Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Dream Vacation...


All this in exchange for 3 weeks of no running water, no beds, miles and miles of walking, random wind and snow storms, and no room service.

Would you do it?

SUMMIT DAY!!


I am proud to report that the group made it to the summit! Four out of five climbers made it to the top. They hit strong winds and snow on the way down, but everyone made it safely back to Camp3.

They will rest well tonight and then pack up tomorrow to head out to complete the mountain's traverse. They will descend to Plaza de Mulas where, rumor has it, they may get to eat pizza and hamburgers!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009


The group is at CII(camp 2), called "the chopper camp",at 18.000 ft approx. Everyone is doing great. It's a pretty strong team.

They moved there today, Tues. the 27th, and they will do a carry to CIII tomorrow, then rest for one day. Then go for the final push. Saturday or Sunday might be their summit day, weather permitting.

I am attaching a pic of CII. At that altitude you really get a taste of this big mountain, as wind and cold and of course altitude show their power. It is also where the most awesome landscape and purest blue skies are enjoyed.

The Real Climbers Into Base Camp


Tuesday, January 27, 2009

NEWS FROM BASE CAMP

The team has reached base camp at 14,200 ft. Despite the altitude, Tom reports feeling like he is at sea level. (guess all that cardio came in handy-Yowza!)

I am attaching pictures of the trail with a view of the Polish Glacier in the back. The pictures are from previous expeditions.

The climbers are ok and are being fed super caloric food at base camp Plaza Argentina. They had a rest day today.

A spell of bad weather is coming to an end, and (according to the forecast) sun is shining for many days.

No Pain, No Gain

People always ask how I train for high altitude mountaineering considering our home is in South Florida. I figure the best way to train for climbing is to climb. So, I climb. In Florida, that requires some creativity.

There is an old landfill near our house that has been turned into a park. It has trails that go up and down the sides of the hill, and I try to go there to run cross country for 1-2 hours a few times a week. I sometimes load up my pack with 60-70 lbs and climb up and down the hill for a few hours. I also try to climb the fire escapes in some of the taller buildings in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami once every week or so, usually targeting 500 stories up and down each session. I find that standard cardio-vascular workouts are excellent for improving the efficiency of your blood oxygen exchange. This is extremely important to high altitude mountaineers. Tom Rayhill is a professional trainer who runs a great boot camp-style workout near my home, and I try to go on average twice a week. Tom’s workout is great because he mixes in something different every day, constantly working different muscle groups in different ways. I also mix in 30-60 mile bike rides a few times a week, as well.

I think it’s important to vary your workouts to keep it interesting and to strengthen different muscle groups rather than dialing in specifically for one sport. As I get closer to a trip, however, I do tend to spend more time climbing and carrying a pack. Overall I train an average of 10 hours a week year round.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Mendoza Arrival


Our team arrived in Mendoza, Argentina on January 16th, and we’re very happy that everyone arrived safe and with all their gear. Over the past few weeks, 5 of the original team had to back out, while a new member joined. We are now a team of 7 rather than 12; which is a very good size team for this mountain. Mark Postle, our lead guide, did gear checks today, and we are ready to pull out of Mendoza tomorrow and head for the mountain.

Besides Mark, the rest of our team is made up of Carlos, the second guide, from Chile, Sterling from Oregon, Yvan from Quebec, Onjay from the Phillipines, David from California, and myself. We seem a jovial, good natured bunch, and I look forward to having excellent chemistry on the team and working well together over the coming weeks.

Over the next few days we will trek in to base camp. The terrain here is high desert. It is windy, dusty, and with little vegetation. During the approach to base camp, the majority of our gear will be carried in on mules. It will be three days of light carry, though long and dusty with stream crossings through cold, glacial melt-fed rivers.