The Map
Awesome work team!!! Sounds and looks like ya had an adventurous and exciting day. Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Best of luck trekking back to Camp 1 tomorrow. Josh - I am so very proud of you. Mom and I spent the day with lily in St. Louis!!! We talked about you the entire trip. We miss you bunches!!! Keep up the great progress.
Love you - Jess
Posted by: Jessica on 12/21/2013 at 8:12 pm
We were treated to another wonderfully calm, clear ... and cold night last night at Camp 1. The almost full moon hung huge in the western sky, just above the edges of the Horocones Glacier below us when we poked our heads out of the tents this morning. We dragged our feet a bit getting out of the tents but once the sun reached us we warmed right up and soon had our packs loaded and were heading up the trail. The climbing today was perfect, not too warm and hardly a breeze. Our acclimatization at Camp 1 was noticeable as we moved smoothly across the difficult sections of trail where the bedrock is covered by a thin veneer of gravel and loose stones. The time and the altitude ticked by with us hardly noticing until we found ourselves weaving between the large boulders that mark the entrance to Camp 2 at 18,330'.
No afternoon clouds were forming in the west and the weather was perfect so we took our time setting up camp, soaking in the views, sipping on water, and erecting large rock walls around our tents in case the do winds pick up. The rest of the afternoon passed with little action other than relaxing in camp and getting used to the new elevations. The approach of the longest day of the year down here (tomorrow!) means that even approaching 8 o'clock in the evening the sun still hangs high in the sky right now and is keeping the tents pleasantly warm.
We are all definite feeling the new jump in altitude up here - everything takes just a bit more effort - but are all feeling good. It is exciting to be moving higher on the mountain and suddenly the summit doesn't look, or feel, as far away now. We are planning on taking a stroll above Camp tomorrow but largely using it as a rest day to adjust to the new elevations and recover a bit from the days we've had since leaving Base Camp. We'll check in tomorrow afternoon.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Happy winter solstice!! Stay strong and take lots of wide angle shots of Aconcagua. You can never have too many (-;
Posted by: Monsieur Homme on 12/21/2013 at 8:28 am
Buenos Dias from Plaza de Argentina (4,200m). We had a wonderful rest day. Sunshine, salad, and Christmas movies have kept us entertained. But don't forget the very important medical check up. The top notch doctors at base camp checked out the group and of course everyone is healthy and ready to climb.
In light of the Christmas spirit the group was given the gift of a shower to clean off the dust from the long trek in. A hot shower and clean socks are a hot commodity down here.
Tomorrow we will carry some gear to camp 1. We're all looking forward to stretching our legs and seeing more of the mountain!
RMI Guides Leah Fisher & JJ Justman
On The Map
Posted by: Casey Grom, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 19,348'
Summit on Cotopaxi!!!
We awoke to start our climb from the Refugio at 16,000' in a misty cloud, but as we ascended the thick fog gave way to clear skies and stars. Our ascent took a direct route that brought 100% of our team to the summit of https://Cotopaxi">Cotopaxi just as the sun began to rise.
We had a calm and relatively warm hour on the summit to make some calls and take photos while enjoying impressive views of the crater and surrounding volcanoes.
We are now all safely back in Quito and just returned from a delicious celebration dinner!
We are looking forward to being home with our friends and family soon!
RMI Guides https://Casey Grom and https://Solveig Waterfall
On The Map
Congratulations to Brian and the rest of you!
Posted by: Karen Easterday on 12/21/2013 at 5:30 pm
Congrats to everyone!
Posted by: Paul Judge on 12/20/2013 at 10:33 am
Posted by: Linden Mallory
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
2,200' higher in the Andes is a noticeable change in temperature! While our mornings at Base Camp were chilly before the sun reached us, it was downright cold this morning at Camp 1 as we prepared to leave. The cold nip was softened a bit by the views: there wasn't a cloud in the sky and we watched the entire range around us soak in the morning light as we packed our bags. Once again we hit the trail as the sun reached us, following a long traverse out of Camp 1 towards a shallow basin at the head of the slope. After a few minutes we settled back into the rhythm of climbing and the time ticked by as we ascended. After several hours of climbing, traversing rock slopes, crossing small snowfields, and weaving around large boulders, we crested the gentle saddle on the Northwest Ridge of Aconcagua and arrived at Camp 2.
Known as Nido de Condores, or Nest of the Condors, Camp 2 sits along a ridge line of distinct rock towers and the views are impressive: to the north stands Mercedario, another 6000m Andean peak, to the east lies Chile, and to our south: our climbing route up Aconcagua. We sat up there in the good weather for a few minutes after unpacking our gear just to enjoy the panorama and get used to the ever higher altitudes. Once satisfied, and with our packs nearly empty, we descended back to our tents at Camp 1. Yesterday's snow squalls are a thing off the past and we've enjoyed sunshine all afternoon.
Tomorrow we will pack our gear and move up to Camp 2.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Wow. I don't think I've ever had a trip down and out from the Vinson Massif go so smoothly. A day ago our stoves were getting the breakfast ice melted at 12,300 ft in Vinson high camp. It was colder than it had been the day before, when we'd gone for the summit. We packed up our tents and roped up to go down the steep lines toward low camp and Basecamp. The day got warmer -naturally- as we got lower, but there was still a lot of cloud, just as there had been all week. Six hours after beginning the descent, we hauled heavy packs and sleds into 7,000 ft Vinson Base. The place was humming with activity. We were told to be ready for a Twin Otter on skis in a half hour. That meant 30 minutes of feverish packing and repacking and last awesome views of Vinson for the year. At 5:30 PM the Twin put down and we got in. Not only was the flight through the sunny Ellsworth Mountains magically beautiful, it was taking us to an on-time dinner at Union Glacier. One that none of us had to open, boil, or rehydrate. We reached camp there at a time when it was mostly ALE staff and not so many needy "customers" such as ourselves. Over dinner, we were told that our next flight was already on its way in. The Ilyushin 76 landed with a distant roar on the ice runway at 12:30 AM. We got on after a bunch of freight had been unloaded. There was plenty of room to stretch out as in addition to the five of us climbers there were perhaps three or four staff and assorted personnel going for the ride to South America. I saw the distant Vinson summit sliding by the port side windows after we'd reached cruising altitude. At 7:30 AM the plane touched down gently in Punta Arenas, where summer is currently coming on strong.
The team piled into a car and then hotel rooms for a big snooze. We'll feast tonight and fly homeward tomorrow. Small world... but full of great climbs.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
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Wahoo! Wishing everyone a safe summit and decent. Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Nookster on 12/23/2013 at 10:52 am
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