Climbing South America’s highest peak - 2014
Cambio exchange
Having great fun. And worry getting permits. We need to find, cash, 6848 Argentina pesos for each permit. We thought it was about $800. And it is, sort of. Unless you get accosted by a street corner chappy who is proffering a lot less. We’re waiting to see if the gamble worked. Need to get a stamp by a Western Union type bank, then goto the tourist office to get the permit. We’ve done one, if it works we’ve saved about £200 each…. Heck.
Permit success
Dodgy money exchange on a street corner is fine. Apparently. We now have the permits. Yay!
Last Wifi blog
Switching to local sim card now. Probably no more photos for a while. But we’ll try get sign for text blogs. Merry Christmas from the middle of summer in Argybargy Argentina to everyone, from the both of us xx
We’re off!
Finally. Bus station at 5am. Em went looking for the right bus and left Graham looking mean by the bags. Flippin heavy bags. 4 bags, 2 rucksacks and 2 mule bags. The mule bags were split, one food and one kit and damn heavy. Although the rucksacks were massive too. Graham’s is like a sail and will need to be repacked for higher up on the mountain. It’s too tall, needs to be redistributed to a more squat appearance. Em was gone for ages and eventually came back round the corner with a smile and a thumb up. “I’ve got tickets!” Phew. So we lugged the bags to bus stop 47, miles away. One coffee later (much pre added sugar) and we climbed aboard the opulent coach, with extra cool reclining seats with the locals. A Quebec pair of climbers introduced themselves. They had literally twice as much stuff. Oh dear. Not sure who for. Bus off at 6am (8 mins late), 2 hour journey to mule station.
Internet connectivity
There is no phone signal, so we’re having to pay for a Wifi connection that connects to a satellite phone. $10 USD for 15 minutes. So hopefully this is coming through on day 3, the next update will not be for a while. There is no wifi higher up…
There is a Web Cam here, the highest one in the world… Www.aconcaguanow.com We might be able to let you all know what time were standing in front of it for a wave…! I’ll let you know…
Day 1 on the mountain
The bus dropped us off in a one horse town called Penitentes. Emma went looking for a toilet and I headed off for the mule company, Lanko. Our bags were weighed, 27kg bag for kit; high altitude boots, duvet coats, crampons etc and a 29kg bag full of food. We did rather feel sorry for the poor mule destined to carry all that. Then we got a lift to the gateway and checked in with the park ranger station. Everything is very well organised. We were quizzed on our itinerary, apparently it’s too ambitious. Emma will cope…! The ranger also handed us 2 bags each for our rubbish, which would carry a heavy fine if we were to lose them. Finally we set off with huge rucksacks, enough for 3 days’ camping, tent and all. I rather foolishly was arrogantly wearing shorts, Emma a much more sensible attire. The sun was brutal, especially the reflecting light from the ground. We stopped for food every now and again and were surrounded by lovely little green and yellow finches, very tame and desperate for any crumbs. We had one Indiana Jones swing bridge crossing before arriving at our first Camp. Camp Confluencia. Now well above 11000’. I was struggling. Sun stroke, because I was stupid. Altitude doesn’t kick in until 6 hours after arriving, so it wasn’t that. We put the tent up, fairly quickly, using stones to tie down, not pegs. Emma had complained I was quiet and boring. Really I was finding it hard going. The sun had zapped my strength. We cooked up pasta and went for our compulsory medical check up with the rangers. All clear. Back to the tent for hot chocolate and an early night with a hot head.
