Note from Heidi

Heidi emailed this from the DFW airport on her way home:

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for following our progress during the climb, and also for sending all of your best wishes for our success! We had a great adventure and our success is directly linked to the support that we received from home during our climb.

We will be posting photos as soon as I get back home to Colorado, so be sure to check back in!

Although we did not all stand on the summit of Aconcagua, I believe that we all found a new bit of high ground in each of our own lives. I would personally like to dedicate this climb to my father, Albert, who passed away from cancer on the 10th of January. He had always loved being in the mountains, and his spirit was ever present for me on this climb. May his spirit soar among the mountains of the world forever.

Namaste, Heidi

Mendoza

Reports keep filtering in of big steaks and big red wines...

Mendoza is a very nice place to decompress after the rigors and challenges of a big mountain. It's amazing how easy it is to just kick back on a sidewalk cafe with an espresso and spend a couple of hours watching the lives of Mendocinos pass by, after having been on the go for two weeks on end. The human body has a remarkable way of knowing just what it needs, and calories and niceties are pretty easy to come by in Mendoza.

Heidi might add some of her thoughts to this blog, and we'll definitely make certain to post a heap of photos, so please check back over the next week or so. In the meantime, I'll sign off after giving a hearty congratulations to all of the team members.

Saul, who unfortunately experienced one of the most disappointing aspects of big mountain climbing- having the decision to continue taken out of your control, you did great and we hope your foot heals well.

Claudio, congrats on reaching the summit. This was your second go at this big, challenging mountain, and by all accounts, you did wonderfully up there. We'll see you on Denali in May!

David, what a job hanging out for four days at 20,000 feet! Not many mortals have stayed so high, for such a stretch of time. 20K is one heck of a high point, and you did great up there.

Heidi, if the litmus test for a mountain guide is the quality of sleep the program directors get while you're on the mountain, then let me thank you for a couple weeks of blissful slumber. We can't express how thrilled we are that you are a deeply rooted member of our Mountain Trip family.

From the Mountain Trip office in snowy Ophir, CO,
Todd signing off...

Back at Penitentes!

Heidi just called to say that she, Claudio and David are all back at the Penitentes Hotel after a nice six-hour hike down from the Plaza de Mulas Base Camp. The weather was perfect and they made good time for the 18 mile trek. Fortunately, it's all down hill (well, mostly- there is one real kicker of an uphill bit...).

They are gathering themselves and their thoughts and might jump in a van and go to Mendoza this evening. The food is better in Mendoza, and the water pressure is greater, so they need to weigh their level of motivation.

Great job everyone!!

Stay tuned, as we will post a lot of photos from the climb when Heidi gets home.

Summit of Aconcagua!!

Heidi and Claudio reached the highest point in South America yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. They left under pretty clear skies, and the clouds built up all day and they descended in a white out and snow. They made it in about 11 hours round trip, and were tired, but happy when they called from high camp. David remained in camp yesterday.

The team will be descending to Plaza de Mulas basecamp today for hot meals and a good night sleep before hiking out to civilization on Thursday.

Congratulations, and way to stick it out up there at high camp. 19,800 ft on Aconcagua is not a comfortable place to wait for good summit day weather.

Hanging out at High Camp

Heidi just called to say that the team is spending the day at High Camp today. She awoke during the early morning, pre-dawn hours and did a weather check, but found the temperatures disconcertingly warm. She reasoned that with the amount of moisture in the air yesterday, combined with the forecast for snow this afternoon, that they would have a relatively short weather window to make it to the top and back to camp.

Sure enough, the morning dawned warm and clear, yet with a thick cloud cover below them. This layer of clouds rose quickly and enveloped high camp by 11:00 am and it began snowing quite heavily. It sure is nice to have a positive reaffirmation of your weather call!

The team also felt that an additional day would help them acclimatize more fully, and alleviate the minor headaches that are associated with sleeping at almost 20,000'. Everyone is feeling great right now, all headaches are gone, and they just feasted on a lunch of eggs and hash-browned potatoes, followed by a dessert of Toblerone chocolate. I reckon they'll have plenty of energy when they awaken tomorrow morning.

The plan is to hit the trail early, as the temperatures are remaining very warm. Heidi said she slept with her tent door open last night, it was so mild. They will probably be a couple of hours up the trail before the sun crests the eastern horizon, and hopefully, we'll get a phone call from the best vantage point in South America by mid-morning.

Wish them luck, send your best thoughts and check in tomorrow!

At High Camp!!

Heidi called a bit a go to say that they were hunkered down at High Camp at just under 20,000'. The weather is a bit rough right now, with snow, thunder and lightning down below them! Heidi described it as exciting and pretty wild.

The lemonade from the storm lemons is that when they arrived at High Camp, there was very little snow, which they need to melt to make water. Now they have plenty of snow, right outside their tents!

The storm was not a surprise, because the forecast actually called for a flurry of snow and some lightning. The forecast for tomorrow is for clear weather and low winds in the morning, with building clouds and light snow in the evening. As Heidi put it, she'll wake up and look outside, rather than rely on the forecast, but they have been remarkably accurate lately.

The team is in a great position, with plenty of time. If the weather doesn't look great when they awaken, they can hang out in camp and give it another go on Monday. There is no pressure to head up if the weather doesn't look great. The challenge is that it is often hard to make a good weather call in the dark of the early morning hours...

Everyone is doing well and they made good time up to High Camp, so they should do well when they get a summit window. It only took them about three hours to hike from Camp to up to High Camp, which is a really good time!

Carry Day to Camp 2

Heidi left a message to say that she, David and Claudio made a carry to Camp 2, also known as Helicopter Camp (for the remains of a crashed chopper, just above camp). Everybody did great and they are moving well, despite eating like kings.

It appears that the old theory of the "High Altitude Weight Loss Program" is not in application on this trip! Heidi said they ate pancakes with hashbrowns and bacon fro breakfast. After making their Carry our friend Jacob Schmitz treated them to pizza for lunch, and they washed all that down with a "Thanksgiving Dinner" of stuffing, followed by a cheesecake dessert... Wow. Heidi was not certain they were working hard enough to justify that caloric intake.

The weather was absolutely wonderful today, without a breath of wind. One of our other teams reached the summit this morning and radioed this crew with the good news.

Saul is back in Mendoza and headed home shortly.