Hello everyone this is Team #1 on Aconcagua,
Today we went from Camp 1 to Camp 2. We carried some of the gear we will need higher on the mountain making a cache of gear. Everyone did a great job getting up to 18,100’ we hung out for a little bit and then we enjoyed a beautiful walk back down here to Camp 1 at 16,500’. Everything is going very well a little bit of a breeze, but that is not too bad. We are just resting and recovering now. We will be taking a full rest day tomorrow which has been well deserved. We have a few surprises for the team tomorrow a smorgasbord of food, but we will get into that tomorrow when we get in touch with the RMI Blog and let you know what we do to hang out at 16,500’ having just a great time.
Things are going very well here; it is really nice to be higher in the mountain. Great views! We will talk again very soon. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team
Audio 1: Hello everyone at the RMI bloggers following Team One on Aconcagua. We are happy to report that we are up at Camp One. We actually had to make our camp a little higher. It was a little busy lower down at Camp One, but we have the upper camp at 16,500' all to ourselves. As a matter of fact this camp is so nice, we have a sit down toilet. So, the entire team is doing real well. It's a little bit of work to get up here, but everyone's feeling great. The agenda right now is to make sure that tents are buttoned down for heavy winds. However, right now we have very light winds... We're going to get a hot breakfast... (satellite connection lost)
Audio 2: Hey, this is J.J. again with Team One on Aconcagua. Just to let everyone out there know. We have a lot of gear so we kind of thinned our communications down. We just have a SAT phone up here so we are going to be giving our blog via voice with Google voice and it'll be transcribed. So it may cut out, we'll try to do our best to give you some entertaining updates but everyone is just doing fantastic up here at 16,500'. We'll talk with you guys tomorrow. Everyone says hello to family and friends, and please follow along. We'll touch base tomorrow. Ciao from Argentina Camp One.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Today our team is resting at Aconcagua Basecamp. Tomorrow we will occupy Camp One. The weather has been very windy but everyone is in good spirits.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
I know I sound like a broken record but our Aconcagua team is both rocking and rolling! Today we woke up early and laced up our mountaineering boots. With hefty packs in hand we slowly made our way up to Camp 1 at 16,360 feet...officially.
For Geoff and I today gave us an opportunity to visibly see how each climber is doing. And it was obvious that everyone has climbed before. And climbed well. The team was in sync with breaks, rest stepping, good footwork and most importantly everyone was having fun.
We spent a half an hour at Camp 1 and we left quite a bit of gear that we will need for the upper mountain. So we are now officially ready to move up the mountain. But first we will take another rest day here at base camp. There's no need to rush. The tortoise always wins the race.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
are the two pictures from the archive or actually from the current trip?
Posted by: Ryan Junell on 12/11/2012 at 9:47 am
Good work Barrel I-you are awesome and glad to hear all is well. PETER- I have 12 copies of Mountains of the Mind for XMAS gifts for my Kilimanjaro girls and Linden. Loved the book but I know you were luke warm on MacFarlane. Thanks for the copy on Elbrus. Rob- Charlie is changing jobs. West Virginia vs Richmond? Love to you all.
Hello RMI blog followers. I wish we had something really really exciting to report. I guess the biggest thing is the entire team smells like peppermint. You see, our Dr. Bronners soap is made with organic peppermint, good for the environment. With the winds picking up we all took showers and broke down our Cabela's shower tent.
With team fresh and clean we spent the rest of the day triple checking our food and gear that we will carry up the mountain. Our route on Aconcagua will utilize three camps. So you can imagine, we need a good amount of food, fuel and personal gear. So tomorrow we begin the process of acclimatizing and caching gear higher up the mountain.
On a health note, the entire team has high oxygen saturation levels, which is fantastic. We are all acclimatizing very well. The forecast is for stronger winds, which I like...you might as well get the bad weather out of the way down low.
Stay tuned and we will let all of you know how our carry to 16,200 feet goes. For now, this is JJ saying ciao from 14,000'.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Base Camp accomplished. We have arrived! The day started out El Gaucho style as we saddled up our mules and crossed the Vacas River. I mean... C'mon, that water was polar ice cold. Especially at 7:30 in the morning.
After the teams John Wayne moment we enjoyed our final day of trekking. The last day into Base Camp ascends steeply at first until it gently rolls out to a gradual uphill. We even caught sight of two guanacos, which resemble a llama but actually have roots to the camel family.