Day 2
We both woke up feeling much better. Military 680 calories breakfast pouches. Camp packed and off by 0755. Emma straight away put her ipod earphones in. She said I’d been too quiet yesterday. To be honest the peace was nice! (Emma agrees) It was a long day. 10 miles along a slowly up-sloping wide valley. Incredibly dusty. Fine powder dust, it kept filling up my shoes. We both felt good, but found it hard going, so had frequent water and rest stops. We bumped into a couple on their way down, they’d had altitude problems and only the guy summited on a very windy day. Some good gen though, which Camp to find water at and the importance of rest. They also told us we were about half way to the next Camp, which was demoralising, we thought we were much closer…! The trail started to go steep and we had a long climb up to the Plaza De Mulas Camp. Which boasts the highest art gallery and separately the highest hotel in the world. We were camping though! We checked in after the 9 hour slog, shattered, at the ranger station. And were briefed to come back for our compulsory medical at 6pm tomorrow. It was hard enough to find our mule handlers, a nice surprise though, a Nissan type canvas hut to sleep in (Inc camp beds) and another hut laid out with a meal, sliced water melon and biscuits. I tucked in immediately. Emma, not so sure, as the chap who showed us in didn’t speak English. I persuaded her to have some anyway, just as we’d polished off the watermelon and were eating the biscuits a lady came in and said “no, no, these aren’t for you!” Ooops. That’s what guided expensive expeditions get. And it’ll be $15 USD for the huts. Bargain. Emma apologised and offered to pay for the food in Spanish, but the lady said it was fine and gave her a hug. I was long gone, unpacking my sleeping bag with a lovely watermelon filled tummy! No payment necessary in the end. Pasta for dinner and an early night in the hut joined by Tony the South African and his guide, who’d missed out on a lovely refreshing watermelon…
Day 3
Rest day. Doing nothing at all day. Eating, drinking, weeing and the other one (Graham’s were problematic). Lots of laziness. I’d slept terribly, we’d both been up in the night, as the human body changes its blood to cope with the lack of oxygen, it has a huge need for water, meaning you’re thirsty always and the toilet is frequent! 4 litres a day minimum. I was up at 0930, a helicopter had been delivering stuff for an hour or so, making noise. We had breakfast in the Nissan cooking hut, with a nice American called Kevin. He has taken a year off work and was 10 months into exploring South America. He was much more efficient at cooking and generally better organised. A Petroleum Engineer who decided one day the hamster wheel of life was not rewarding enough, so he set off to find the answer… Nice chap. We had a wander up to the art gallery and then back to the hut for lunch and repacking. The plan is to carry a heavy bag as far as we can tomorrow and dump (or cache) our stuff two camps up, then back down to Plaza De Mulas for another night. Then back up again with the rest of the equipment after another rest day. Our bags needed sorting and food splitting up, so we could take up the right things to leave at the higher Camp for the higher portion of the mountain. Basically we’ve got too much stuff! Last job done before bed, we’ve had dinner, orrible Argentinian pasta, but more importantly we’ve both passed our compulsory medical. Flying colours. “perfect” in the doctors words. No reference was made to Graham being able to eat anything and turn it into one million cubic meters of methane poo air. Unfortunately one of the two nice Norwegian ex-paratroopers is being sent back, via helicopter no less. The doctor wasn’t happy with his lung sounds, worried about pneumonia. Poor chap, his mate is staying on. So we’re off to bed for an early start to see how far we can carry our stash. Not sure when next blog will be published. Laters, Graham and Emma x.
Aconcaguanow.com
We’re going to be waving to the Web Cam here at Base Camp, that takes a new picture every three minutes, tonight (Saturday 20th) at 5pm our time, that’s 8pm UK time and midday 12pm Los Angeles time….
If anyone can grab a screen shot and email it to us, awesome…!
Toilet
Camp Confluencia was spoilt with a flushing toilet in a corrugated iron shed. Whereas here at Base Camp, Plaza De Mulas we have the same tin shed with a hole in it. French camping style. Emma says the hole is quite small so aiming is a problem. I go for the spray technique. Still luxury compared to higher up, from now on it’s number ones where you can and number 2s in a plastic bag to be carried back and handed in to the rangers at Base Camp. They even check the weight to make sure you didn’t miss one..! Washing is similarly problematic. There is a water supply of sorts here at Base Camp, a blue barrel and a jug, but higher up it’s snow that needs melting, so water will be just for drinking and cooking. Emma still smells nice. I don’t so much.
