Days 1 and 2, Thursday, December 31st, 2009 & Friday, January 1st, 2010:
Departed Denver -> Toronto -> Santiago-> arrived in Mendoza on Jan 1st. Luggage lost! Met up with John Chippendale from Australia. John and I planned to ascend together.
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| Arrived in Mendoza in High Spirits |
Saturday morning John and I get out climbing permits in downtown Mendoza. Permits for a full ascent run around $500. We picked up a few remaining supplies, then headed to the airport to pick up my bags, which had been found after spending some extra time in Toronto. From the airport we traveled via car service out of Mendoza and up into the mountains to Los Penitentes (LP). LP is essentially a ski town, but since January in the southern hemisphere is summertime, the town was more or less closed down except for a few hostels and guide services. Here in LP we hired a mule service to take our heavy gear up to base camp.
Day 4, Sunday, January 3rd, 2010:
We hired a ride from LP up to the trail head at Puenta del Inca (PI - 9,190 ft.). At PI we checked in with the ranger station, showed our permits, and then hiked approx 4 miles to Confluencia (10,830 ft.). Hike was approx 2 hrs of moderate grade.
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| Ranger Station / Cargo Container at Puenta del Inca |
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| Confluencia (10.8k ft) |
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| Another View of Confluencia |
Wake up rested and ready for a long day. We hiked from Confluencia 10 miles up to Plaza de Mules (PM - 14,110 ft.). The hike was 7 hours up moderate grade, but much steeper near the end. The trail was clearly defined and much of the day we shared the trail with mules ferrying supplies to and from PM. From this point forward, PM was to be the base camp. It was a strange experience for me to be at 14k still looking up at the crux of the mountain.
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| Ups and Downs Heading toward Plaza de Mules |
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| Finally at Plaza de Mules - 10 miles Later and Tired |
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| Another view of the Plaza |
I remember having a tough night at 14k - I suspect a combination of the altitude and the tough day prior. I started taking my Diamox during the night - Diamox is a fairly common drug that helps to speed the acclimatization process. Diamox has the effect of turning the blood more acidic, thereby aiding in ventilation and oxygen absorption. Diamox has some interesting side effects for some people, including increased urination (acts as a diuretic), tingling in the fingers and toes, and inability to taste carbonation in soda. In addition, I've found that altitude dramatically increases the vividness of dreams - so waking up in the morning it always takes me a few minutes to recalibrate myself to reality. Day 6 was a rest day, so John and I just drank plenty of water, did some reading, and visited with other climbers.
Day 7, Wednesday, January 6th, 2010:
Today we helped the acclimatization process by hiking from base camp up to Camp Canada (CC - 16,080 ft.). The hike was just under 2 hours, with the altitude and the carrying of gear as the main challenges. The trail here was still well-defined over gentle scree. We cached some gear at 16k, rested for a bit, and then headed down to base camp for another night at 14k.
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| Caching Gear at Camp Canada - 16k ft |
Today we brought the rest of our gear up to Camp Canada, and then did an acclimatization hike up to Nido de Condores (NC - 17,720 ft.). It was during this hike John was starting to feel rough, and so he descended for another night or two at base camp, while I descended to spend the night at Camp Canada.
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| Cozy Camp at CC |
This was a rest day with another acclimatization hike by myself to NC. I used the hike as an opportunity to cache gear, then descended once again to CC. Here I met up with an American that I had run into at base camp, Max O'Meara. We decided to join forces for as long as it made sense on the remainder of our ascent.
Day 10, Saturday, January 9th, 2010:
On day 10 we carried our remaining gear of to NC. The altitude was clearly starting to become more of a challenge, making carrying gear and ascending more and more difficult. Still, both Max and I seemed to be acclimatizing well, and we both felt relatively strong. At this point I had ascended three times to camp NC, paving the way for a strong summit push.
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| Camp at Nido de Condores - 17.7k ft |
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| Max O'Meara at NC |
Today Max and I ascended to Camp Cholera / White Rocks (WR - 19,500 ft.) We had heard reports of a storm moving in, but weather reports up to this point had been notoriously unreliable. We also figured that if something rolled in, we wanted to be in position for a summit push when the weather broke. This ended up being a decision with very interesting and memorable consequences. Given that we were planning to attempt the summit from WR, we carried limited supplies and set up camp just as winds were starting to pick up. Throughout the day winds got worse and worse, and by the time night started to fall we had built a rock barrier around out tent, tied guy-wires from our tent to 8-10 rocks, and also brought rocks into the tent.
