The whole team has returned to city life.
A spectacular accomplishment on this, the tallest mountain outside the Himalayas. We spent our last night on the mountain looking up at the sky sleeping tent less under the stars,it's amazing to take in such a view--without the obstruction of any city lights. We were all awestruck as we looked out at the breathtaking scene--imagining the others worlds out there, just like the one we experienced at over 22,000 feet on the summit of Aconcagua.
The day hike to what was our first camp and our last was a healthy 18-miles. Upon arrival an amazing open fire meal of filet and chicken with potatoes, corn and onions thrown on the fire by our gear-carrying mule drivers. We gulped back various beverages and ate barehanded with Neanderthal dining manners!
At the end of it all, we had a four-hour hike to the trail head, where our local service folks Grajales Expeditions had a perfect hand off, gathering us up and transferring us on to the our three-hour drive to Mendoza. Thankfully, that included a snack of 60 empanadas along the way.
What we come away with from these sometimes grueling, expedition style climbs is tough to explain. As the team members make there way home the folks at security check at the airport can't imagine what immense power is being brought on board the plane today
Congrats team!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Congratulations Pepper and the entire team on your incredible success!! An outstanding accomplishment to be celebrated and cherished.
Posted by: Chi Dees on 1/26/2017 at 12:28 pm
Team,
You did a fantastic job. To get everyone, just think about that: everyone, to the top of the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas, is just outstanding.
Another perfect day here in the central Andes... We woke to sunny skies yet again and took our time eating breakfast, breaking camp, and buttoning up a cache of refuse for us to grab on our way home. We climbed up to Camp 2 at 18,000' in under four hours with big, but manageable loads. As usual the team worked hard and moved smoothly and efficiently through the terrain. Before we knew it we were in camp, set up, and chilling the afternoon away. I wanted to take one last second to wish one of our teammates a happy birthday... So, happy birthday Alex! Feel free to wish him one too in the comments...
Talk again tomorrow,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Today our team enjoyed the long, meditative walk from base camp down the Relinchos Valley, and then down the Vacas Valley to our very first camp here at Las Leñas. Our trekking efforts were rewarded with a delicious asado dinner, and our whole team is stretched out under the stars tonight enjoying a last night out in the mountains. Tomorrow we head down to Penitentes, then Mendoza, and civilization, but for now everyone is savoring a last moment on the trail.
RMI Guides Mark Tucker & Pepper Dee
Trying to think of a compelling story but truth be told we are just hanging out here at Aconcagua Camp 1... passing the acclimatization day eating snacks, listening to music or reading books, and telling stories. The weather is clear and sunny today and a teeny bit breezy this afternoon which is actually nice, keeping our tents from getting too hot. No doubt the team will be chomping at the bit tomorrow morning when we plan to make our move up to Camp 2. Slowly but surely we'll continue up!
Not much else to report,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Today was one of those days where you wake up in one world and go to sleep in another. In our team's case, we woke up in the thin air of Camp 3, but after a day's hard walking downhill, are lucky enough to be bedding down among the comforts of Aconcagua Base Camp. Around 18,000 feet, we got a chance to check in with RMI Guides Billy Nugent, Hannah Smith and the rest of their RMI team as they carried to Camp 2. As for our team though, we're focused on resting up in anticipation of our two day trek still ahead to get off of this mountain. Everyone is happy, well, and excited about showers in the not too distant future.
RMI Guides Mark Tucker & Pepper Dee
Absolutely delighted for you all that the summit was successful! Well done! Enjoy a safe descent.
Posted by: carolyn on 1/24/2017 at 12:12 pm
In July 2015, Hannah Smith and Pepper Dee were two of four guides on our team on the Emmons Route on Mount Rainier. They did a great job keeping us safe on the mountain. Wish I could join them on Aconcagua. Congratulations to the teams on Aconcagua now, safe travels.