Day 4
It was a flippin cold night. Camp beds seem to be colder than tents, also a big hut doesn’t stay warm, so the air inside is cold too. We did do some star gazing before bed. The sky is so clear here, above most of the atmosphere and no light pollution. Orion’s Belt still clearly visible, although up side down. I’m still trying to get used to the sun being in the North during the day. We had the inevitable faff and managed to set off in the shade by 0810. The sun breaks over the mountains, into the valley, at 0930. So a chilly start and Emma off like Tigger. We both felt good. The aim of the day was to carry supplies as far as we could, empty our bags and head back to Base Camp. The bags were as heavy as we could manage and included 9 days of food and fuel. The slope out of camp was steep scree, loose gravel, 3 steps up, 2 steps back. Very frustrating and energy sapping. Eventually it turned into loads of zig zags. Steadily going up to Camp Canada. We hoped to get to the next Camp too, Camp Nido. It was very hard and slow going. We saw a huge avalanche off in the distance too, with associated roar, impressive amount of snow dust gets kicked up and sent ahead, awesome. About half way Emma finally realised what altitude was, I’d already been struggling..! And started to slow, as she said her head was keen, her legs wouldn’t move. We’re high now, as high as Mt Blanc. We reached Canada and decided that was enough. So we emptied our bags into a mule bag we’d brought too, had lunch and a rest and enjoyed the incredible views. The way down was quicker, scree running is a favourite of mine. Big steps and you go down as fast as skiing. Very invigorating. We stopped frequently to enjoy the views and rest, there was no rush getting back. We both made a mistake on hydration though and started to succumb. You should drink a litre for every 1000m, we’re nearly at 5000m. Looking back I’d probably drunk less than 2 litres. When we got back, I wanted to put the tent up, I found the huts too cold. It was hard work, both headachey and weak. We collapsed into the sun baked hot tent and lay uncomfortably nursing illness and headaches, with the hot sun burning through the canvass making our eyes sore. After a few hours we got up and drank. And drank. That was when we realised our mistake. We put away 4 litres in short order. Feeling much better, pasta for dinner and a chat with the other climbers in the cook tent. Including the one remaining Norwegian guy and a famous Malaysian climber. I must Google him, he is sponsored by Mountain Hardware and lost every finger tip climbing the North Ridge of Everest, the same route I’ve done. A very entertaining guy, he’d just summitted here, and was full of useful tips. There was also a very arrogant German, who I took an instant dislike too. Back in the comfortable, warmer, private tent for the night. Music playing through a speaker on the iPod, we drifted to sleep with the wind trying to blow our house down.
Day 5 rest day
How our tent survived the night is impressive. The wind really tried. The mountain forecast here only has wind speed. No reference is made to temperature, cloud, rain, snow or anything. Wind is the thing, a jetstream sits just near the summit and occasionally touches the mountain. So if the wind is low, you can have a go, if it’s high, get down the mountain soonest, to seek shelter. Obviously wind chill is an important factor, basically it’s bloody cold too. So today we’re resting. Blogging, reading, hydrating, eating and getting organised for tomorrow. Up to Nido Camp with our remaining kit, missing out the Canada stash, we’ll get that the following day probably. Then a rest day at Nido and a look at the weather for a further push to a higher Camp, Berlin Camp, to hopefully summit from there. Wind allowing.
Day 5 again
It started snowing! We went up to the Web Cam and hung around, no idea if anyone saw us or if the camera took any photos, so it’s possible you would have seen us looking bored, our backs or pulling funny faces and smiling! We were there for 20 minutes for good measure. It was such a windy night, the forecast says bad weather today and tomorrow and the next, then good. Or rather that’s the wind conditions.
Day 6
Holy crap it was windy. And snowy. The wind made the tent sound like a massive bass speaker, boom, boom. We decided to set off anyway as we were returning to the Base Camp. The plan was to carry our heavy bags we had stashed from Canada to Nido. So we’d set off with an empty bag and fill them at Canada. The wind was so strong it had damaged the cook tent, so we made breakfast in a snow drift in what cover there was left inside the cook tent. We were a bit late setting off, 9am. Now check out the video! That was Emma doing mountaineering! The conditions were severe, strong winds, gusts and that meant blizzard conditions. The good news is our clothing solution managed admirably. The bad news is we didn’t get to the Nido Camp, we’d hoped to, and dropped our bags off before having gained another 300m or so above Canada. The lack of oxygen is really telling as we were over 5000m. Emma was going slowly and didn’t feel great. Headache, nauseous and stomach cramps. Need more oxygen! So we’re contemplating a rest day again tomorrow. Although the weather was SO bad, it is no surprise we didn’t get quite as far as planned. When we finally made it back to Base Camp the cook tent had been totally destroyed. And we were allowed to use an expedition hut for the afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll be cooking in our own tent. I cooked up some dried pesto with pasta. (gopping), Emma went to bed early after some hydration and not much warm food (polenta). Although she felt much better before sleep after some recovery in the tent, she did eat an extra lunch too.
