The ascent took me 9:20 from the hotel, just about 9 hours from base camp.
I was really disappointed that Buzz could not share this moment!
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| I decided to take a rest day and make my bid for the summit the following day. That night the wind battered the hotel and I almost lost my resolve. But, at 3 a.m. I stepped out into the thin, crisp air. The night was crystal clear and billions of stars illuminated the forbidding peaks all around. I climbed totally alone, since most climbers attempt the summit from high camps at 17,500 or 19,000 feet no one was out yet. Back at Nido de Condores conditions were just as we had experienced two days before, or maybe even colder. It was so cold that my camera refused to function. Huddled behind a rock I nearly froze my hands while working to insert chemical heat packs into my shoes. Double boots are required by regulation on Aconcagua, but we chose to use light-weight hiking shoes instead Our shoes were oversized to allow for extra socks and heat packs. I used the Montrail Storm GTX. We reasoned that light shoes would allow us to move faster and that our feet would stay warm enough as long as we kept moving. Indeed my feet stayed passably warm though I encountered other climbers with double boots descending due to frostbitten feet. Fortunately, once the sun came up the wind substantially died and though it was still bitter cold the conditions were totally survivable. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nido de Condores | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Berlin and White Rocks camps at 19,000 feet. The previous day I met a russian climber who was so discouraged by a freezing night here that he sold his sleeping bag and abandoned the mountain a week early. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The ruined Refugio Independencia at 21,000 feet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Looking down at base camp and the hotel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Looking down from about 21,500 feet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Looking up at the infamous Canaletta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Canaletta is the most dreaded section of the route. At 22,000 feet you enter a 30 degree chute of awful loose rocks and gravel. But not today! It was all snow with not one loose rock! Perfect. | I MADE IT! The ascent took me 9:20 from the hotel, just about 9 hours from base camp. I was really disappointed that Buzz could not share this moment! |
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| I also met Luis Mayorga, a college professor from Mendoza who was kind enough to give me a ride back to town, all the while filling me with sandwiches, beer and interesting information regarding the surrounding area! Thanks! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| On the way out I met mountain guide Marty Schmidt and his two clients. Marty has climbed Aconcagua 29 times! He guides on peaks all over the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||