Monday, December 29, 2008

In Base Camp

The team called from the Plaza de Mulas Base Camp to say that they all made it down safe and sound. They, once again, made very good time, descending in about 4 hours. This is a tough day, and packs are the heaviest of the trip, but when I asked Chris how everyone managed, he said no one complained about their pack weight.

They had a nice dinner and are all heading to bed. Tomorrow is a nice warm-down hike of about 18 miles with light daypacks. It is really nice to be able to contrast the Horcones Valley that they will hike down tomorrow with the Vacas Valley which they hiked up a couple of weeks ago, as the two are very different. The Base Camps are different as well, with Plaza de mulas resembling a bustling city complete with taverns and a hotel located across the valley.

We had another guide call in who had driven the road from Chile to Mendoza today. He said the upper mountain was completely shrouded in clouds. Chris reported that they descended out of the snow level at about 17,000 feet. Good timing crew!

Packing up and heading down

The team is beginning their descent down to Plaza de Mulas, almost 6,000 feet below. Everyone seems to have recovered from their hard day climbing high yesterday. Though the trail goes downhill, their packs are heavy today, and the recent snowfall will necessitate careful footing.

It snowed more last night, and today the sky and upper mountain are shrouded with clouds, but the teams who had been roughly parallel our climbers are feeling the need to head to the summit. One team is attempting to summit from Helicopter Camp, in a display of ...interesting decision making...

Everyone is feeling pretty good, and will feel better with each step downward. By the time they walk into the Plaza de Mulas Base Camp, the air at 14,300 will feel as thick as syrup. A fine steak dinner prepared by our local logistical outfitter will taste pretty good after a grueling day hiking downhill. I suspect there might be a well-deserved cold beverage or two consumed as well.

Congratulations to each and every one of the climbers. We're proud of you for doing so well and doing your best at every step of the way. That is the true reward of climbing big mountains. Finding that place within yourself where you can go to in order to keep digging deeper than we ever are required to dig during our "normal" lives.

I will post one more post tomorrow, after the team has reached the trailhead and connects with a van to take them back to Mendoza. When Chris and the team return to civilization and can get me photos from the expedition, I will post a number of images from the climb.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The team is back at High Camp

Chris just called to say that everyone is back at High Camp. Ryan, Hazel and Chris all reached the summit. Karin began having some vision difficulties at about 22,000 feet, so she waited for the rest of the team in a sheltered alcove while they went up to the top. Everyone did great, and while we wish everyone had stood together up top, it is important to make conservative decisions at that high an altitude, and everyone is to be highly commended for being one of only a couple of teams to even go for the summit today.

The crew left High Camp for the summit later than planned, as the weather did not allow for an early start. Summit day on Aconcagua is a long one, and the climbers were treated to the experience of descending the long traverse above the west face at sunset. the waning sunlight bathed the team in hues of orange and red, as the snow reflected the evening light. Apparently it was a pretty magical experience.

Chris has the stoves burning ans water heating, so everyone will eat as much as they can (you aren't always too hungry after a summit day) and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is a fairly grueling day of descending 6,000 feet to the west side base Camp at Plaza de Mulas. Steak dinner and the ability to sit at a chair are added incentive for the crew to make the long descent.

Congratulations to everyone for a great effort and for working as hard as they could to make this a great day in the mountains.

On their way to the SUMMIT!

Chris called from the base of the Canaleta to say that they are on their way to the top!

The team awoke this morning to high winds and snow, but as they prepared and ate breakfast, conditions improved. By 10 a.m., Chris had a good feeling that, even though plumes of snow were still streaming off the summit, the trend was improving, so everyone in our group packed up and started up hill. They were the only team to head to the top from their high camp, and have only seen two other climbers on their way up.

They put their crampons on at the ruined Independencia Hut and this has proven to be helpful, as they have encountered snow patches regularly and there is snow in the Canaleta.

Hopefully we will get a call from the summit in a few hours.