We are back safely in Camp 1 after a beautiful carry up to Camp 2 at over 18,000ft. This camp in addition to being our "Camp 2" is also called Guanacos Campo 3, or Chopper Camp because there used to be the pieces of a crashed helicopter sprinkled about. Those are all cleaned up these days and virtually no trace of a crashed helicopter is left. We enjoyed sunny skies and calm winds all day today while making great time. We were three-ish hours up and just over an hour down with a nice break up at our cache site in between. The team is back down soaking up some sun and relaxing the afternoon away. We have a rest/acclimatization day on deck that will hopefully set us up well for our climb higher.
All for now...
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
January 22nd, 4:29 pm PST
So don't sing at 22,000 feet, that is my recommendation. We are all back down here at high camp. The team is all back in their tents, fed and watered. What a heck of a day- about 14 hours. The team did great. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be singing again, and I guess I better write instead of talk. Thanks for following you guys. Take care.
RMI Guide Mark TuckerJanuary 22nd, 10:29 am PST
Hello, everyone. This is RMI Guide, Pepper Dee, from the top of Aconcagua! Mark Tucker has lost his voice, but he has not lost any of his team. He started with ten climbers and ten climbers are on top of South America right now. We had a great day getting up here. Pretty clear with some intermittent snow showers, but we're all just so thrilled to be up here. When the clouds break, we can see views down the valley where we came. [lost transmission]
RMI Guide Pepper Dee
RMI Guide Pepper Dee calls from the Aconcagua summit!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker calls after safe return back to Aconcagua High Camp.
Here we are in Camp 1 all settled in at over 16,000'. We enjoyed dinner in the late afternoon sunshine after putting in a hard day's work coming up from Plaza Argentina and are now in our tents trying to rest up and get used to the living at our new altitude. Our team performed extremely well today and made short work of the steep scree field directly below camp. We are acclimatizing nicely as the amount of effort on today's move was significantly less than on our carry just a couple days ago although I'm not expecting the night to be all peaches and cream. Your first night over 16,000' on any trip is a tough one. Tomorrow we are hoping to get another carry of food and fuel up the hill and into Camp 2 before descending back here to continue our acclimation process. Slowly but surely...
RMI Guides Billy Nugent
Greetings from High Camp on Aconcagua! Today was a big move day for the team, as we established ourselves at 19,600 feet in preparation for our summit bid. We battled some gusty, overcast weather getting up here, but as of 5 pm the skies around the upper mountain are clear, if a bit blustery. We are all hoping for an unconditional good break in the weather tomorrow, which as of now is the "big day" for the team. Keep us in your thoughts tomorrow; we're all hoping for a safe and successful summit day.
Love to everyone!
RMI Guides Mark Tucker & Pepper Dee
Apologies, but I don't have much exciting information to report... We are enjoying a calm and partly cloudy rest day here at Plaza Argentina and tonight will be our final night in Basecamp before we make our move up to Camp 1 tomorrow. We've been enjoying the good food here as things will change higher up on the mountain. For breakfast we ate deliciously cheesy, ooey gooey, egg, onion, green pepper, and pancetta breakfast burritos courtesy of Hannah's expert level burrito rolling skills and a nice spread of pizzas for lunch. No doubt one last big dinner this evening will cap off the extravagant meals until the climbing is done and we are safely back in basecamp. We are spending the afternoon doing laundry, listening to music, reading, and making our final gear preparations. Tomorrow should be an exciting day.
Will check in next time from Camp 1!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Congratulations Pepper and the entire team on your incredible success!! An outstanding accomplishment to be celebrated and cherished.
Posted by: Chi Dees on 1/26/2017 at 12:28 pm
Team,
You did a fantastic job. To get everyone, just think about that: everyone, to the top of the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas, is just outstanding.
Congratulations indeed. Well done.
Art Muir
Posted by: Art Muir on 1/26/2017 at 8:08 am
View All Comments