Dad is leaving the Southern Hemisphere just in time to avoid the scathing hot apocalyptic fury predicted for Friday, December 21st, 2012 by the Mayans to commemorate The End of the Great Cycle of the Long Count. Happy B’ak’tun 14, Everybody!
Rob called this evening from Santiago, Chile after a very big day. They woke up at 5am and finally hiked out of the Aconcagua Mountain area. He took a quick shower at Penitentes then got on a plane in Mendoza and began his journey home. He will be in Midland tomorrow evening! Godspeed, Rob!
Rob’s voicemail today sounds like they’ve been solid trucking. They left Base Camp at Plaza Argentina at 9:30am through the Vacas Valley to a camp called Pampa de Lenas by about 5:30pm. 8 hours straight, snowing the whole way, and cold winds a’blowin’. Others are coming down, too… dozens of summit attempts spoiled by the storm. He hopes that everyone is warmer than he is right now.
Here’s this morning’s view from Plaza Argentina… click to see the snow/wind storm set in at 18k’..
Day 17: Summit Day on Aconcagua! Making an early alpine start, we climb out of camp to join the Ruta Normal. A gradual traverse along the mountain’s northwest flank takes us past the abandoned Refugio Independencia and to the base of the Canaleta, a 1,000′ high couloir leading to the summit ridge. Upon reaching the top of the Canaleta, a straightforward traverse leads to the summit. After celebrating on the summit, we descend to High Camp for the night.* Wednesday, December 19th, 2012
* Itinerary summary from RMI Guides
Rob just called from Plaza Argentina (aka Base Camp). He said he slept *very well last night after a long haul down from Camp 2 with all of their gear. They are waiting for mules to arrive to carry their gear down the rest of the way. He reports that snow is falling and the wind is blowing and its pretty cold, but they are all glad to be avoiding this “whale” of a storm that’s blowing through. Rob has already made his travel arrangements and will be back in Texas by Saturday. Godspeed, Rob!
here’s a live pic from 1:15pm est today at Plaza Argentina… click the image to see all the images of the day and possibly spot Rob!
Day 16: Move to Camp 3. We climb to our High Camp, setting up camp and preparing for our push to the summit.* Tuesday, December 18th, 2012
* Itinerary summary from RMI Guides
We are *so proud of you for making this journey. From our perspective, you’ve been at the top our whole lives. Be safe coming down and we’ll see you very soon!
Love,
Ryan, Keith, & Clay
Dang. They’re getting blown out of the summit attempt. After a team meeting, they’ve decided to head on back. The team has made the right choice… and he did make a personal best to 21k’ which is higher than Denali (20,3′), Kilimanjaro (19,3′), Cayambe (18,9′), Elbrus (18,5′), Rainier (14,4′), Guadalupe Peak (8,7′), and Mt. Nebo (2,3′). Hear Rob tell it in his own words.
Day 15: Rest and acclimatization at Camp 2. In anticipation of our summit bid, we stay at Camp 2 resting and acclimatizing before moving higher.* Monday, December 17th, 2012
* Itinerary summary from RMI Guides
The team has already submitted to the loss of one weather day because of the impending windstorm predicted for Wednesday and Thursday. These winds would even limit the ability to ascend from Camp 2 to Camp 3, which is an essential step in order to make a summit bid at all. There’s no way they would spend the night at Camp 3, or at Camp 2, in these winds. Its all very dangerous.
So it seems if this forecast holds true later this evening (or tomorrow morning?), JJ and Geoff will guide Team One down to Base Camp at Plaza Argentina for safety and consider their plan of action, which may include deciding there’s no way to safely summit on this trip.
Hopefully Rob’s satellite phone dispatch this afternoon will shed some light on what they’re going to do.
click to visit site
Bad weather frequently spoils summit attempts, which is why they call them summit “bids”. Here’s video at High Camp (Camp 3) on Aconcagua of a spoiled summit attempt in January 2009. You can see the conditions are pretty treacherous.
Its Sunday afternoon, and Rob says the temperature at Camp 2 was 0 degrees outside the tent, 21 degrees in the tent, and in his sleeping bag 150 degrees, he hoped. Sense of humor: intact! Team One was belted with 50mph winds all night which made sleeping difficult.
In Team One’s first itinerary modification, they’ve decided to wait a day before depositing a cache at Camp 3 since they will not be making the projected Wednesday summit bid. They did go ahead and hike up to Camp 3 at 19k feet and then on up another 1k feet for acclimization. He said the winds were “howling” the whole time.
They are back at Camp 2 tonight and its cold. They know that the forecast for their two summit days predicts bleak winds up to 100mph. On Monday, if the forecast by mid-day is still bleak, they will move back down to Base Camp (Plaza Argentina) and regroup there. Ever the realist, he seems aware what this wind-storm might mean.
Guide Geoff Schellens posted a blog entry and voice dispatch on the RMI blog today, too. Guide optimism and temperament… truly one of the best things about these trips with RMI. Thank you, JJ and Geoff!
Day 14: Carry to Camp 3 (Piedras Blancas at 19,600′). We continue traversing high above the Guanacos Valley to our High Camp and leave a cache of gear before returning to Camp 2.* Sunday, December 16th, 2012
* Itinerary summary from RMI Guides
As predicted, the recent forecast for the projected summit day has cast concern across Team One as they arrive at Camp 2 (aka Guanacos Camp at 18,000’) for the night. Rob’s voicemail dispatch this afternoon details that just hiking from Camp 1 to Camp 2 in 35mph gusts today was “extremely windy”.
Yesterday’s forecast of 75-100mph winds during the first two days of the summit window (starting Wednesday, December 19th) are enough to convince a climber to hunker down until the weather clears up. The RMI itinerary (and food/travel/etc) includes two extra weather days. In which case, a summit “bid” could be december 20th or 21st.
Rob explains that strong winds are mortally dangerous on the mountain. They can knock a person off their feet and destroy a tent while you’re sleeping in it. Rob says he and the team completely trust JJ’s experience and guardianship and know he’ll make the right decision to ensure a safe and successful summit. Today’s voicemail is an exciting must-listen!
Day 13: Move to Camp 2. Shouldering the rest of our gear we climb to Camp 2.* Saturday, December 15th, 2012
* Itinerary summary from RMI Guides
If all goes according to the RMI itinerary, Team One will attempt a summit as soon as Day 17, Wednesday, Dec 19th. The summit forecast report at 22,842′ predicts clear skies, -13˚F temperature, and 80mph winds!
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