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Saturday, January 29, 2011
At Plaza de Mulas
Today was a 9 hour trek and they estimated their packs were 90 lbs. Aaron sounded pretty tired but I was happy to have
not heard a single cough in contrast to the hack-filled call I got last night. Tomorrow they have another 8 hour trek to
Los Penitentes. They suspect they won't get their shuttle to Mendoza until Monday morning. Aaron promised he "try to find
the webcam" tomorrow at the Base Camp before they head out.
Descent Route Unknown
I was going to update their route
map last night to account for the fact they are now going to descend the Normal Route all the way down to Plaza de Mulas (in
one day...today) but what I saw on the map and what I was told by Aaron yesterday did not seem to jive. According to Aaron
they are traversing from Camp 2 to White Rocks then down the Normal Route. However, everything I've read online about this
route and looking at the map, it seems that the Berlin Camp would make more sense. Without scale on the map, I have no idea
if there is an appreciable time or elevation distance between the two camps. Regardless of how they traverse today, they are
gaining oxygen with every step down and should be at Plaza de Mulas this evening. I’m serious about making them pose in front
of the camera there. We’ve earned seeing their smiling faces, right?
Friday, January 28, 2011
Summited and Safely back at camp
At 5 PM (10 PM for them) I finally
got a call. It was in the nick of time because I'd made a deal with myself to not worry until 6 PM. It was a long, cold, grueling
day but both summited. They awoke at 1 am, started hiking at 2 am because they knew snow was forecasted for the afternoon.
They ended up splitting up a somewhere along the way (I'm a little fuzzy on some of the activities included in "we were stuck
in the snow") and Erik made it back to camp around 8 pm with Aaron there about an hour later.
Tomorrow they will traverse to
White Rocks, which should take 2-4 hrs and then head straight down to Plaza de Mulas. You know I am going to try to convince
them to stand in front of the camera there (http://www.aconcaguanow.com/indice4.php) so we can see them.
Still anxiously awaiting...
I know many are likely checking this
time of day expecting to have a summit update. Sarah and I certainly thought we'd have heard from two exhausted and exhilarated
guys by now. However, we have not. Will definitely update as soon as we hear anything.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Resting and preparing
Had a brief conversation a few hours ago and Aaron said he is feeling much better today after eating and drinking. We
are all anxiously awaiting news about the summit attempt tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Settled at Camp 2
Just got the call. I was so worried
they wouldn't get reception at Camp 2 either. Aaron said the scree kicked his butt today but Erik is quite the mountain man
and doing great. Tomorrow is their rest day before the estimated 14 hour summit day on Friday. After summiting they will come
back to Camp 2 for the night. Then likely traverse back to the normal route and down to Plaza de Mulas. I'll find out
more about the descent after their summit.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Carried to Camp 1
Got a call this afternoon and Aaron sounded great. I am sure Erik didn't sound nearly as good after hearing the
Packers Bear score. As planned they carried to Camp 1 today and will pack up and move there tomorrow. This is part of the
their acclimation process, carry up, get a feel for the thinner air, then go back down to sleep at the (relatively) lower
elevation. They'll do this the rest of the way up the mountain.
Evidently the weather is crazy up there. He said they had their dinner during a sudden, and rather crazy sounding, thunder
storm. Half an hour later, it was clear and calm again. He has mentioned a similar situation with a snow storm yesterday.
Aaron wasn't certain he'd have reception at Camp 1 so he said not to be alarmed if I didn't hear from him for a
couple days. Well, I am glad he mentioned it, but that is certainly easier said than done.
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01/16/2011 11:50 am
And they're off! They should now be in the air on the way to LAX. Later this evening they will be off to Lima Peru.
After a 12 hour layover there they will continue on to Santiago, Chile and finally to Mendoza, Argentina.
Erik's gear weighed in at just under 100 lbs and Aaron's at 111 lbs. I think we are all relieved to have the day
here after so many months of planning.
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