Hi, This is Zeb Blais checking in from Camp 1 on Aconcagua. Yesterday we spent our day hunkered down from the winds. It was a rest day and we ended up gong for a short walk to stretch our legs, other than that we were hiding out from the wind.
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January 8, 2015 11:24am PST - Zeb Phoned the RMI Office
All is well at Camp 1, the team will be taking another weather day today as the wind did not die out until later in the day, and then it was too late to make the move to Camp 2. The forecast looks good for a move to Camp 2 tomorrow, so that is the plan. All is well and everyone is happy and healthy.
RMI Guide Zeb Blais & Team
We successfully made it down from base camp back to Pampa de Lenas. Our celebration asado was an enormous success and went late into the night which may make our final walk to the road a little slower than normal but no one would have it any other way.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes & Team
We are officially underway!
Our day began with the first official team breakfast at the hotel. Everybody made it safely to Quito, and almost all of the bags arrived. One team member did need to return to the airport early this morning to attempt to track down his two missing duffels. Last we heard, the bags were still unaccounted for, but the team has high hopes! We had a 100% recovery rate for lost luggage last year, and have no reason to believe the same won't be true for us again.
After a hearty meal and a round of introductions, we took a quick walk around the block to familiarize ourselves with the area surrounding the hotel, taking time to locate a couple of the shops we can obtain provisions from and to scout a few restaurants for our team dinners the next two nights in Quito. Upon returning to the hotel, we met our local city tour guide for the day, Wilson, who promptly collected us on the bus and started off our day of sightseeing. As an Otavalo native, Wilson was full of information about everything we could ever want to know about Ecuador: politics, economics, art, culture. His good humor kept the atmosphere light and energizing while still providing a highly educational experience.
Our first stop of the day was the Mitad del Mundo, or the Middle of the World. This small (but highly entertaining!) outdoor museum allowed us to observe a number of demonstrations that showed the unique effects of gravity along the equator, as well as the variations between the northern and southern hemispheres. We hopped back on the bus and transferred to Colonial Quito, were we took a walking tour of Independence Square and the surrounding area. One of the more memorable moments of this tour was squeezing our way through an extremely narrow, steep and dark staircase in the back of an ornate cathedral, working our way to the roof for a fantastic view of the area. Clear skies allowed us to catch a few glimpses of Cotopaxi and Cayambe, two of our bigger objectives on this trip.
We were finished with the tour by early afternoon, giving the team plenty of time to relax and get organized for our first acclimatization climb tomorrow up Rucu Pichincha. Our evening tonight will be filled with gear checks, naps, and a team dinner in town.
Until then!
RMI Guides Nick Hunt, Adam Knoff, and the rest of the team
Hey Everyone,
This is Team 4. This is JJ, Steve, and Gonzalo and our great climbing team at Leñas, our first trekking camp. I'm sending a Google message. It's tough camp to get email out, but we had a great day walking in. Actually, it was cloudy skies thought it was gonna rain for a bit but it held off. Now we are in the beautiful sunshine here. We're making an assado dinner with the cowboys under an open camp fire. And we're actually watching as I speak Team 2 led by Walter Hailes walking in. It's his crew we wanna give a big congratulations to for a great job done up there making the summit! We will be providing dispatches now on a daily basis let you know how things are going. So far it's all smiles, giggles, and laughs. People were doing really, really well and we are keeping spirits high. We are going to have another great dinner and enjoy another beautiful walk here in the Vacas Valley tomorrow. Thanks for following along. Tell your friends, tell your family and everyone else to follow along.
We will see you later on, bye bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
We started our downhill progress this morning and it looks like we made it out just in time. We seemed to stay about 30 minutes in front of the clouds, wind, and snow on the descent and quietly enjoyed watching teams move up into the weather as we moved out of it.
While the snow did fall in Basecamp, we stayed warm in our group tent, sitting in chairs around a table while snacks and a delicious dinner were brought to us...it's the small stuff.
We are all hopeful for a warm valley as we walk out tomorrow.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
This is Mike with the Aconcagua team. We had a windy day on our carry to Camp 2 today at 18,000ft. We got a late start hoping the winds would die down, but they never really did. We got a little new snow, the wind was blowing in our faces most of the morning. The team did really well. We are looking forward to enjoying a rest day tomorrow. We'll be tuning in with more information to come. Thanks guys.
RMI Guide Mike King
RMI Guide Mike King calls after their carry to Camp 2.
Hola, Stephen, Julain, and Team! STEEP terrain, by the looks of your photos - hard climbing, especially into the wind - WELL DONE!! Stay warm, hydrated, and well fuelled. Best wishes for calmer, sunny days ahead. Love, Barry and Lynne
Posted by: Barry & Lynne Wright on 1/6/2015 at 6:35 pm
This is Zeb Blais and team checking in from 16,200ft at Camp 1 Aconcagua. Today our team left Basecamp and all the creature comforts there in and moved up on the mountain. Now we have all our supplies with us and will only move up hill from here. Our team is strong and psyched to do a carry to Camp 2 tomorrow. We will check in as soon as we are back to Camp 1.
RMI Guide Zeb Blais
Update January 5th at 3:30 pm PT
This is the day that all the hard work, both at home and on the mountain, are for and it is always the hardest day of the trip. Thankfully, we made it to the summit and back to camp safely and in great style. With an early dinner in our bellies we will all sleep well tonight.
Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers for our safety.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes[Call from the summit audio transcription]
Hello, this is Walter from the summit of Aconcagua with our team. It's a beautiful day up here, blue skies, a little breezy- probably about 20 (mph) on the top. We did go through some pretty heavy wind down below, maybe constant 40 to 50 in some of the little saddles, but we made it! We're happy and it's sunshiny. Everybody's tired, so we're looking forward to the downhill. We'll call or send a dispatch out when we get there so you know that we arrived safely. Over and out from Aconcagua.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes calls from the Aconcagua summit
Hey everybody!
We have made it to our high camp and we are all ready to try for a summit push tomorrow. If the weather holds, we will be up early for a big climb to the top of South America!
Everyone up here is feeling strong and ready for the challenge. We got a taste of what's to come watching today's teams return- tired, hungry, and satisfied. Now we are tucked away in our bags trying to get some Zzzzzzs before the big day.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Ben Liken
Today was a day of feasting and resting. After yesterday's carry, Mike King, the master chef, started us off with a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. Then we went for a a brief walk down the Relinchos Valley to stretch our legs a bit. Upon our return to camp, we relaxed reading books and hanging out. To be followed by a delicious lunch of quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches. We're making our preparations for tomorrow's move to Camp 1 and we're looking forward to our last dinner at Basecamp for a while. Signing out for now.
RMI Guide Zeb Blais and team
RMI Guide Zeb Blais calls in from Aconcagua Basecamp.
You guys are amazing!
Posted by: Robin on 1/8/2015 at 10:25 pm
You deserve the celebration! Great job!!
Posted by: Sandy on 1/8/2015 at 7:08 pm
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