Entries By mike king
Posted by: Leon Davis, Mike King, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
23,000 feet to the busy hustle bustle, and near 100 degree heat of Mendoza in three days. After two weeks of grinding our way higher and higher on Aconcagua, the end of the trip is always a blur. Summit day on this trip has to be the most memorable part, not just for the elation of standing on the roof of South America, but because of how perfect the whole day was. Dead calm conditions, clear skies, and warm temps had us on the summit wearing just a couple layers, and no gloves! After the cold temps, snow, and winds that we had on our way up, it was an amazing shift that made the whole day so enjoyable.
Since that day, we grabbed all of our gear and endured the five hour descent to base camp, to be greeted by a wonderful steak dinner. The next morning we donned small packs and light shoes, and followed the fourteen miles of mule trails to Pompe de Leñas, our first camp on the way in. It's always a long day, and our feet were tired when we arrived, but we were revived by a delicious asado, fresh tomato salad, and Malbec wine cooked for us by the muleteers. Everyone ate until they were stuffed, watched the stars come out, and shared stories. Wednesday morning we were up early, motivated to get to the road and all the comforts that follow. A four hour hike and a quick shuttle delivered us to Penitentes, and then a few hours in the bus had us back in Mendoza last night for another great Mendoza feast.
It has been a blast for the guides to climb with this group. Everyone gelled into a cohesive climbing team well, and took the team work aspect seriously. We have a couple of days now to relax in town, soak up some sun by the pool, and let beat up feet heal, before we start the long plane flights back! Thanks for all the comments and support on the blog.
Over and out,
RMI Guides Pete, Leon, Mike, and the whole climbing team
Greetings from Plaza Argentina! After a very early rise and a FRIGID river crossing our team wound our way up through the Relinchos Valley (a side valley of the Vacas) and arrived at Basecamp. We moved well and made good time on our ascent, with everybody feeling strong on our first bit of sustained elevation gain. We arrived just ahead of a pretty decent squall that gave us a but of wind, hail, and rain but we made short work of setting up tents ahead of the worst of it. Later on we were served up some delicious steaks and a little bit of Cabernet for dinner by the Grajales Basecamp staff. We crashed out around 9 or so when the weather started to get a little squirrelly again and enjoyed a well deserved rest!
Adios from Plaza Argentina!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Posted by: Mike King, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 13,800'
What a whirlwind! Yesterday we were standing at almost 23,000 feet, and this evening we're back at Aconcagua Base Camp. It's a big day descending all the way, and our loads just get bigger as we pick up food and gear cached at each camp. It makes it easier knowing that we're headed to a delicious steak dinner ( better than the way in even!). Tomorrow we're back to light loads, light shoes, and getting miles under our feet. Hopefully we see Billy and team along the way. We'll be in touch!
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
Another passage from the annals of RMI Aconcagua #5 history:
Today was decidedly less hot and subsequently much more enjoyable than yesterday. Our intrepid crew rose early and made short work of our journey from Pampa de Leñas to our second camp on the approach at Casa de Piedras. Sunny skies and a nice breeze kept our spirits high as we cruised through the enormous Vacas Valley. Right as we were arriving in camp we spotted Pete Van Deventer's crew headed down from their successful summit bid. They were looking tired and skinny but super-psyched on their accomplishment and the fact that they were headed for the barn. We gave them high-fives and settled in to build our camp. We too are in good spirits, moving well, and excited to make it to Basecamp tomorrow at Plaza Argentina.
Hasta pronto,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the rest of the gang.
Greetings from Pampa de Leñas! Our team enjoyed one last night in a bed and awoke this morning to beautiful sunny skies. Seemingly, a great day to begin our long journey. The team thus far has been exceptionally well organized and we were able to enjoy a relatively stress free morning putting the finishing touches on our packing and stashing a bunch of city clothes in the Grajales packing facility. We caught a quick ride over to the trailhead at Punta de Vacas and after checking in with the guardaparques began our journey. Relatively calm winds and scorching temperatures in the nineties caught us all a little off guard and forced us to stop frequently and soak our clothes in the river to cool off! Even after a complete soaking, our shirts were dried off completely in ten minutes! Well, despite the heat we persevered and even made good time into our first camp.
