Hello from base camp!
It's Team Aconcagua reporting for blogging! Last night the winds were howling here at base. We woke up and the winds were still gusting and we had several snow squalls blowing through camp. It was a fairly easy decision for the team. We decided not to do our carry to camp one at 16200 feet.
Sure, you betcha, the team could have grit their teeth and made it to camp one. However, we are not in a hurry. We were planning on a second rest day at base camp anyways. Instead of sitting around though, we donned light packs and did an acclimatization hike to just above 15000 feet. The entire team is doing great! And despite the adversity we are all in good spirits.
It's now noon so Christina and I are cooking up some fresh veggies to go into our Plaza Argentina Potato Surprise. Thanks for checking in with us and keep you fingers crossed for nicer weather. We are hoping to carry food and gear to camp one tomorrow and then return for a last night in base camp.
Go Packers!!!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Christina Von Mertens
Wishing you all a safe climb. Love hearing how it is going.
Chris, looking forward to seeing your great photos!
Posted by: Sally Schuler on 12/14/2015 at 12:23 pm
Glad to hear you’re all doing well! Sounds really cold up there, but I know you guys all dig that! Sending a shout out of “hello” to my pal Chris Villar. And hoping that you guys are all having a blast!
Posted by: Aaron Shumaker on 12/13/2015 at 12:15 pm
Showers, movies, pate, and packing for the upper mountain. Today we are resting and organizing at Plaza de Argentina, the basecamp for Aconcagua. Everyone is feeling great indicated by full nights of sleep and healthy appetites. The basecamp amenities have surprised us all in excellent food and comfortable accessories. The mules headed back to the barn yesterday leaving us with much heavier loads of food, fuel, and warm layers to heave up this mountain. Everyone agrees that on this beautiful warm sunny day at 14,000 feet the best part is the company. We have a tremendous group of climbers who are all acclimatizing well and ready for a carry of gear tomorrow to Camp 1. Hello to all!
RMI Guide Christina von Mertens
Hello -
Our team has officially arrived at Aconcagua Base Camp, Plaza Argentina at 14,000 feet. It was a beautiful day trekking today. Actually, it was our nicest day so far as we lathered up in sunscreen.
Everyone is doing well. Base Camp is quiet. It almost feels like we are the only ones here. Gotta love that! We have set up personal tents and we are now being spoiled with delicious snacks from our Base Camp staff.
Everyone deserves a break so stay tuned to find out what we are up to tomorrow here at Plaza Argentina!
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Christina von Mertens
Hey, everyone. This is the Aconcagua team with Christina and JJ. Everyone's doing great. We woke up early this morning and began our hike to our second trekking camp, which is Casa de Piedra. We're in a little bit of an argument as to what Casa de Piedra means. I said it means house of Piedra, but they don't believe me. If any of you know what Casa de Piedra means, if you could, just write in the comment section what it means so I can settle this with the team. Other than that, we're doing great. Good walk up to about 11,000 feet. We set up camp. We weren't able to get a look at Aconcagua. It was a little cloudy today, but down here the weather is really nice. So we're just relaxing, acclimatizing, drinking water and just hanging out. Tomorrow we will be trekking to Base Camp of Aconcagua at 14,000 feet. We're hoping for a good day. It was definitely a littler blustery up at Base Camp today. We're glad we're down a little lower. The team says hi to all their family and friends. Stay tuned and we'll touch base from Base Camp tomorrow.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Casa de Piedra means House of Stone; sounds like everyone had a great trip!
Posted by: John Boicourt on 12/10/2015 at 5:35 am
I bet you guys all wish you had your cell phones to ponder over the meaning of “Casa de Piedra”. The internet came of no help after 20 minutes of searching. Only the lonely planet had a snippet saying that it was a beautiful stone….something since the page no longer existed. Perhaps you will find the answer down the road or more like up the road.
Hoping you guys are having a blast and absorbing all the beauties of mother nature.
Ava saw Tibor’s photos and says “That’s my Daddy!” She, myself, and the entire Kelemen Clan is very happy to see these post. We miss you Aps and be safe!