After arriving in camp we got busy relaxing. At 14,000 feet we all deserve to just kick back, relax and enjoy. We set up our shower tent and rinsed off the dust before we had another exquisite Argentine meal. Everyone is feeling well and we are acclimatizing perfectly.
Tomorrow is a well deserved day of rest. Stay tuned!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Another great day! Sometimes I am hesitant at writing these blogs. I am lying here in my sleeping bag under the stars watching a meteor shower. And I know some of you are sitting at your desks staring out the window dreaming of adventure. So please live vicariously through us!
The team had a great day. We woke up and had croissants, coffee and Argentinian scrambled eggs. You cannot trek for five hours on an empty stomach. The scenery on the second day gets more spectacular in the Vacas Valley.
However, our journey in the Vacas is over at 11,000 feet. Tomorrow we turn left and trek up the Relinchos Valley towards Plaza Argentina, our Base Camp at 14,000 feet.
The entire team is doing great and we are filled up on grilled chicken, which we had this evening. Tomorrow we will describe the community of Plaza Argentina which will be home for many days as we continue to properly acclimatize.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
James, Cheers :) Awesome to follow your adventure online at home. Everyone looks great in pictures. Nice weather condition and everyone’s safety are in our prayer.
Hello everyone, this is Team 1 on Aconcagua. Well, not just yet. Today the team left the comfort of civilization and we hit the dusty trail towards base camp of Aconcagua.
The trek in is amazing. You are surrounded by giant mountain cliffs, a roaring river and occasionally a soaring condor. With light packs we enjoyed the warm weather while tanning our pasty legs.
After a picnic lunch by the Vacas River we arrived at our first trekking camp at 9500 feet. If anyone can guess the name of this camp I will personally carry your pack next year into Aconcagua's base camp!
The team is doing great! This evening we enjoyed hanging out with the Cowboys who work with our mules and gear to get into base. We enjoyed an authentic asado steak dinner cooked over an open fire, topped off with an avocado tomato salad.
Life is good in the mountains!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Hello RMI Family! Yes...I know, our first Aconcagua team photo certainly doesn't look like a mountaineering expedition. But you have to start somewhere. And you might as well start out in style.
The entire team made it into Mendoza with all our mountaineering gear. Today was a busy day for Geoff and I. Between airport pickups we did some food shopping for fresh vegetables, fruit and a little filet mignon.
We had our team meeting where we discussed gear, food and what lies ahead. However, for now...it is time to enjoy Mendoza. The land of spectacular food and amazing wine. Stay tuned and we will continue to provide updates of how much fun we are having.
RMI Guides JJ Justman & Geoff Schellens
A friend of mine attempted Aconcagua in his 50s with a group of people and guides. Some young guys looked at him and complained that they’d probably have to be carrying his stuff near the top. Near the top, only my friend and one guide were capable of going on. But they had to turn back, because everyone else was sick or injured. ;-(
Posted by: Hank Halle on 12/15/2012 at 3:19 pm
JJ - Looks like a great start. Please leave a little wine for the Jan 2 trip!
Hey everyone, this is JJ Justman with the Mexico Adventure team. We are happy to report that we are back at basecamp here on Orizaba. The mountain today, Orizaba, said no. It's always a little bit unfortunate. It's always a bummer when you don't summit. But we made it to within about 1,500 feet of the summit. Actually made it a good way on the glacier but we had rock hard, bulletproof ice. It's something I've never seen here before and pretty rare on all the mountains I've been on. We could hardly even penetrate our crampons. It was that firm. So my gut was telling me the obvious. Orizaba said no to reaching the top. It's something I never really share with my team before a summit climb, but I did have to let them know that while we were on Ixta, here on Orizaba, that same day unfortunately, a climber who was non-guided, slipped and fell. And she did not make it. So when you hear things like that, and you have the conditions that we had, it's a pretty easy decision to make. Even though it's disappointing not reaching the top, we are back down safe and sound and you know what, we can come back when Orizaba is in better shape, better conditions and give her another shot, but the team is real happy. We made the summit of Ixta, and that definitely still has us smiling and we're definitely glad to be down here. So we're gonna pack up camp and head back down to Dr. Reyes' and we'll have a good meal down there and definitely have a celebration. So thanks for tuning in. Everyone here says hello and we will hopefully see you on the mountain. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
I enjoy the posts and am glad everyone is doing well.
Wish I was there. Next one?
I will keep Ballard in check for you Mike, until you get back!
Climb on buddy,
Mike
Posted by: Mike on 12/13/2012 at 2:59 pm
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