Day 12, Monday, January 11th, 2010:
The winds continued to pick up to what I would estimate was at least 80 mph. Our tent was getting seriously rocked back and forth, and before long was the only tent at WR that had not collapsed or been blown away. It was a surreal experience trying to brace the tent and hearing winds shifting back and forth over the ridge. We were more or less trapped inside the tent, and thus had very limited food and could not light the stove in order to melt ice/snow for water. I did crossword puzzles and Max filmed some of the action as we kept our fingers crossed that the weather would pass and our tent would survive. As night descended once again the winds continued to build even more. At some point during the night Max stepped outside the tent and heard voices. We found some German climbers that had made a summit attempt in the winds and were struggling to get back down the mountain. Given the temps, the winds, and the fact that they had been out in the elements for at least 15-18 hours, it was immediate apparent that they were in bad shape. We had only a two-person tent, but managed to get three of the climbers into our tent (2 of us + 3 additional climbers = 5 people in our small tent). We put our two sleeping mats on the floor, laid down head-to-foot, and covered the group with our two sleeping bags. Needless to say, I got no sleep the rest of the night, but everyone was safe and was able to warm up a bit.
Fortunately, by 4 AM I could tell the wind was starting to abate, and by 7 AM it was apparent that the weather had finally broken after two horrendous days and nights. In the grand scheme of things, we were very fortunate that the storm did not last longer, because any longer without food or water (or much sleep!) and we would not have had the strength to mount a summit bid. At 7 AM we made certain that the Germans were in good spirits and sent them off down the mountain to NC, and Max and I gathered our summit gear and headed for the top.
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| Kyle at a Storm Shelter? near 21k ft |
Progress seemed fairly rapid up to approx 22k, where we hit the Canaleta. The Canaleta is a steep slope of very loos scree and rocks, so that every two steps upward are followed by sliding back a step. Progress was slow and discouraging, and it was at this point that the lack of food, water, and sleep really started to affect me. Each foot of altitude gained was an exercise in persistence and to some degree, delusion. I felt like hours and hours were passing with almost no progress, just halting step after halting step. Most vividly I remember wanting just to sleep, and jerking myself awake several times mid-step. We were the only two climbers up that day, and without a clear path we mostly guessed at where to attack the summit ridge. As we approached the last 100 ft we ended up off course and had to ascend a technical ridge to the top. Finally, we were there! I felt more relief than exhilaration, I think, and a certainty that I never wanted to be on this mountain ever again. We took a few pictures, rested for a bit, and began our descent. We found out later that the rangers at camp NC were following us via telescope and confirmed that because of the previous storm, we were the only ascent of the day.
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| Summit! Clear Day but Clouded Mind |
Day 13, Tuesday, January 12th, 2010:
I slept as well as is possible at 17.7k, and then packed up about 60 pounds of gear and descended to base camp. At base camp I found a guide service that was selling Cokes for $5, so I bought 2 of them and downed them immediately. It was the best $10 I ever spent.
Day 14, Wednesday, January 13th:
This was an extremely long day, as I woke up early and sent off most of my gear with the mules, and then proceeded to descend the 14 miles to Puenta del Inca. It was downhill most of the way, but at this point my energy reserves were nil and my feet were rubbed raw from my too-narrow boots. Still, it was a relief to be on my way out. I passed Confluencia on my way down and before long had made it to PI, where I caught a transfer to the sleepy ski town of Los Penetentes. Once in LP, I found an amicable hostel and paid for a night's lodging where I was very lucky to have a 6-bunk room to myself. I was ecstatic to be able to shower as cascades of mud and blood zipped down the drain.
Day 15, Thursday, January 14th:
I found a relatively cheap bus that would take me from LP all the way back into Mendoza. Once back in Mendoza I found my way back to my hotel with all of my gear and asked if a room was available. I was told that yes, I could have a room, but only the penthouse suite was available, and it would be expensive. How much? $60! I could not believe it - I was able to get a gorgeous room at the Hotel Cordon del Plata with amazing views for a song. At some point in the next few days John found his way back to Mendoza and rejoined me at the hotel. We were able to connect with a guided group and join them on a wine tasting tour and a a few other adventures. Fun times!
Days 15 - 18 spent in Mendoza. Left Mendoza to fly home on Sunday, January 17th. Mendoza -> Santiago -> Toronto -> Denver. Arrived on Jan 18th.
Gear List:
Boots: La Sportiva Spantiks
Tent: North Face Mountain 25 Tent (totally bomb-proof)
Base Layer Gear: Mostly Eddie Bauer First Ascent
Mittens: OR Altimitts
Parka: Eddie Bauer Peak XV (love, love, love this coat)
Treking poles - 3-section collapsible bought at Walmart
Treking shoes: La Sportiva approach shoes used up to NC at 17.7k
Ice Axe and Crampons taken, but not really needed except on summit day
Water filter for base camp - but be warned that silt will clog the filter quickly
Sleeping Pad: Exped Down Mat
Sleeping Bag: EMS -40 bag (did not love this bag)
Stove: Brunton bought on clearance at REI
Sunglasses: $15 cheapies bought at Target
