Entries from Aconcagua
January 23, 2022
Posted by: James Bealer, Luke Wilhelm, David Price
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
After several long days of travel, the team has fully arrived. The glowing Argentinian sun has welcomed us with open arms. With bellies full of steak, the team has enjoyed the slow pace of life here. Everyone is in high spirits as we finalize our packing for the expedition ahead.
More to follow,
RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm
Silence. Beautiful silence. For the first time all trip we had a windless night. Needless to say everyone slept deeply and blissfully after the previous nights adventure. We woke up with the late morning sun and enjoyed a relaxing day of snacking, restocking on water and double checking our gear for summit day. Tomorrow we move to High Camp and the team is in high spirits to be that much closer to our goal!
Good luck sounds like if you conquered those winds you can conquer anything. Go gettem!
Posted by: Lolly on 1/24/2022 at 10:01 am
What else is possible and how does it get any better than this!? YOU’RE ALL UNSTOPPABLE!
Posted by: Barbara on 1/24/2022 at 8:15 am
January 23, 2022
Posted by: Nick Scott, James Bealer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,500'
The itinerary of this Aconcagua climb has been anything but ordinary. The weather saw to that ever since we first tried to move to Camp 1 and promptly had to do an about-face back to Basecamp. Since that day, the guides have had to stay on their toes, rearranging, pivoting, and scraping together a plan that would give us the best shot for the summit. Well, this group's ability to adapt to the changing circumstances on a moments notice may just payoff. Today was originally our day to summit, but the wind had other ideas. So now we are once again resting, eating, and acclimatizing at Camp 2. However, this means that tonight is our night. The last night in fact! The wind and temperatures look ideal for a successful summit attempt. But don’t get excited for us just yet, having had to push the summit day back as far as possible to improve our chances with the weather means tomorrow will be a monster of a day. We will launch our summit attempt from Camp 2 instead of high camp, a move not possible with any other group I’ve climbed this mountain with. If we are successful and make it to the top, we then must head back down to Camp 2, pick up the gear the porters didn’t carry down and continue downhill all the way back to Basecamp! A summit to Basecamp in a day itinerary is no small feat, but having seen how well prepared these climbers are, I firmly believe they can pull it of in good style. Everyone one of them trained hard and came prepared for a difficult climb. Tomorrow will be extremely hard, but if we can pull it off, it will make one hell of a story! Wish us luck!
Steve and team nothing but the most positive vibes and thoughts for tomorrow! Know how much you trained for this and your team too!! Go Go.
Posted by: Paul and Susan Cambon on 1/23/2022 at 5:36 pm
Today we rested once again. Our plan had been to move to high camp today, but once again our plans were changed due to the longest stretch of windy weather seen on this mountain in the month of January. Fortunately, the winds are forecasted to drop significantly over the next few days which is lucky for us since we only have the next two days to pull off a summit. Everyone is doing well and adjusting to the altitude perfectly. By the time we pull the trigger on a summit attempt I expect we will be so well acclimatized that we will all sprint to the top of this mountain. All of you at home send us some good vibes and cross your fingers that the winds give the window we need to stand on the top of South America!
Steve and All,
Hope those winds have blown themselves out by now. All the best for submitting!
Posted by: Karen & Rob on 1/23/2022 at 9:38 am
Sending good vibes and all fingers and toes crossed that the winds and weather give you the break you all need and deserve to reach the summit!! Here’s to standing on the top of South America!! XO
Posted by: Coeli Scott on 1/23/2022 at 6:14 am
January 21, 2022
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 16,000'
Today we broke down camp, said goodbye to the lovely Basecamp staff and began our climb to Camp 1 for the final time. The climb was easy as the trail was familiar and the weather was sunshine and light winds. Once we arrived we made quick work of setting up camp and fortifying our tent anchors with rocks due to the strong nightly winds we knew would be coming. After a delicious meal of mountain Pad Thai everyone went back to their tents to try to get some sleep at 16,000 feet. Tomorrow we move to Camp 2!
Pyfer family looking forward to more updates!
Updates from home:
Max crushed it against MC playing defense - Tam team overall got schooled in last quarter.
SI won the Bruce Mahoney trophy after coming back from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter to win in OT
Dawg City looking pretty scrappy - in the semi-finals today at Kings Showcase.
49’ers WON!
Miss you. You got this.
Posted by: Susan Lindstrom on 1/23/2022 at 9:28 am
Get it!!!!! Excited for you, praying for you, go WIN!!!!!