****PLEASE NOTE:

I have to run out of the office for a bit, and will not be able to post for the next 4-5 hours. Please understand that i'm not keeping you in suspense, but it is Sunday and my kids want to go skiing. I will receive phone calls from Chris on my cell, so there is a good safety network, but I won't have my computer on the ski slopes.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

La Escoba De Dios

It goes by different names, El Viento Blanco (The White Wind), La Escoba De Dios (The Broom Of God), and by several rather more... street names. The notorious winds of Aconcagua picked up in earnest last night. 50 mph gusts buffeted the tents throughout the night and have only just begun to taper off.

There was no decision to make this morning, as huge plumes of snow and crystallized moisture streamed off the summit in a 2 mile long illustration of the potential fury of big mountains. Everyone is sitting tight, waiting for the weather to improve. The good side of all this is that everyone can benefit from an additional day of acclimatizing, which should help tremendously on summit day.

They won't be heading high today, but hopefully I can post an update tomorrow after receiving a call from the top.

Best of luck to everyone up there. Expeditions are tough on multiple levels, and weather days at 20,000 feet are challenging. Let's all send our warmest wishes and good energy to the team so they can persevere a bit longer and give their best if the winds die tomorrow.

Friday, December 26, 2008

The team is at High Camp!

The team moved quickly up to High Camp this morning. They had a nice day for their hike and the weather was kind enough to remain pleasant while they set up their tents. About an hour into their post-hike nap, the snow began to fall and the wind then began to pick up. Chris reports that they are all tucked into their tents and finishing dinner, while 25 mph gusts and falling snow make for a winter wonderland outside.

Everyone did well, and although they are feeling the altitude a bit (who doesn't at 20,000 feet?). They will waken before dawn to check on the weather. If the wind dies, they will make a push for the summit! I've been keeping an eye on some weather models, and they all predict a nice day tomorrow. Hopefully they are correct and our crew can make a bid for the top.

Summit day is a long one. The team will get up at about 5:30 a.m., eat breakfast and pack up their summit gear. What they wear will really depend on how chilly the morning is, but it is not uncommon to wear every stitch of clothing you brought with you for the first hour of hiking, primarily because you are hiking in the dark.

The first hour ascends a scree field and joins the summit route shared by the two most traveled routes on the mountain, while it ascends the east side of the north ridge of the mountain. After the sun hits, temperatures often rise and make for comfortable climbing as they ascend to the skeletal remains of the Independencia Hut at roughly 21,500 feet. Just above this point, they will cross over the north ridge to the shady west side of the mountain (brrr!) and make along traverse across the top of the West Face of Aconcagua to the base of an 1300 foot gully known as the Canaleta. The Canaleta can be tricky, as it is filled with loose rocks. Chris will pick a route through the boulders and they will reach a point where it is possible to look down the dramatic 9,000+ foot South Face. There are few views in this world which take you breath away as literally as this one.

The final climb to the summit has a couple of rocky steps that need to be negotiated. Once on top, they will need to pay heed to the old climbing adage that, "the top is only halfway." The descent can be quick and straightforward or long and tricky, depending on snow conditions and on how everyone is feeling. Hopefully, they will make good time and get back to their High Camp in time for a nice dinner and a good night's sleep before descending the west side to the Plaza de Mulas Base Camp.

Good luck up there everybody. We'll keep you all in our thoughts. I'll post an update as soon as I hear from the crew.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas to the team who celebrated the holiday camped at 18,000 feet above sea level, on the eastern flank of Aconcagua.

Chris called to report that the acclimatization day seems to have really given everyone a good bump in spirits and appetites. It is a beautiful day with the blend of light snow falling on a sunny day that you are occasionally treated to in the mountains. The mix makes for a fairly ethereal atmosphere with the neighboring beaks illuminated in sunlight while flakes waft down on their tents.

Speaking of atmosphere, 18,000 feet is about where the climbers will encounter one-half an atmosphere, or an atmospheric pressure that is roughly one-half that at sea level. You are high enough that should you spill boiling water on your hand, you will not burn yourself, due to the much lower boiling point. It makes brewing good coffee easy, as you won't scorch the grounds, but boiling pasta can be a real disaster.

