Day 9

The tres moved up to White Rocks (Camp 3) at 19,882 feet at 2:30pm AT. This will be a temporary home for them today, as they plan to leave for the summit in the middle of the night tonight. For now, it's important for them to eat and rest as much as possible before they leave for what's one of their hardest days of climbing since they arrived at base camp.

Camp 3

The tres made it up to the higher camp of White Rocks at 19,882 and left their cache there. They just made it back to Nido at 1:53pm AT. They must be feeling good if they were able to make the higher camp. This will make their summit day slightly shorter. : )

Day 8

Today the plan is to make a cache to either Berlin at 19,455 feet or slightly higher White Rocks at 19,882 feet. Whichever place they choose will act as Camp 3, their last high camp before the summit. The continued plan will be to move to Camp 3 tomorrow (Sunday) morning, rest, then get an alpine start for their summit push. Odds are they'll start out between 2-3am AT.
They are currently on track for their cache, but I won't know which camp they choose for a little while. I at least wanted to get a quick post out since I'll be out of town for the day. If I get a SPOT OK message before I leave, I'll be sure to post to let you know which camp they chose.

Day 7

The tres moved up to Nido de Condores (Camp 2) at 18,241 feet today. They sent a SPOT OK message at 12:40 AT indicating they were done for the day. More rest this afternoon and preparation for making a cache to either Berlin or White Rocks tomorrow. : )

Day 6

Today the plan is to make a cache to Nido de Condores--Camp 2 (Condor's Nest) at 18,241 feet. They will bring food and gear up and secure it there, then come back down and stay at Camp Canada tonight.
By looking at their SPOT track and comparing it to my maps and waypoint data, it looks like they made it to Nido and are currently on their way back down. And actually, just now (12:45 AT) I received a SPOT OK message confirming they are back to Camp Canada. They'll spend the remainder of today resting and preparing to move up to Nido tomorrow.

Day 5, Part 2

The tres moved up to Camp Canada (Camp 1) at 16,568 feet today. Attached is a copy of their track.
: )

Day 5

Paul, Tom, and Eric will be moving up to Camp Canada today (Wednesday). They haven't been using the tracking feature on SPOT because they've been trying to conserve batteries. I asked Paul to begin tracking as they move up the mountain so we can see their route better. I will be out of town most of the day, but will update the blog later tonight with their track.

Cache 1 Complete

I spoke with Paul from base camp a few minutes ago. They successfully made their cache to Camp 1 and returned back to base camp. So far they are doing fine, with only minor headaches. Morale seems to be good. They will move to Camp 1 tomorrow and continue with their push toward the summit.
My time on the phone went by so quickly and there was a lengthy delay, so it was a little tricky to talk. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him several things. I wanted to ask him to go find the webcam and stand in front of it for a few minutes so I could get some pictures of him.
It was strange then, when I sat down at the computer after our conversation and by chance I checked the webcam. The person in the screen looked like Tom! I couldn't be sure because it was a side view shot. I refreshed the page and captured this image--which looks like Tom and Paul on the extreme right side of the shot. When I talk to him from base camp on their way down, I'll be sure to tell him to go back to the camera to take a few photos AND to stand closer so we can tell it's them! : )

Day 4

Today the tres' plan was to hike up to Camp Canada (Camp 1) and drop a cache of food and gear. They will leave it there and hike back down to base camp. This is what's called the Climb High, Sleep Low philosophy. It helps climbers acclimatize to altitude more efficiently.
I haven't received a SPOT message from them yet, but I expect I will get one soon. I will post back later today.

Day 3

The tres sent a SPOT message at 11:03 AT indicating they made it to base camp (Plaza de Mulas) at 14,272 feet. They did send another SPOT message at 3:14 AT indicating they are staying put for the day which is exactly what we expected. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to Paul sometime either today or tomorrow to see how things are going. : )

Day 2

Received a SPOT message from the tres (three) today at 4:50 AT. They made it to Piedra Ibanez at 12,434 feet. They will camp there tonight and move to Plaza de Mulas tomorrow.

Confluencia

Received a SPOT message from Paul indicating they made it to Confluencia. : )
Confluencia means confluence in Spanish and where they are camping tonight is where the Horcones River (Superior) and Horcones River (Inferior) converge. Confluencia is 11,122 feet. They will spend the night here and move up to Piedra Ibanez tomorrow.

