Mountain man hits Tamworth, the country music capital!!

Well it's now the 27th December and I'm sitting up here in my home town of Tamworth.  Now I know many of you will want to ask many questions about the country music capital so I'll take a moment to try and answer some of them in advance:-

1.  It goes for 2 weeks at the of January.
2.  I like some country music but not the "my old girl ran off with the dog and my ute and my beer fridge has carked it and now I have warm piss" type music

Ok truth be told that's about all i can really tell you about it.  But if you've never experience it before it is well worth the trip.

Ok so being around 400km from Sydney has meant that I had to adjust my training slightly.  Although in saying that there are a couple of nice hills around Tamworth.  One of the good things about training out here though is that instead of staring at you, people will actually stop and ask what you doing, and I never get tired of seeing the look on their face when I tell them.

I think I'm a little ignorant about this mountain but it's not until people start saying things that you realise it's no cake walk.

Anyway as many of you may know country NSW has been absolutely hammered with rain over the last couple of weeks and we weren't spared on Christmas day.  Because the ground is so wet any little rain that we have makes the river rise.  To give you an idea I've posted a few photo's so you can see the rivers and creeks. 

And also I've posted a photo of what Tamworth looks like from the Lookout (and if you can see the river in the photo then you can see where I walked from that morning)

Hope you all had a great Christmas and catch you on the flipside.

Webcam up and running

Just a quick posting today.

The basecamp webcam is finally up and running and can be seen here.

http://www.aconcaguanow.com/indice.php

Have fun Y'All

So......blisters anyone? (Only read if you have a strong stomach)

Well the joys of mountaineering continue.

As you would have seen in previous photos there are these little plastic boots that we need to wear on summit night.  Those who have seen them still can't understand why they need to be worn, well given the extreme cold that we'll be experiencing on summit night we will need these to ensure no toes are lost.

Part of the problem with wearing these boots however is they are plastic, and as you would expect plastic doesn't give.  So with any normal shoes you should give yourself time to break them in, however with boots like these you need to break your feet in.  Part of the breaking in process unfortunately means blisters which will hopefully turn into callouses.

It becomes mighty uncomfortable however I would much prefer to do it now rather than half way through summit night.

Anyway this where the strong stomach bit comes in.  In the photo below you have the pleasure of seeing my feet in their current state, not pleasant by any means however just another part of the whole process.

Hope all is well and catchya on the flip side

How time flies........

Sorry to all my loyal followers for the big delay between posts.

This crazy silly season called christmas has seen me do more drinking than training, not exactly the ideal preparation but the focus will be back on Monday.

Well considering there hasn't been a great deal of training talk to fill you in on I thought I might give you an insite into the mountain known as the stone sentinal, Aconcagua.

Created by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath South America, Aconcagua is not only the highest mountain in the Western and Southern hemisphere but is also the highest mountain outside the Asian / Himilayan region. 

The first recorded climb of Aconcagua was in 1897 by Matthias Zurbriggen of Switzerland following what is now known as the Normal Route.

Whilst only slightly higher than Kilimanjaro (another of the 7 summits at 5,895) Aconcagua has significantly less attempts yet suffers a higher death rate.  Whilst accurate figures are hard to get some say the variance could be 15,000 summit attempts on Kilimanjaro compared to 4,000 on Aconcagua.  Again exact numbers are hard to obtain however Aconcagua has had as many as 10 or even 20 deaths a year.  This is mainly due to the inexperience of the ascenders to understand the challenges, both pyhsically and mentally.

Rather than bore everyone with more information I might finish off by showing the current weather conditions at 4,827m (just above base camp)

Catch ya onthe flip side

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Aconcagua/6day/bot

Aconcagua webcam

Hi guys,

Just a quick posting today.  Nothing much to report from this week on the training front.  The weather combined with silly season functions has kept things pretty quiet althought I will be looking to do a nice walk in the morning, rain, hail or......., actually let's just make it rain or shine.  Not too keen on the hail front.

Anyway I've just received word that the Aconcagua basecamp webcam will be up and running next week.  I've attached the link for those who want to see it and of course I will let you know once it arrives at basecamp.

Although if you click on it now you will see the testing they are doing in Buenos Aires.

http://www.aconcaguanow.com/indice.php

Anyway hope all is well and catch you on the flipside

And it's Gold, Gold Gold!!!!

Ok, so it's not exactly a gold medal but I got a piece of news this morning that this time last week I didn't think I would be able to get.

My Physio dude, Jerome, told me that this week, I could start going for long walks again.  Slow, but long, with no weights.

Now as soon as he said this I knew he meant I could go for a walk around the neighbourhood like one of those early morning, matching spandex, type persons.  Not to sound like a prude but if you're going to go for a walk then you may as well get dirty, aka, bushwalking.

So I decided to push it a little bit, "So by saying walking is ok, then I assume bushwalking is fine also" ....... a pause by Jerome followed by a concerned stare..... "only if you take it slow and you do not carrying anything heavy".

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As much as I would love to pack the car up and head straight to the blue mountains I think I need to remember the reality of all this.  It is still injured, I am still in discomfort so I need to take things slow.

So the next step then?

Back to walking across this bridge to work, if you're reading this bridge security, don't worry, I won't be carrying the big back pack, not this week anyway.  And then on the weekend I'll be heading off to one of my old haunting grounds, the Spit to Manly.