Day 7
Emma is much better. We’re going to set off after lunch and camp at Canada. Thinking that will be a shorter day and make Nido very possible the next day. So we’re having an early brunch, sending this blog and disappearing up the mountain. If everything goes well, we’ll summit around Christmas day and be back in blog contact around boxing day or the few days after. Depending on the wind and our health. Laters, and a very merry Christmas x
Permit cost
The permit to climb Aconcagua has gone up hugely in a few years. From $100 to $944 USD. I thought they were cashing in on a captive audience. Fair enough really. But actually it pays for all the medical services (inc 2 doctors), Park Rangers and amazingly, a helicopter evacuation, if required. The Norwegian chap, Eric, told us about the free evacuation. I think the Argentinians had got fed up of rescuing people who’d over extended themselves. Much better than Nepal, where permits cost 10s of £1000s just for the permission to set foot on the mountain.
Day 7 again
We set off at around 1pm and followed a few groups already heading up. Straight away the path was so much better. We’d been going for a much more vertical, loose stoned one. So the going was easy. I’d taken the heavy bag, leaving Emma a reasonable sized bag, it meant we made good time and had a matched pace. When you hyperventilate, breathe fast to increase the oxygen content, you also change the balance of carbon dioxide, which in turn makes your blood more acidic. This change is the reason I think you need to take on so much water, along with your body increasing the red blood cell content. As the body needs to get rid of all the toxins. So the harder you work, the harder you breathe, the more water and wee you need. Which I think is why I had a funny turn this evening. We made fast time, getting to Canada a full 30 mins faster then previous. I also ran ahead slightly to overtake a group, in case there weren’t any camping spaces available. So my heavy rucksack and the speedy ascent meant I did a lot of breathing.
The weather was superb, no clouds, hardly any wind. We met some Indians at the space we picked out for putting our tent up, they’d popped up for lunch and were heading back down. One was a retired Commander from the Indian Navy and one had a brother in Hull who was a neuro surgeon…! I had a strange deja vu. Just as we were unpacking our tent another chap came along who said that the space was his. He’d put his bag close by a few days ago..?! We then had a staring standoff, Bridget Jones style. Very unmanly. He caved and grumpily took his bag to another, less choice, spot. I felt bad afterwards and wished we’d moved instead to keep the peace and stop any bad feeling. We’ll probably overtake, and be passed, several times by that man and his friend over the next few days. Bugger. Right or wrong, there is now bad feeling.
We got the tent up in stunning surroundings. Over 5000m now, which means we are camping higher than Mt Blanc. About then I started to feel rubbish and I was over come with flatulence (poor Emma, it was in the tent..!), it just kept coming. Emma was surprisingly sympathetic. I had got myself dehydrated again, big bag, too fast, and felt awful. Now pooing is in a bag, rubbish carried and water must be melted and boiled. Everything is harder. We had the most awful pasta dinner, it’d turned into a starchy sludge and had to be forced down, I gagged, Emma didn’t finish hers. After boiling more snow for water we went to bed, me feeling terrible. Emma saw the Magnelicus (sp) clouds she’d read about again and pointed them out on a wee excursion. A pair of sort of mini Milky Ways. Only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.
Day 8 23 Dec
Today was a good day. Our plan was to climb the short distance (500m vertical) up to Nido De Condores (condor’s nest). We’d tried to get to Nido twice already and failed so this was a big step, we were also planning to pick up our stash, that we’d dropped previously, and take that to Nido. Several groups had already set off and showed us a much better set of zig zags to follow, as opposed to Graham’s normal practice of going straight up. We made good time and collected all the gear we needed from our stash, including swapping boots (in Graham’s case trainers), to big double skinned high altitude mountaineering boots. We’d dropped the stash off in a blizzard, so we were miles from the easy path and had followed a more direct vertical route, surprise. Emma reminded Graham of this excursion several times…
We made it over the ridge to Nido in good order with all the right gear so we were pleased. Our camp site was originally in the lee side of a huge boulder, perfect wind defence. After we started erecting the tent though we realised other people had used the wind shelter as privacy to go to the loo! With lots of evidence we decided to decamp a little further away and use said facilities as well! Emma was not happy to be followed out of the tent during a facility excursion, Graham thought it made good use of tent opening efficiency. Not any more.