More info to come as our expedition develops,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
On The Map
Posted by: Leon Davis, Mike King, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 19,000'
We are all back at the tents after a beautiful summit day on Aconcagua! The weather was even better than forecasted, with no wind, clear skies, and warm temps. This let us leave a bit later, just as the sun was rising, and we enjoyed its warmth for the whole day. I personally have never had better conditions on the summit than today: just a light fleece, no gloves, and a vista that stretched for hundreds of miles in all directions. Congratulations to the team for a huge effort, and standing on the roof of South America. The guides would like to thank the whole team for such a successful and fun trip. Tomorrow we descend back to base camp, and get ready for the trek out and a return to Mendoza.
Cheers
RMI Guides Pete, Leon, Mike, and the climbers
congrats Leon and team!
Posted by: dawn on 2/6/2013 at 11:44 am
Rick can’t wait to hear your voice and hear all about your adventure. XOXOX Carol
Posted by: Carol Crye Popp on 2/5/2013 at 9:10 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Leon Davis, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 19,600'
We made the big trek to Camp 3 today! It's not actually that far, about three hours of walking, but there aren't too many O's at 19,000 feet, and we had a pretty decent wind gusting at us from all directions. Needless to say, we are happy to be in our tents in camp, and pumped for the summit push tomorrow morning. We'll see how much sleep we can get in the thin air up here first, and hopefully we'll give a call from the summit tomorrow afternoon.
Cheers,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Leon Davis, Mike King, and gang
On The Map
Rick is my favorite person named Rick Popp! Congrats to you and your team!
Posted by: Ben Gadd on 2/3/2013 at 12:48 pm
Thinking of you and your team today as you make the summit. XOXOXO Carol
Posted by: carol Crye Popp on 2/3/2013 at 5:25 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Leon Davis, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
Groundhog Day here at Aconcagua Camp 2. A windy night and windy day here confirmed our decision to wait a day before moving up. It's hard to spend two days just hanging in tents though, and the group is psyched to move tomorrow and get closer to our objective. As the forecasts keep coming in (we get pretty OCD as guides right around now) things are looking great for Sunday! Onward and upward,
RMI Guides Pete, Leon, Mike, and team
On The Map
Wow! Mountain Climbing is an incredible feat! Godspeed Joe & George!
Posted by: Daniel Nolan on 2/2/2013 at 7:42 pm
Hang in there team. Relax! When it is right you will move on and summit when it is time.
Love you Tony and David!
Posted by: Laura Rito on 2/2/2013 at 5:22 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Leon Davis, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000
Hey all,
We had a fabulous rest day at Camp 2 today. We went for a short walk to look at the route above us, ate, and napped. We did get a new forecast today, and with the new info, we've decided to rest tomorrow again at Camp 2, then move up Saturday to summit Sunday. This sets us up better for winds, and Camp 2 is a great place to acclimate and get strong. So tomorrow: Groundhog Day! We'll be in touch soon.
Cheers,
The Aconcagua crew
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Leon Davis, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,000'
We made the jump! Camp One was old news and folks were sick of the same old scenery, so we decided to move to Camp Two at 18,000' today. We had beautiful climbing conditions: a light breeze and sunshine, and arrived at camp to find it mostly empty. We got our pick of tent sites before several groups rolled in after us.
Because RMI Guide JJ Justman's team was kind enough to leave us a cache of food and fuel at Camp 3, we have decided not to carry tomorrow, but to rest instead. That sets us up to potentially move to Camp 3 on Friday, and potentially summit on Saturday. There are a lot of ifs in that sentence, and we have to remain flexible up here, but we have our fingers crossed. We'll keep you updated.
Cheers,
RMI Guides Pete, Leon, Mike, and the crew
On The Map
Best of luck for good weather on the big push. Love to Fatima and enjoy the adventure.
Posted by: Peter Williamson on 1/31/2013 at 2:29 pm
Following along anxiously .... Stay safe… Love you and can’t wait till you get home so I can hear all about your adventure first hand.
Posted by: Carol Crye Popp on 1/31/2013 at 7:05 am
Congratulations to the team on your successful adventure! It’s great to imagine you all lazing by the pool in the sun with your feet propped up, reminiscing about all of those footsteps that took you to the top. Well done & Safe trips home!
Love,
Mom & Dad
Posted by: Paula & Bill VanDeventer on 2/7/2013 at 4:56 pm
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