Well after having sat at basecamp for a couple of days and having done our training walk the time has finally come to head up the mountain. I don´t think you ever get used to the different level of oxygen as there are still a few time, putting shoes on etc, where you need to take an extra breathe or two so will be interesting to see how things go further up the mountain
We saw the basecamp doctor this morning and i got the all clear, oxygen was back up to 89, blood pressure is good, and whilst they heard something in my lungs they said there was nothing to worry about so here we are about to go up the mountain. One of the guys on our trip is having issues with his blood pressure and oxygen so not sure how he will go but we will wait and see
Have i got nerves, hell yes!! but at the end of the day all you can do is listen to your body and as long as you do that you should be fine. I dón´t think you can really walk into this mountain thinking yes I am going to climb you, there is so much that can conspire against you that all you can do is put yourself in the best position and hopefully your body and mother nature can agree to let you up there for that window.
So to give you an idea of the timetable for the next couple of days i´ll put this into Sydney local time.
Around midnight Friday night we will leave for the walk up to Camp Canada which is at 5,000m
Around the same time Saturday night we will leave for Nido and then the next day we will head to Berlin which will be our highest camp at 5,900m
Then sometime Monday probably around lunch time we will crawl out of our tents and make the approx 8 hour push for the summit. As i said there are a number of things that could through this schedule out such as weather but we have two days up our sleeve if we can´t get up on the first day.
We were chatting to some people when we were at the doctors and they said they got stuck at Berlin for 2 days with bad weather with there being no reprive in site so they had to give up the summitt and come back down. For one of the guys it was his second attempt with no luck.
I am prepared not to get the summitt, it will be a dissappointment but at the same time I am not going to go up there and risk my life unneccessarily just to try and stand on top of a pile of rocks. Now I know some of you are saying that´s what i´m doing anyway but there is a difference. There´s calculated risk and then there´s stupidity. I am not going to lose my life over this mountain.
Now for those of you who can´t wait for my updates to come through there if another option. You can follow our progress at www.aymara.com.ar/spot_in.asp and then put int the code ayrn19ene2424. These reports come from basecamp so could be a little delayed however it will keep you more up to date until I can get back down.
Well I will sign off now and will hopefully have some good news for you all in a few days.
Stay safe everyone and catch you on the flipside............
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Basecamp of Aconcagua
Hi there eveyone back in Australia.
well we have funally arrived at the basecamp for Aconcagua.
Eeverything has been relatively easy and painless since my litle issue in Santiago and I hae to say if you ver get the chanec to go to Mendoza I would highly recommend it.
So to bring you all up to speed on what has ben happening well after doing our final gear check and getting ouyr climbing permitts we headed up to a place called Pueta del Inca which you could pretty much say is the last established hostel place that you can stay at before you hit the trail.
So after a nice shower and dinner we headed up the the start of the trail the next morning to walk to our camp site called confluencia. Luckily our tents were ste up so it was just a matter of choosing tent buddies and relaxing for the night, and no i didn't the spanish doctor as my tent mate!!!
The next day we did a training hike up to 4000m which was to help us get ready for the walk to basecamp. I can quite confidently say that was one of the most pyscologically draining days I've had. Walking ether through or alongside rocky creek beds followed by a monster of a hill which easily takes an hour to climb is demorolising.
Luckily we have a rest day today though to get over things before we walk up to Camp Canda for another training walk. Then the next day we climb Mt Bonet, followed by a rest day and then we start our 3 day assualt on the mountain.
|There has only realy been on incident sinec we've been on the moutntain which was a Japenese climber that had to be carried down from Nido to basecamp and then evacuated out. He had come down with a severe case of odema and it was a bit touch ad go there for a while but the last we heard he was ok back in Mendoza.
Well I should really sign off and head back to start drinking some more water, water water water, it's all we drink up here, anywhere between 4 and 5 litres. I'll let you work out what that does to your sleeping patterns!!
And for those who are interested my oxygeniaton levels at Confluencia wa 94 and my test this moning came back 81. Should be better by our next rest day. Blood presure is up around 150/90 which is relatively normal for this altitude.
Anyway its time for me to go.
Will email again before we launch our summit bid.
cach you all on the flipside
well we have funally arrived at the basecamp for Aconcagua.
Eeverything has been relatively easy and painless since my litle issue in Santiago and I hae to say if you ver get the chanec to go to Mendoza I would highly recommend it.
So to bring you all up to speed on what has ben happening well after doing our final gear check and getting ouyr climbing permitts we headed up to a place called Pueta del Inca which you could pretty much say is the last established hostel place that you can stay at before you hit the trail.
So after a nice shower and dinner we headed up the the start of the trail the next morning to walk to our camp site called confluencia. Luckily our tents were ste up so it was just a matter of choosing tent buddies and relaxing for the night, and no i didn't the spanish doctor as my tent mate!!!
The next day we did a training hike up to 4000m which was to help us get ready for the walk to basecamp. I can quite confidently say that was one of the most pyscologically draining days I've had. Walking ether through or alongside rocky creek beds followed by a monster of a hill which easily takes an hour to climb is demorolising.