Emma set about sorting the tent and I set off in search for decent snow we could melt for water, most of the snow had been used, dust blown on it, turned to ice etc. I was delighted to find a small lagoon by accident, we’d heard rumours and counter rumours about. I rushed back for empty bottles and ended up siphoning 12 litres, which we added chlorine tablets to.
Emma cooked pasta and chopped up a salami (a real treat). We , looked at the fantastic night sky and went to bed early. Pleased we were higher up, in a weather window, with all the correct kit. Our kit keeps getting streamlined at every sort, due it’s weight. So we’re leaving bits all over the place to pick up on the way back.
Day 9 Christmas Eve
We’d been saving some military rations for a good breakfast, they are full of calories and taste nice. I had a packet of strawberry porridge. You get used to high up food, just shovel it in, as you never feel hungry. On spoon number 4, I realised something was wrong. Curdled milk powder, out of date by 2 years. Uurgh I felt rubbish. Not a great start, possible food poisoning. We went through our kit again to see what we really could do without, streamlining to keep weight down. My solar charger got left, food (we’re going full tilt for summit day tomorrow, so carrying enough food just for that), fuel (so we had just enough) and some clothes. Then for a change we set off walking up hill. Aiming for Berlin Camp, my tummy playing up, filling bags along the way, stoopid milk. Emma was strong today. We saw our Norwegian friend, Eiric, he’d unbelievably gone for the summit feeling headachey. He’d got to 6200m (summit 6962m) and hallucinated amongst other things, so he’d turned around. He was off to the free doctor then aiming to meet up with his helicoptered-out friend. His war with the mountain was over. We reached Berlin and decided it wasn’t great so carried onto Colera Camp, where everyone else seemed to be heading. I felt terrible, milk issues. So I got snow in a large plastic bag, we’d brought specially for the task, while Emma started to put up the tent, then left Emma to melt it. Melting snow, we need at least 6 litres and it takes a while. And she did the cooking again. I laid on my sleeping bag feeling rubbish. It was Christmas Eve and Graham was excited… He had bought Emma a present and couldn’t wait any longer. Very kind, he had carried a can of coke zero that said Buddy and a Lindt chocolate Santa. Very thoughtful. We spent the evening hydrating, eating (rice for the first time) and got ready for an early start. Graham set his alarm for 0245 am!
Day 10 Christmas Day
The alarm went off at 0245 and it was so cold! Happy Christmas! Summit day today and it was now or never, we’d gone all in on the food plan and only had enough in Colera Camp for this plan. It was pitch black and Graham chose a vertical route uphill (again), as opposed to a relatively gentle incline we had seen during the daylight, but now couldn’t find in the dark. We both had our head torches but it was difficult to see a good route. The guided groups were still faffing in their tents. Emma didn’t feel very well at the start, and was close to turning around after 30 mins, but she got better. It was so cold, both our feet turned to ice blocks, total loss of feeling in the toes. After a few hours we passed another chap, Canadian Marty, who was looking for Camp 3, to dump his kit. We walked up to Plaza Independencia, hoping for a little shelter from the hut that’s there, so we could un-freeze our fingers and toes, and generally try to warm through. No such luck. The ‘hut’ was in a state of disrepair and offered no protection from the biting wind and Emma’s fingers and toes had been cold from the start. It still wasn’t daylight… We kept hoping for the sun to come up and take the edge off the frost nip, but the sun was nowhere to be seen. We were worried we were becoming hypothermic with no rescue plan or extra warm clothing options in our bag. Graham fitted Emma’s crampons, which made his hands even colder, then he did his own while Emma made a start up a steep snow-ice section. She was almost at the top and lost her grip, falling and rolling 4 times, just managing to stop on a patch of gravel, otherwise it was a long way down. Phew. A little winded, lots of adrenalin and Graham missed the whole thing (pooing again, it’s flippin cold doing that by the way)! Marty was just ahead and called down to see if Emma was OK, offering his ice axe for the final part… But second time lucky, she was up. Crampons off on top of the ridge, the wind there was so bitingly cold the air instantly froze Graham’s eyelashes together and even froze his cornea, giving him temporary