Hazel treated the team to back rubs, further improving everyone's Christmas cheer. I have been doing my best to keep up with passing messages along to Hazel. I think she's about the most popular person we've ever had on a trip, and Chris affirms that her popularity is contagious even on a big, cold mountain.

To the team, and to everyone reading this post, have a very enjoyable, and safe holiday. You climbers are all in our thoughts and we wish you all the best tomorrow when you head up to High Camp.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The team made a carry to High Camp!

Chris just called and the team made a carry up to their High Camp this morning. Chris says it is a beautiful day up on the mountain, and that the rumors of an impending snowstorm have yet to materialize.

The route up to high Camp departs Camp 2 and climbs steeply up a short hill, at the top of which used to be the remnants of the crashed Lama helicopter. Beyond this point, it follows a vague ridge line, which is actually the border of an old, mostly rotten and rock covered glacier.

This ridge delineates two huge bowls that comprise much of the West Face of Aconcagua. The southern bowl is topped by the Polish Glacier and drains down into the Plaza Argentina drainage. The more northerly bowl is very broad across its top and drains down into a series of glacially sculpted valleys which bottom out at the head of the Vacas Valley.

The team ascended the ridge to a point where they could do a gradual traverse across the top of the northern bowl and then ascend up to their high Camp on the crest of the North Ridge of Aconcagua. The final several hundred feet to High Camp is a surreal landscape of bizarre purple hued rock towers and boulders, sculpted by the wind into curved, twisted forms very reminiscent of an early Star Trek setting. High Camp is surrounded by white versions of these towers, hence its other moniker, White Rocks. Located at just over 20,000 feet, the team could look down the west side of Aconcagua at the upper camps used by the thousands of climbers ascending the normal route. The rocks provide some protection from the wind, which, as you might well imagine can be severe at that altitude.

Everyone is doing well, although they are feeling the effects of the altitude. They will celebrate Christmas at Camp 2, so that Santa won't have to fly his sleigh quite so high to deliver their presents. hopefully, he keeps any gifts light weight! The additional day of acclimatization and rest should put them in a better position for a summit bid after moving high on Friday.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

At Camp 2!!

Well the team moved up to Camp 2, otherwise known as Helicopter Camp (there used to be the remnants of a crashed Lama helicopter just above camp). Camp is at 18,000 feet and the team made great time moving up.

Everyone is resting in their tents and plan to make a carry up to high camp tomorrow. Chris says that it looks like a snow storm might be brewing, so they are going to play each day by ear from here on out. If everyone feels good tomorrow, they will carry to high camp and then they will either move up the following day, or remain at Camp 2 for an additional rest/acclimatization day. There are pros and cons to both and this is the time on an expedition where good communication is crucial between team members, so that Chris can best assess everyone and make the most informed decision possible about how to proceed.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

At Camp 1!!

The team moved up to Camp 1 in just over 3 hours today! They are really doing great. Everyone feels good and they are set up in a nicely fortified camp site a full two minutes walk from their water source. Nicely done, team!

Tomorrow's work will consist of hiking up to the next camp at about 18,000 feet and caching their extra food and fuel. They have a good view of most of the elevation gain, nestled as they are in a fairly deep cirque. The big, snow covered peaks to the north are just starting to come into view over the edge of the cirque. Tomorrow's views will expand tremendously, and they will be looking across at the glaciated Cerro Ameghino just to the east.

I received a nice email from Hazel yesterday! There is limited internet access from the Plaza Argentina basecamp and she took advantage of it to communicate with some of her friends. I'm going to take some liberty here and post from her email:

"Dear Todd,

Thank you so much for making contact with my friend Blanche .....and also for fielding all those emails from me ol' mates....would you mind just forwarding them to my email address as above? Then I can check out who loves me when I return to civilization!!!