Posted by: Location 66 Cheerleaders on 1/22/2022 at 6:27 am
January 21, 2022
Posted by: Nick Scott, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,500'
Another rest day for the Aconcagua summit hopefuls. Unlike other more snow covered mountains, there is a lot of down time on Aconcagua. Some love the rest, others tend to go stir crazy with cabin fever. At least today the sun is shining and the wind is light allowing for ample time to breath deep and enjoy the views outside of our tents. The weather trend still looks favourable for a Sunday summit attempt. Hopefully the wind holds long enough for us to tag the top.
Congrats on making it to camp 2! Sounded like a grueling climb. Hoping tomorrow brings good weather for your summit.
Way to Steve and gang
Susan
Posted by: Susan Dietz on 1/22/2022 at 3:28 pm
Enjoying all the updates, keep up the good work and hope the weather is in your favor for the rest of the trip!
Posted by: Anne Morehead on 1/21/2022 at 5:53 pm
We have enjoyed our time at Aconcagua Base Camp these last few days. The cooks, porters and all the staff are constantly working to make our stay comfortable and doing it with the biggest smiles imaginable. We are ready to climb higher but will miss being so well taken care of.
We did get a dusting of snow today that made the mountain beautiful. Thankfully the weather forecast is to improve as we climb higher over the next few days.
RMI Guide Walter Hailes
Wow! Gorgeous! Be safe!
Posted by: Tracie L Bush on 1/21/2022 at 1:09 pm
Way to go guys. What an adventure. Please be safe and have lots of fun. Can’t wait to hear about it upon your return.
Posted by: Kathy Pyfer on 1/20/2022 at 5:48 pm
January 20, 2022
Posted by: Nick Scott, James Bealer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 18,500'
Today was the day! The day we would move from Basecamp straight to Camp 2, or Nido de Condores as it is officially called here. Unfortunately, the wind still did not want to cooperate and the mountain was still going to make us work for every foot of elevation gain. We walked up hill through snow, sleet, grapple, and wind gusts that made us wobble. When the wind came, we put our heads down and persevered making great time to our gear cache at Camp 1. After adding some “training weight” to our packs we turned towards Camp 2, walking into more and more wind and snow. Aconcagua really didn’t want this trip to be an easy one, not that any of them are ever easy. After 5 1/2 hours and 4000 feet of elevation gain we strolled into camp feeling accomplished, but tired and of course very hungry. By the time we put up our tents the wind was giving us a break, but the snow how now doubled its efforts and dropping 6-7 inches of fluffy powder on us in a couple hours. We were all happy to be warm and cozy in our tents watching the snow fall and waiting for dinner to help warm our bellies. Once again, everyone on this team absolutely styled an incredibly difficult day. Arriving in camp smiling and feeling well despite the thin air here at 18,500 feet. Tomorrow is a rest day and hopefully a sunny one at that!
January 19, 2022
Posted by: Walter Hailes, Jack Delaney
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Aconcagua
Elevation: 14,500'
Today the weather continued to improve as we awoke to sunny skies and the lightest winds of the trip thus far. We headed uphill for our final carry to Camp 1 to set the stage for our time on the upper mountain. The wind wasn’t done with us yet though as we experienced several “drop you to your knees” gusts on our way up. After making it to Camp 1 and successfully caching our gear we headed back to base camp where we relaxed in the group shelter, swapped stories and enjoyed the beautiful evening alpine glow on the mountains.
RMI Guides Walter Hailes & Jack Delaney
Well done guys. Such a great adventure. I’m living Vicariously. “I can make it two more steps” Wishing you the best.
Posted by: Saxby on 1/20/2022 at 2:27 pm
We woke to another windy day here at basecamp. After reinforcing our tent anchors, we had a delicious breakfast. The meal was leisurely and delicious, and everyone was in high spirits. We took a walk mid day to stretch our legs and get an incredible view of the mountain. The rest of the day was spent resting and sorting gear. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to become more favorable, and we plan on moving to Camp 2 in order to best position ourselves for the summit.
RMI Guide Nick Scott & Team
Richie, my love, I am so happy to hear you made it to camp 2!!! It sounds like it was a really tough push, but the view is well worth the journey (of course!). So happy that you have an awesome team to support you and celebrate with through these milestones. I’m with you every step of the way, sweetie! Our fur babies and the whole family send their love. Rest well with the team today. Love you so very much <3
Posted by: Amanda Schimkus on 2/1/2022 at 8:40 am
Go Team! Rest up and enjoy your expedition.
Posted by: Jane on 1/31/2022 at 6:49 pm
View All Comments