Luckily we have a rest day today though to get over things before we walk up to Camp Canda for another training walk. Then the next day we climb Mt Bonet, followed by a rest day and then we start our 3 day assualt on the mountain.
|There has only realy been on incident sinec we've been on the moutntain which was a Japenese climber that had to be carried down from Nido to basecamp and then evacuated out. He had come down with a severe case of odema and it was a bit touch ad go there for a while but the last we heard he was ok back in Mendoza.
Well I should really sign off and head back to start drinking some more water, water water water, it's all we drink up here, anywhere between 4 and 5 litres. I'll let you work out what that does to your sleeping patterns!!
And for those who are interested my oxygeniaton levels at Confluencia wa 94 and my test this moning came back 81. Should be better by our next rest day. Blood presure is up around 150/90 which is relatively normal for this altitude.
Anyway its time for me to go.
Will email again before we launch our summit bid.
cach you all on the flipside
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Well here we go
Just a very quick updat to let you know that our final equipment check was done last night and we are now ready to go.
Am just sitting in my hotel room about the get ready to head downstairs to check out and load up. We then head off to get our climbing permits and then head off towards to mountain.
Mendoza is a beautiful place and if you ever want a great south American city to visit by al means pick this one. I will post pictures when I get a chance but put it on the bucket list.
Well my next post should be from base camp.
Stay safe everyone and catch you on the flipside
Am just sitting in my hotel room about the get ready to head downstairs to check out and load up. We then head off to get our climbing permits and then head off towards to mountain.
Mendoza is a beautiful place and if you ever want a great south American city to visit by al means pick this one. I will post pictures when I get a chance but put it on the bucket list.
Well my next post should be from base camp.
Stay safe everyone and catch you on the flipside
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Down town Santiago
Ok so here is a little thing that some of you didn't know about. At this point in time I should have been sitting (or lying given it's just after 2am here) in my motel in mendoza. But you. Can guess from reading this blogs title that I am in fact in santiago. Long stou short LAN had to delay the planes departure out of Sydney mean we would have arrived 15 minutes after the last plane to Mendoza.
Now initially j was quite annoyed but really what's the poor in getting annoyed, it's not going to change anything. After getting fobbed off by LAN ground crew for over 2 hours (completely different story involving a lot of pointing and arm waving) I finally cracked it and decided to make my own accommodation arrangements.
As I'm walking through the terminal I get stopped by a guy who flashes what looks like a formal identification card asking what I was looking for and when I told him he said that's my job, grabbed my bags and headed outside to a private car.
I know you don't have to tell me how stupid I was, but at the of the day we kept following the signs to Santiago city which in a weird way mention they weren't going to Robb me or if they were it would be a lot more difficult.
Anyway I really should try and get some more sleep before my 430 alarm.
Hope all is well and catch you on the flipside
Now initially j was quite annoyed but really what's the poor in getting annoyed, it's not going to change anything. After getting fobbed off by LAN ground crew for over 2 hours (completely different story involving a lot of pointing and arm waving) I finally cracked it and decided to make my own accommodation arrangements.
As I'm walking through the terminal I get stopped by a guy who flashes what looks like a formal identification card asking what I was looking for and when I told him he said that's my job, grabbed my bags and headed outside to a private car.
I know you don't have to tell me how stupid I was, but at the of the day we kept following the signs to Santiago city which in a weird way mention they weren't going to Robb me or if they were it would be a lot more difficult.
Anyway I really should try and get some more sleep before my 430 alarm.
Hope all is well and catch you on the flipside
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The time has come
First of all let me say happy new year to you all and also to apologise for going AWOL on the blog. The silly season took my priorities elsewhere but have no fear for I am back.
OK well we are starting to get close to D'Day, This time in about 40 hours I'll be on my flight to Mendoza (via New Zealand, yes there are going to be downsides to this trip). It's kind of hard to explain what's going through my head at the moment, disbelief, fear, joy, excitement, apprehension, there are a multitude of feelings. I know once I get over there and get started that I will be right as rain but there is always going to be nerves when you go into unfamiliar territory.
So I am now officially on holidays, sitting here looking at all the gear I have to pack and part of me want to start but another part of me doesn't but something tells me it has to be done either way.
I will leave you all for the time being and will give you some more information tomorrow relating to itinerary and fellow expedition members but for now be good all and catch you on the flipside.
OK well we are starting to get close to D'Day, This time in about 40 hours I'll be on my flight to Mendoza (via New Zealand, yes there are going to be downsides to this trip). It's kind of hard to explain what's going through my head at the moment, disbelief, fear, joy, excitement, apprehension, there are a multitude of feelings. I know once I get over there and get started that I will be right as rain but there is always going to be nerves when you go into unfamiliar territory.
So I am now officially on holidays, sitting here looking at all the gear I have to pack and part of me want to start but another part of me doesn't but something tells me it has to be done either way.
I will leave you all for the time being and will give you some more information tomorrow relating to itinerary and fellow expedition members but for now be good all and catch you on the flipside.
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