Friday, February 22, 2008

Aconcagua, round 2

Whew! It's a lot of work getting ten people up a big mountain, but that's exactly what we did! We had a great, strong crew - many thanks to them for sticking it out. Working with the same lead guide and another guide who stayed on the mountain from the previous expedition, we successfully got ten climbers and three guides to the top. Lovely and all, but it's essentially a big rock pile, and I'm glad I'm working to help others reach their goals.

(These pictures don't have the same panache of those from the previous trip, but they're what you get with a disposable camera - enjoy!)

The weather wasn't quite as supremely cooperative as on the first trip, but was still good enough to summit at the beginning of our time window. Mendoza is a nice little city, even if I don't eat meat, one of the Argentinian specialties along with good wine. But it's time to get back to the north and catch up with winter rather than hang out here for another week.

It was surprisingly painless to get my ticket changed - I should be getting back to Seattle sometime on Monday. Missing one of the best winters of snow in quite some time has been killing me - there's actually powder on the ground in the great Northwet from what I hear! Time to get some skiing in. See you soon!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Back up the hill...

Ushuaia was great - nice to get some time in the forests and mountains and greenery, and some time to myself. Ironically, the weather was great there (where Mary got snowed on several years ago) while it rained buckets every day in Mendoza. Unlike my winter season coordination (it is dumping snow now both at Alta and in the Northwest while I'm down south), I actually picked the right time for the weather here.

After much more relaxed preparation this time around, we're getting ready to head back up for our second expedition. The group is looking strong, and the weather good, and it's time to climb a mountain! Keep an eye on Aconcagua's Team 6: http://www.alpineascents.com/aconcagua-cybercast.asp and check out the previous Aconcagua post below for a couple of pictures. See you on the other side!