Hey...Chris is great! Great style of leadership and tops today especially when we did a hard carry up to the camp 1...in horrid winds. We are a tight knit group and all doing pretty well....at least that is what Chris says but he would say that wouldn't he!!!!!

Any way thanks again...better offski

Cheers

Hazel"

I will email all of you who have passed along regards and warm wishes with Hazel's current email address, which I suppose is easier for her to access than her work(?) email.



Saturday, December 20, 2008

The team carried to Camp1

The team made their carry to Camp 1 today. They took the majority of their food and fuel and loaded up their backpacks to make the tough push up to Camp 1. They departed basecamp and crossed a field of "penitentes" which are fins of snow that can sometimes stand 4 meters tall. They are essentially exaggerated sun cups of snow, which get further carved out by the wind. Occasionally, you will need to negotiate a particularly challenging field of these, and it is very much like being in a snowy labyrinth.

Following the penitente field, they climbed up onto an old, gravel covered glacier and wound their way toward the final snowfield that led them to Camp 1. the uphill portion took them about four hours, which is a really good time. They piled their supplies up next to an established rock wall, which they will use to help shield their tents from the wind when they move up to Camp 1. The descent took another couple of hours and they are pretty tuckered out right now.

The wind, which Aconcagua is so famous for, made its presence known today. Basecamp is receiving some substantial gusts and Camp 1 is really getting hammered.

Everyone is doing great and they plan to move up to Camp 1 tomorrow, weather permitting.

Acclimatizing at Basecamp

Chris called yesterday, but I was away from my computer due to a severe snowstorm in Colorado.

He reported that the team was taking the rest/acclimatization day that they had planned to take. They were eating like kings (ahhh, Argentine steaks!) and enjoying the interesting scenery around basecamp. Chris is a geologist by training and recognized that the area around basecamp is an old caldera, or "mouth" of a volcano which had exploded outward at some time in the distant past.

The distant part of that observation was reassuring, as Chris also reported that the area had been subjected to several minor earthquakes during the course of the 24 hours that the team had been there. Such tremors are not uncommon in the Andes, situated as they are along the leading edge of the South American tectonic plate, but I suspect they have caught everyone's attention!

The group spent the day hiking around basecamp and bouldering on some nicely featured rocks down valley a bit. the plan is to carry some of their food and supplies up to Camp 1 today and return to sleep at basecamp. The hike from their previous camp at Casa de Piedra gained a lot of elevation, so it is prudent to take things slow for a couple of days and allow their bodies to acclimatize. A couple of people were evacuated from basecamp yesterday for altitude sickness, so the team is being very conservative.

I might hear from the group in the next few hours and will post as soon as I am able.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Team Is At Basecamp!

I just received word from Chris that the team is safely nestled in at the Plaza Argentina Basecamp!

They mad VERY good time today, moving more quickly than all the other teams and made it to camp in about 5 hours (once again!). Chris said he was not pushing the climbers at all, rather they were hustling along at their own comfortable paces, which really bodes well for them as they get higher on the mountain.

As they hiked up the Relinchos Valley this morning, they saw a guanaco. These are more plentiful in the upper stretches of the Vacas Valley, but as that area is now off limits to climbers, it was a real treat for the team to get to see one of these small camelids.

The weather is good at BC, although it is windy and there are thunderheads forming up high. Chris does not think it is a summit day for climbers on the upper mountain, as there is a thick cloud covering extending down to the 19,000 foot level. The team will enjoy full basecamp support for the next few days. This means they will be eating in a dining tent while sitting at chairs at a table! Ahhh, basecamp...

The plan is to take a rest/acclimatization day tomorrow, to help ease the transition that today's 1000 meters of elevation gain is subjecting their bodies to. They will then "make a carry" to Camp 1 at just over 16,000 feet. this means they will pack up their extra food, fuel and supplies and carry it all up to camp where they will cache it . The following day they will move up to Camp 1 and dig into their cache. This will be the manner in which they will climb from here on upwards. This enables them to climb high and sleep low, which allows their bodies to acclimatize more easily to each higher elevation.