Hey everyone this is JJ Justman and Christina. We are at Pampa de Las Lenas, our first trekking camp. Today, was one heck of an adventure. Everything's great, the team is great. Everyone's doing well. But the rain fall and the snow accumulation that they had in this area was definitely prevalent today. There was a lot of water that we never encountered here before. Typically you can step across these tiny little creeks and today we had to full on wade through them almost to our waists. it was actually a lot of fun, but it was a big surprise and it took a little longer than normal. We had a great asado dinner with the cowboys here and we're enjoying the first evening out on the trail. It's a beautiful evening. As I mentioned the entire team is doing really great and having a lot of fun. So stay tuned tomorrow. We're going to see what's in store for us. I hope it's not as interesting as it was today. But, if it is, that's why we're here to have a great adventure. So stay tuned, and we'll see how things go tomorrow. Take care from Argentina. Bye.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman checks in after reaching Pampa de Las Lenas at 9,000 ft en route to Aconcagua Base Camp.
It is that time of year. Here in Ashford, my hometown, it seems like the rain never ends. While that means snow—a lot of snow on Mount Rainier—and I really should be heading on up and take advantage of some amazing backcountry skiing, there are three things I am absolutely passionate about: one is high altitude mountaineering; two is road cycling; and three goes hand in hand with the first two: suffering! If I cannot ride my bike outside, I ride indoors on my trainer. Today, I want to share with you my epic, indoor, high intensity interval-training workout that pushes my anaerobic and aerobic capacity to the max.
To start, many people see my BMC road bike and ask me, “What does BMC stand for?” The Bicycle Manufacturing Company or BMC as it is known is a Swiss company that builds what I believe are the best bikes in the world. However, I refer to my BMC as my Big Mountain Climbing Machine! So here is my “go-to” indoor cycling workout.
Before you get started:
• Make sure you have one, or more realistically, two water bottles.
• Have a towel at hand. You are gonna sweat!
• A television will help. I’ll explain later.
• Obviously your own Big Mountain Climbing Machine, a.k.a. a bicycle and an indoor trainer
This interval session takes about 40 minutes total and is extremely simple, yet so powerful. To help motivate me, I cycle in front of the television on which I play a recorded stage of The Tour de France. That way I can pretend I am beating Philippe Gilbert (one of the pro peloton’s strongest cyclists). Yes, I beat him every time!
The Workout:
Pain Scale: Use a subjective pain scale. 1 is Super Easy; 10 is “oh my gosh, I can’t take this!”
6:00 warm up (Pain Scale: 6): Pedal at an easy and fast cadence
15 Intervals as follows:
1 minute all out interval (Pain Scale: 9 to 10): Place your bike’s gearing so that you are pushing hard and fast!
1 minute rest (Pain Scale: 3): Spin easily and recover.
Do 15 intervals: One minute all out hard and fast followed by one minute of recovery and repeat it 15 times totaling 30 minutes.
4:00 Cool Down (Pain Scale: 3): With all 15 intervals complete, spin easily to move lactic acid out of your tired legs. If you are like me, your last or 15th interval will include that sprint where you beat Philippe Gilbert at the finish line of the Champs Elysees in Paris! Remember: beat him every time!
Fast, hard intervals like these serve to increase your anaerobic threshold. There are times in the mountains, say the fixed line section on Denali above 14,000 feet, where it gets steep and the climbing becomes very demanding at times. Interval workouts like these give me an extra gear to push with before I redline and become anaerobic, which at altitude is unsustainable. Mentally, I need to dig deep and push it to the top where I know the terrain mellows out again and I can relax, and the challenge of pushing through 15 sets of intervals helps me develop that frame of mind as well. Climbing isn’t always easy and at times you have to suffer a little bit before it gets easier. This interval training session not only allows you to push physically harder, but also develops the mental ability to push harder.
Incorporate this workout into your training plan, and you will begin pushing through those physical and mental barriers where you stop saying, “I think I can” to “I KNOW I CAN!” Now go out…or in this case in, and jump on your Big Mountain Climbing Machine and break through those barriers!