It's not much but it's been an awesome glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak week.

Catchya on the flipside

They tried to make me go to rehab............

........and I sad Yes, Yes, Yes.

Well the moment of truth came this morning, I was to find out the extend of damage to my Feramus Rectis (stop the giggling!!!!).

The icing, with the compression bandage, and elevation has finally brought the swelling down and has now brought the bruising out which I think means the trauma is slowing or stopped.  We tried a range of movements and it appears the tear is only moderate and the good news is........

ONLY 4 WEEKS OF REHABILITATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my training for this weekend will consist of getting this pasty white body into a pool to do some laps (hopefully without drowning, as well as leg raises, leg swings etc to get the muscle working again.

Then next week we start massages, light bike work, squats, and leg presses and the process begins.

I did manage to sneak a photo in from todays session though, and no, my leg is not that swollen.

Catch you all on the flip side

Good news and bad news

How about we start with the good news.  I haven't completely torn my quad muscle.

Now onto the bad news.  The pysio has said I have a moderate to severe tear in my...... get ready for it....... Rectus Femoris.  Ok you can all stop the laughing of the name now, and also that doesn't mean I've damaged my ass.

It is essentially the powerful muscle that runs from the top of the patella (near the knee) all the way up and crosses over the hip.  The full of extent of the tear won't actually be known until I go back on Thursday and we start some deep tissue work as well as resistance work.

My right thigh is signficantly more swollen then my left and actually has some bruising due to the internal bleeding from the tear.  So from now until thursday I need to keep walking to a minimum, wear a compression bandage, and ice the thigh as much as I can.

The early estimates are recovery of 5 to 7 weeks which will take me right up until the day I fly out so here's to hoping those country genes kick in now to get me done a little quicker.

Still on the upside I don't have to be worried about security following me on the bridge anymore!!!!!

Pysio appointment this morning

Have managed to get myself in to see a pysio this morning at 10.15am

Keep your fingers crossed that everything is ok

Minor set back

Well not exactly the post I was planning on making this Sunday.

I was hoping to post some pictures from a nice 30km walk in the Blue Mountains however instead I am sitting here at home looking through the yellow pages for pysiotherapists.

Was playing cricket yesterday and went to take off for a run and within a few steps I could feel my quad muscle tighten up and then.... well it's hard to explain, but it felt like it exploded and then it the muscle slipped around and bulged in a way it shouldn't bulge.

I managed to bat through with a runner but the drive home was ackward, to the point at times I had to lift my leg from the brake to the accelator.

Not sure what this means at this point, but it feels less painful today then it did yesterday however given there is only a couple of weeks to go until the trip I can't afford too many injuries.

Will try and make another posting tommorrow after I get an update.

Have you seen my new Jimmy Choo's?

Well another stunning sunrise over Sydney again saw the security guards on the harbour bridge scatter when I started walking across.

Although today I saw something new.  Normally I just get watched very very closely however today I saw one of the guys discreetly turn away from me and call something through his little microphone.  Now either the people in the control room have already cleared me from the multitudes of times I've walked across that bridge or alternatively he was calling home and whispering sweet nothings to his wife.

Either way I made it however I'm sure one day I'll end up writing this blog from somewhere like Villawood if I keep going like this.

Some people have asked me what on earth mountaineering boots are so I thought I would post a picture of them for you.

Catch you on the flip side

First of many

Welcome to the "One mountain at a time" webblog.

You could say this is my first entry into the internet world of letting people know what I will be up to.  Well outside of the standard postings on facebook that is, and unlike facebook I will try and keep my postings in the first person and not the third person.

So John is now.......  whoops, bad start!!

As many of you know (or for those who have been sleeping under a rock) I have been training to attempt to reach the summit of Cerro Aconcagua.  Aconcagua, which is located in Argentina and is part of the Andes mountain range (wow that's a lot of A's) is 6,962m or 22,841ft above sea level.  It is also one of the Seven Summits, meaning it is the highest on the South American continent. If I manage to bag this summitt it will give me 2 out of the 7.

So this time in 8 weeks I'll be sitting at Sydney International airport ready to fly out.  Pardon the pun but gee the time has flown.

Also because I only have 8 weeks to go it means it's time to hit the pointy end of my training.  Monday saw me throw on the pack again to walk across the harbour bridge from Neutral Bay and into work.

Now I thought I used to get strange looks from wearing a massive pack when I walked in (especially from security), try doing that whilst wearing mountaineering boots and see what kind of looks you get.  Not only are you another 2 or 3 inches taller but they can hear the squeak of the boots from a 100m away. 

The bridge security don't know whether I'm a person of interest or some kind of deranged emo goth.  Either way they do tend to become a little more animated when I start lumbering across the bridge.

Still if I get too many looks in northern part of the city I'm sure I can just head south to Newtown, everyone fits in over there!!

So this will now be the standard routine from now until I fly out.  Heavy pack walks during the week with long pack walks on the weekends. 

I think I'm pretty lucky that I'm a kind of solo person given all the time I'll be spending walking around.  With all the gear I'm wearing I already look like a freak, imagine if I started talking to myself as well!!!

Anyway I'll sign off on my first of what I hope will be many postings, plus I don't want to use all of my A-grade meterial in my first post.

Catchya on the flip side