Entries from Aconcagua

The time is here! We woke today to clear skies, a welcoming sight from yesterday's mean looking clouds. It was time to move up to Aconcagua High Camp and put ourselves in place to go to the summit. With efficiency, we packed up camp. By now the team is seasoned pros at camp disassembly and assembly. Packs loaded, we hit the trail and made our way to 19,600'. There we made camp and got settled in. The rest of the afternoon we took care of ourselves and got ready for summit day tomorrow. Staying hydrated, getting calories on board, resting the body and mind are all important. Its early to bed tonight because we will have an early start tomorrow. All we can do now is try to catch some Zzz's and hope the weather holds for a beautiful summit.

Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

Who wants some pancakes? To celebrate our last rest day before moving to High Camp and trying for the summit, we enjoyed a pancake breakfast. Pancakes at 18,000' topped with jelly and peanut butter make the tummy happy. With a happy tummy, we took it upon ourselves to then enjoy a siesta. By mid day, a few teams showed up carrying gear from Camp 1. It was nice to socialize with some new faces and break up our rest day. This will be our last rest day because starting tomorrow we will be on the go for the next 5 days. All the resting, self care, and acclimatization the past 12 days were for these next 2 days. Tomorrow we will move to high camp, followed by our summit bid. You can feel the excitment and nerves in the team for what is to come. We are ready and we are looking strong. Fingers crossed mother nature doesnt throw us any curve balls. 

Be good to us mother nature,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Where did all the air go? We kept our momentum and carried gear to high camp today. We sat in a small circle on rocks for chairs as we ate breakfast and watched the ominous looking clouds hug to tops of Aconcagua and Amigino. The summit looked a tad scary but where we sat it was sunny and where we were going looked ok too. High camp sits at 19,600', which is a high point for most of the team. The air is feeling thinner and thinner. Our breathing heavier and louder. Each step we are closer to the summit. Today was a good day. The team performed wonderfully, hitting such a high altitude. At high camp, we are higher than Kilimanjaro. After hanging out for a bit, we said farewell and good luck to IMG's team, who we have been paralleling. They will go to the summit tomorrow. Tomorrow we will rest at Camp 2 and get organized for our move to high camp the following day. With a big day under our belt, the team is sleepy, so its off to bed for all of us.

Sweet dreams all,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

On the road again! We said goodbye to Aconcagua Camp 1 today and hello to Camp 2. It was a beautiful morning for breaking down camp, with virtually no wind and the sun shining down on us. As we waited for the porters to come help carry some gear, we saw a furry critter scamper across the slopes above. Our guess is it was a fox. Its always exciting see wildlife. After jamming out to tunes in our respective earbuds, we arrived at camp. Camp was a lot quieter from when we left it on our carry day. Other teams moved to high camp, creating space for us. Once again we set up camp and began nesting in our new home. Summit day is just around the corner, but first we will do a carry to high camp tomorrow and rest the following day. The air is a little colder at our new camp. The zipper on our sleeping bags will go a tad higher tonight to keep in the warmth.

Happy friday everyone,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

Sit back and relax. We let the sun warm our tents before crawling out this morning. The valley below was swallowed by clouds giving camp an almost eerie feel. We sat just above them with a clear sky above. There was nothing on our agenda besides relaxing and organizing our belongings for our move tomorrow. A big part of expeditions is self entertainment during rest days. The team occupied themselves with flying colors. Camp was quiet most of the day until a team from below carried gear to Camp 1. They lacked some self awareness and implanted themselves in the middle of our scene. It gave some comedy to the day and a topic at dinner. Everyone is looking healthy and strong after resting all day, so tomorrow we will make our move to Camp 2. We will make our new home at 18,000'. You can feel the excitment in the team as our summit day approaches. Its less than a week away...

Adios,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

On the road again! We woke this morning to the hustle and bustle of the other teams packing up their camp. The sun creeped into camp warming our tents. This was our alarm to get up. Everyone had a good night and were feeling good this morning, so we continued with our plan to carry gear to Camp 2. Group piles were made while the stoves roared. Toasted bagels with cream cheese and bacon would fuel us to 18,000' and make the rest of camp jealous with its aroma. It was a busy day on the trail with almost all of Camp 1 occupants moving to Camp 2. After a few hours of walking and getting new views of snowy mountains we arrived at Camp 2. A new sea of tents scattered the rocky camp like skittles. We cached our gear, watched the other teams set up their camp, and then we packed up our things to head down hill. We arrived back to a peaceful Camp 1 with only our tents plus one other still standing. The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the warm sun and fresh popped popcorn for an afternoon snack.
Having the camp to ourselves is nice and will be even nicer tomorrow on our rest day. The quiet will be much appreciated for sleeping in. The air is chilly now, so we are all off to bed to get warm.

Till next time,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

Bye bye basecamp! We left the comforts of basecamp and continued our journey uphill. Having been on this terrain just the other day on our carry, made today just a little bit easier. After conquering the final 100 feet, we strolled into a crowded Aconcagua's Camp 1. A sea on tents scatter the camp. Although there were many tents, it was quiet since the occupants were carrying their gear to Guanacos 3 Camp (our Camp 2). We claimed tent spots and got settled into our new home for the next three nights. Tomorrow we will carry to Guanacos 3 Camp, as long as we are all feeling good in the morning. As the sun drops behind the rocks, the temperature drops, and everyone begins to wander back to their tents where their warm sleeping bags lay. So begins spending 10-12 hours in our tents.

Goodnight all,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

Relax and chill! Today's main goal was resting the body for tomorrow's move to Camp 1. The team enjoyed warm naps in the tents (maybe a little too warm at times), reading books, playing cards, listening to music, and watching Netflix. The winds stayed calm all day which was a nice change from the rather windy days we have had. A highlight of the day was most certainly the dessert at dinner, a slice of cake. The flavor could not be pinpointed but is guessed at possibly lemon, coconut. Regardless of the actual flavor it was delightful. Tomorrow we leave Basecamp and the delicious dinners and desserts we have been enjoying, along with all the amenities. We will trade our plastic chairs and tables for rocks and dirt. But it also means that we are moving higher up the mountain and are that much closer to our goal.

Talk to you from our new camp tomorrow,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Scree...every uphill travelers worst nightmare. Today we got to see more of the mountain as we did our first carry. We left Basecamp, packs loaded up with food and fuel and made our way through the rocky terrain. The middle portion of the day looks like a cratered martian land. We weave our way around the craters to the final scree hills to camp. The last 100 feet are a butt kicker. Everyone showed determination and that they were willing to embrace the suck. After taking a well deserved break, we unloaded our packs, made are cache, and enjoyed the scenery of camp one. A couple hours of much easier downhill travel, we were back to the comforts of basecamp. The team did a fantastic job navigating the terrain and the altitude. We are looking strong and getting ready for our move. Now we will enjoy one more rest day before leaving basecamp.

Adios,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map

What up Doc! Today we enjoyed our first rest day. We started with a leisure breakfast followed by a visit with the Basecamp doctor. In order to continue up the mountain everyone has to get the ok from Dr. Richard. Richard checked our lung sounds, blood pressure and O2 saturation. The whole team passed with flying colors! With the ok from the doc and the team all feeling good, we sorted our gear for our carry tomorrow. We will move a bunch of gear that we don't need at Basecamp to Camp 1. Not only does this help us get all of our gear up the mountain but this will also help with acclimatization with Camp 1 sitting at over 16,000 feet. It will feel good to continue getting higher and higher up this mountain.

Hasta manana,
RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

On The Map