_____
JJ Justman is a senior guide at RMI Expeditions. He guides expeditions to some of the highest mountains around the World. JJ just arrived in Mendoza to lead an Aconcagua climb (the first of the season), and will head north in May to Denali's West Buttress. Based in Ashford, WA, JJ is a passionate road cyclist and can be seen on his "Big Mountain Climbing Machine" pushing the pace to Paradise and back down.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
See! I told you so! Good news from Aconcagua. Our team member's missing bags are here! We left Mendoza early this afternoon and are now in "The Aspen" of the Mendoza region, named Penitentes.
We had to stop at Estancia de Elias, a great restaurant for their famous empanadas. The team organized our gear while Christina and I packed all the expedition food and gear. We are lucky that we get to have the cowboys help by packing the majority of gear on mules.
However, it's getting late, we are having dinner and one of the team members is eyeing my bacon and cheese stuffed chicken so I need to go before Stephanie takes a bite!
Chau from Argentina,
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Christina von Mertens
Team Aconcagua signing in from Mendoza, Argentina. Our first team has arrived and I have said it many times, the hardest part of the trip is getting started.
We have missing bags and other adversities. However, that's not getting us down or holding us back. After all, we are in Argentina! Its time to relax, enjoy and everything will come together.
So as we solve these roadblocks today, we are reliving a great dinner last night. The team is getting to know one another and its all smiles in the land of sun!
Stay tuned as our adventure unfolds. Will the bags show up? Will JJ actually grow hair only to have it go grey? Which team member will finish the 96-ounce steak challenge?
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Christina von Mertens
Looks like one heck of a game crew - not sure the mountain is ready for all that energy. Wishing you perfect weather and friendly mules. And save room for pizza at base camp!
At their teacher’s request, the 7th grade class in Crystal River, FL, Skyped with RMI guides JJ Justman and Joe Horiskey for 60 minutes yesterday. We discussed mountain climbing in general, and fielded questions about Mt Everest in particular.
The class was doing a novel study of the book “Peak” by northwest author Roland Smith, which centers on a 14-year-old boy climbing Mt Everest. Their teacher, Sarah, had inquired by email whether RMI would be willing to Skype with her class. Of course the answer was a resounding “Yes!”
The students, obviously well-versed in their subject, asked pertinent questions on topics such as: the effects of altitude on the human body, requisites of food and gear for climbing Mt Everest, necessary climbing experience, and surviving for an extended period of time in potentially hostile terrain.
Being familiar with the tragedies which had befallen the mountain the past two consecutive years, the class was riveted to hear JJ’s first-hand account of actually being at Camp l last April 25 when the earthquake struck. He also presented video of his evacuation by helicopter to Base Camp.
One student asked how climbers deal with being separated from loved ones, friends and family, for extended periods of time. Another inquired about our “scariest moments” as mountain guides. But throughout, our message to the class emphasized safety, and while mountain climbing does involve accepting a certain amount of risk that is the case for many activities in life (sports, driving, etc).
Sarah noted at the conclusion of our presentation the kids’ favorite photo was of the abbreviated ‘runway’ in Lukla (at Tenzing-Hillary Airport)! JJ and I really enjoyed talking with Sarah’s class and look forward to similar presentations with hers and others in the future!
RMI Guide Joe Horiskey
Thank you for taking the time to extend our students’ learning. It was great hearing their excitement and discussions after you signed off. You did a great job connecting with them.
Posted by: Lori Casalvieri on 11/19/2015 at 3:15 pm
Well folks...I had my best weather day on Ixta. And yesterday and today, I had my worst weather day on Orizaba. The team is great but we were unable to summit Orizaba. High winds and a constant rain prevented us from going higher. However, that is not preventing us from having a great experience. As for me, this was a phenomenal team and we had I think, too much fun. Mike and I hope to climb with everyone again. We are now back at Sr. Reyes and are drying all our soggy gear.
This is the last blog for Team Mexico. Thank you all for following along.
RMI Guides JJ Justman and Mike King
Wishing you all a safe climb. Love hearing how it is going.
Chris, looking forward to seeing your great photos!
Posted by: Sally Schuler on 12/14/2015 at 12:23 pm
Glad to hear you’re all doing well! Sounds really cold up there, but I know you guys all dig that! Sending a shout out of “hello” to my pal Chris Villar. And hoping that you guys are all having a blast!
Posted by: Aaron Shumaker on 12/13/2015 at 12:15 pm
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