blurred vision (about 8 hours) everything was hazy for a while. Then we stumbled onto the walk to El Dedo (The Finger - a spike of prominent rock), at approx 6500m. Just a short way past here, Emma, shivering uncontrollably, decided she valued her fingers, toes, face and eyes too much and told Graham. With Graham in the same state, we decided the right thing to do was to turn round and descend back to Camp, we were at 6550m (summit 6962m). Back in the warm sun drenched tent, we shivered for hours until our body had got it in its mind it was no longer at risk of hypothermia. Then we slept. When we woke we chatted about our options. Food low, no energy drinks, low on fuel to melt snow and generally fed up. Emma had had enough, 6550m was a great achievement and she had decided the call of Valparaiso in Chile was more inviting. Graham was keen not to have to come back again for another expensive, fairly miserable holiday, to tick off Aconcagua as part of his 7 Continental Summits bid. But he was in a bad way. We decided we’d go all in for tomorrow, Emma would melt snow again and let Graham rest, then tomorrow he’d set off for the summit, solo, with little food, no energy drinks and hopefully enough melted water. Emma would decamp and we’d meet at the end of the day at Base Camp regardless. We also had to pick up all the streamlined gear stashes. Emma’s job was all the current camp site gear and was swinging into Nido to grab the bag we left there (a massive total load). Graham would get the original big stash bag we’d left below Nido. And we each promised to pick up the scattered poo bags, Home County doggy poo style. Alarm set for 0445 this time, hoping the later time would let the sun help…
Day 11 Emma’s Boxing Day
Emma’s day: Graham woke me already dressed at 5am. It was so windy and cold, I thought he was mad. He eventually finished faffing 10 minutes later and left with instructions about timings to send search parties, if he hadn’t touched base through the rangers by 5pm, something was wrong and the alarm needed to be raised. He then came back for his torch. Then again for his goggles, then disappeared into the freezing windy darkness. I fell back to sleep listening to the wind, glad I had made the decision not to attempt the summit again. I woke at 7ish, and decided to wait until the sun hit the tent, so slept until just after 8. Then I had the duty of packing all remaining kit and tent into/onto my bag and carry it all the way to Plaza De Mulas. We’d talked it through, Graham had offered and wanted to pick up some more stuff on the way down, but I figured he’d be too tired, so it became my responsibility. Now, though, I was not happy, the whole way down. The bag was heavy, I honestly fell around 50 times. I had two huge sleeping bags, stove, fuel, cooking pans and kettle, 3 roll mats (Graham has to have 2 because he feels the cold), excess clothes, 3 litres water, the tent and poles, Graham’s poo and my poo. I had to strap things onto the top, bottom and middle outer of my rucksack. Not sure how I picked it up, I felt like one of those mules! I then went to Nido to pick up a stash and more of Graham’s poo. I could not carry any more… I physically couldn’t get it onto my back. I went down hill, but it almost took as long as going uphill! At one point I fell and a stuff-sack I’d been carrying in my hand rolled and rolled and rolled… I eventually caught up with it and collapsed in a tired heap, wondering whether I’d have been better off going with G. Anyway, tens of falls later, I made it back to Plaza De Mulas. I arranged for dinner to be made for us that evening and we stayed on cot beds so we (i), didn’t have to put up the tent. Graham found me in the bag store room, sorting out the kit. I was so relieved to see him safe and well, with a big grin on his face. He made it!!! Well done Graham. It must have been so hard to have attempted the summit 2 days on the trot! We sat and I made hot chocolate, and I asked for the company who supplied the guys to make us some cooked food. The food was awesome. Everything you don’t normally get when camping: a huge hot sandwich with beef, ham, egg, tomato, lettuce, cheese and caramelised onion. It was so huge though, we both left some of the bread. Then Graham went outside and was immediately sick. He was holding it in his hands and managed to put most of it down a ‘drain’. I poured water over his hands to clean him and so he could wash the bits out of his extensive beard. Poor thing. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. G and I looked in the lonely planet guide book and Valparaiso, Chile, looks like a cool place to spend New Year’s Eve (maybe I’ll get to go kitesurfing!).