Day 1

The guys sent a SPOT ok message this morning about 9:30 Argentine time (AT time from now on). It looked like they were probably in the car on their way to the mountain.
So far I haven't seen any tracks, but there may be several reasons for that. Sometimes the page takes a while to update. I'll check back later to see if that's the case.
I'm attaching a description of what they'll be hiking today to provide more information on what they're doing. Just click on the photo to enlarge. : )

Making Contact

I spoke with Paul a little while ago and it seems that everything has been going smoothly. The flights were uneventful, their bags arrived, they checked into their hotel, secured their permits, and got their gear sorted and packed. They were heading to dinner and then back to the hotel to get a good nights rest for their big day tomorrow.
The mule service folks will pick them up at 9am local time to drive them to Los Puquios to drop off mule bags and then on to the Horcones Valley Entrance Station in Puente del Inca where they'll start on their way to Plaza de Mulas (base camp).
SPOT should be tracking tomorrow and I will post on their progress then.
Buenas Noches!

First SPOT Message

Just received the first SPOT message from the guys. Location is at their hotel.
Glad it's working so far!
:)

Arrived

I arrived safely to California last night and Paul and crew arrived safely in Mendoza this morning at 9:47am Argentine time.
He is planning on calling later today to check in and for me to give him an updated weather forecast before they begin their journey tomorrow. I will update the blog after I've spoken with him. : )

It's Time to Go

We're leaving tomorrow! Me to Cali, Paul to Argentina. Hard to believe it's here already!
We have some last minute things to do tonight, mainly laundry, light packing, and tying up loose ends. We will bring Moab to Paul's sister's house (thanks, guys) and we'll head out in the morning.
My flight arrives in SFO about 6:30 tomorrow night and Paul will arrive in Argentina on Friday morning after connecting in Atlanta and Santiago, Chile.
I will post frequently throughout the trip so stay tuned for details!!

January Freeze 10k

Our friend Paul McCabe is a member of The Triple Cities Runner's Club (TCRC) here and asked Paul if he or I was interested in running the 10k they were hosting yesterday (Sat). The club hosts a 10k every Saturday in January. They call it the January Freeze 10k Series. They call it that for a reason. Since Paul had planned on meeting Eric in Tully to do a training hike for Aconcagua, he wasn't available to run. I considered it, but I knew it was going to be very cold and I wasn't sure I wanted to race in those conditions. Paul left early and I lazed around and finally decided that sure, I would go ahead and run. What the heck?!
I dressed with what I thought was adequate clothing and headed out the door. Once I got to Otsiningo Park, I got out of the truck to go find registration. I passed Paul's car but I didn't see him inside. As I walked past, I heard, "Jen!" and I turned around to see Paul roll down his window. He was staying warm inside! Smart! He told me where to go to register. I was freezing as I filled out my form to get my bib number. After that it was back to the car to warm up.
I stayed in the car as long as I could, but soon it was time to head down to the start.
I jogged/walked the short distance to the start and talked to Paul before we set off. It was sooo cold! It was windy and (according to TCRC's website) it was 12 degrees. Brrrrrr! And we're off! Oh man it was cold. Run, run, run. Brrr, brrr, brrr.
My skull gloves proved to be the worst idea. They may have been cool for style, but they were worthless for warmth. Dumb move!
I started out just as I felt, but the cold air in my lungs seemed to make me feel as though I was putting out a lot of effort. I was surprised to see my first mile was 8:38 (according to my Garmin watch). I plugged along and while my core temperature was warm, my hands and face were not. I finished strong and honestly headed straight for the car. I was so focused on getting to the car that I realized I didn't stop my watch as I crossed the finish line. Oh well!
I started the car and put on my down jacket and changed my gloves. I sat there for a few minutes before heading back out to grab some orange juice that had icy bits in it from sitting out! Talked with Paul McCabe briefly and got back in the car before leaving the park.
I wasn't sure of my exact finish time because of the watch issue though I did see the clock as I passed it. It was 52 minutes and change, I estimated 52:04. That is a personal record for me in the 10k. I was surprised then, when I checked the official results on TCRC's website that my time was 51:43. I think they were a little generous unless the finish line was not where I thought it was. I'm honestly unclear what my ACTUAL finish time was, but regardless it was still a PR for me and that made me quite happy considering the harsh conditions. They don't call it the January Freeze 10k Series for nothing, that's for sure!

Aconcagua Webcam

I am attempting to embed a webcam from Plaza de Mulas (Aconcagua Base Camp). I believe it should update approximately every 3 minutes between 11am and 8pm Argentine time(according to the website). For reference, Argentina is +2 hours to NY and +5 hours to Cali.
If there is no image or if the image has not updated, you can visit the website directly at www.aconcaguanow.com : ) Note: For the image to update, you'll need to refresh the page.

Following Aconcagua's Weather

In the event that anyone is interested in following weather forecasts for Aconcagua, I'm going to post this weather model. This is courtesy of meteoexploration.com which is a great resource for mountaineers. If I do this correctly, it should continuously update. I will check it frequently to be sure that happens.
Do note that these figures are metric, but I added a conversion tool below so you can input the numbers and convert them easily.

Weather by meteoexploration