Hazel was thrilled to get the good word from her friend Blanche!

At Casa De Piedra

There was a message on the machine from Chris and Hazel from yesterday evening. They moved to the second camp on their approach to Aconcagua. Casa De Piedra (House of Stone) is about 8 miles up the Vacas Valley from their previous camp. The team traveled the distance in roughly 5 hours, which is a great time for the terrain.

Leaving the Pamaps de Lenas camp, the group hiked past a pretty waterfall called Lagrimas de la Vieja (Old Woman's Tears). Above them they were greeted and escorted for a short ways by a soaring Andean Condor! These huge birds with 274 to 310 cm (9 to 10 ft) wingspans are the largest flying birds in the western hemisphere. They are truly magnificent to see in the wild and are considered a threatened species. To put this sighting in perspective, despite having spent three years of my life in the Andes, I have only seen Andean Condors on a half dozen occasions.

Everyone is doing great, and Hazel asked that i pass along her warmest wishes to her friend Blanche. Hazel is thinking of you and wishing you the very best.

I expect to hear from them shortly with news of their arrival at the Plaza Argentina base camp.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

On the approach!

Chris called from Pampas de Lenas and reported that the team made good time on the 8 mile hike to their first camp on the approach to Aconcagua. Pampas de Lenas means "Plains of Reeds," although I am not entirely sure why. It is situated at the base of a nice rock wall to the west and the Rio Vacas to the east. There are some fields of bunch grasses ringing the camp, which must give it it's name.

The weather was nice for their first day of hiking. They encountered some snow in old avalanche debris piles which filled in some gullies on their hike, but Chris said he was hiking in a shorts and a T-shirt. It was nice to get away from the 37 degree C temps of Mendoza!

Everyone is doing well, and the good time they made on this first leg of their journey bodes well for the team. Chris did not have a pen with him to write down the long list of well wishers who wanted to pass "Happy Birthdays" along to Hazel, but he promised to have one handy tomorrow evening to take notes as I read him the list of names. Thanks to all of you for sending good energy Hazel's way as she heads uphill.

Tomorrow, the team will cross a bridge to the east side of the Rio Vacas and remain off that shore for the day. They will gain about 1500 feet of elevation on their way to the next camp at "Casa de Piedra" (House of Stone), so named for a primitive hovel of stones piled around an overhanging rock, first built by gauchos herding horses and goats.

The views of Aconcagua from this camp are absolutely stunning. The peak is framed nicely within the walls of the Relinchos Valley, which they will hike up the following day.

Everyone is doing great, and the team plans to sleep out under the magnificent southern sky tonight. It is pretty amazing for folks from the northern hemisphere to sleep for a while and awaken to an unfamiliar star-scape which includes the Clouds of Magellan and the Southern Cross.

Happy Birthday Hazel!

The team is about to start hiking up the Vacas Valley. Things were a bit stressful when Karin arrived without one of her bags. When it did not arrive the following day, she went shopping with Chris and the group subsequently jumped in a van for the scenic ride to the small ski resort of Penitentes, located a few miles from the trailhead.

Hazel has been receiving many emails of good wishes on her birthday. What a place to spend your "day in the sun!" Hopefully tonight will see her comfortably nestled in her sleeping bag at the Pampas de Lenas camp about 8 miles up the Vacas Valley.

The trek in to base camp follows a deep, desert valley. The Rio Vacas (Cow River) flows along the trail and will be negotiated by a conveniently placed bridge tomorrow morning after breaking camp. Bunch grasses, small shrubs and the occasional desert flower are the prominent flora of the area. We've seen foxes and guanacos in the Vacas Valley over the years. Guanacos are a large mammal in the camel family, which look like tan or rust colored, small llamas. The tend to stay in the upper stretches of the valley, away from wandering climbers, but we have seen them down low on occasion.

I'll post more when they team calls in from Pampas de Lenas this afternoon.