Day 11 Graham’s Boxing Day
Graham’s day: We had no current forecast so the plan was to listen to the wind through the night and make a judgement before leaving. It was very windy all night, tent booming, it kept me awake, clock watching. So my plan was set off and see..! It was so difficult raising the massive will power needed to get out of my warm sleeping bag into the freezing darkness. Stupid idea! And we’d failed yesterday when we’d had hardly any wind, sleep, energy drinks and all the right food. I set off finally at 0512, I’d gone back twice, independently for a torch and goggles. I’d forgotten the goggles but thought it would be bright enough to see, it wasn’t. Looking ahead I could see 2 groups already climbing, which gave me hope the forecast was OK. Then it was mind over matter, one foot in front of the other, repeat. I nearly threw the towel in tens of times and headed back to a warm tent and sanctuary. I caught up and passed the groups, occasionally a straggler peeled off and headed home. Too cold was the remark. Not wrong. The groups move so slowly, their breathing stays quiet. I tried falling in step with them, I still hyperventilated loudly! They must have trained themselves to keep it under control. My body reminded me I’d skipped dinner and now breakfast, so I gave it a piece of my precious remaining supply of chocolate. My feet turned to ice again, I did have an extra pair of fleece salupets and wore gaiters as a change from yesterday. I didn’t feel hypothermic today, but it was so cold, the goggles did their job on the ridge, eye sight fine. I looked at where Emma fell yesterday, wow, lucky. I found myself alone and way out front trying to figure a good (vertical) route. I passed 6550m and cracked on. The route enters the ‘Canaletta’ about then, a 400m scree climb to the summit ridge. The guide book says “You’ll have your mental strength tested here”, it was awful, the hardest thing I can remember doing. Nearly at 7000m, no oxygen, and slipping back or falling over constantly. And it was so steep. The sun hit me at 0930, climbing on the shadow side of the hill, the wind had dropped, blue sky, happy days. I finally started to feel an inkling of warmth. My crampons fell off twice, joys of rental equipment. I eventually, emotionally, saw ahead what looked like the summit ridge. I didn’t want to take the last few steps, in case it was a false summit. But it turned out to be, joyously, the ridge of the saddle connecting the lower south summit and the actual one. It was a knife edge of snow, I peered over, aware it might collapse and saw the impressive snow laden south face. Turning left I headed towards the summit, 100m to go. Or 1 hour of hard breathing, moving at a snails pace and frequently resting. Stepping onto the summit plateau was such a relief, I had my own personal, loud, celebration and set about recording the event with photos for ‘proof’! There is a metal cross symbolising the summit, I left Emma’s Christmas present Santa wrapper as an offering. I was totally alone and probably the highest person, on the ground, in the world. Assuming no one is mad enough to be on top of a Himalayan peak in their winter. I was so pleased, delighted, exhausted and generally happy. Aconcagua, tick. Now the long way down. I passed the groups, they all asked the same question, how long to the top? I gave them optimism. They were all close enough to make it anyway. I was reminded again I was hungry. I got back to the empty camp site, 8 hours 10 round trip. Emma was long gone with all the kit, but had kindly and thoughtfully left some water, knowing I had low supplies. I stopped by Nido, Emma had managed all that too, wow, she must have had a big load. I picked up the big stash bag. And slowly descended to Base Camp. In the process I’ve lost both big toe nails… Arrived and found Emma, at 1600, 11 hours later. It was so nice to see her she looked shattered… Shed carried do much stuff down. I simply wouldn’t have been able to get to the top without her help. We’d done it.
Day 12, 27 January
All done, we packed our bags for the mule, trying to give up as much load as possible. We kept bulky items like sleeping bags and duvet coats and put everything heavy in the mule bags. 30 kg lighter as no food and fuel left. Binned and given away. My toes were hurting now. Emma had bad hips from her load yesterday, so we posted the last blog and set off at 1130, expecting a nice gentle walk out.. Crikey we walked a long way ‘in’. It was nice in the warm sun generally going down hill. But it was so far! We eventually got to the visitors centre just as they closed at 1840. Emma had dropped her coat off the back of her rucksack at some point near the end, including phone, cash and iPod. She wanted for our transport and I went back up the track. Found it thank God, complete with all items. The nice man from Lanko arrived, our company we’d booked through, in a land rover to take us to our kit and bus stop. On the bus at 8pm, Mendoza and bath before midnight. Phew. We were such a state in the Mendoza bus station. Everyone in shorts and skirts at the end of a Saturday night out. Us, dusty, dirty and fully clothed…!
All finished now, thank you for reading.
Much love Graham and Emma.
Thank you For Reading