Partial Success...

Todd and the Toms, early in the summit day. The weather was actually hot at 21,000' and we were all traveling in light clothing for most of the morning. It got colder as the storm intensified...

Joe, high above the Gussfeldt Glacier and the beautiful peak, El Cerro de la Mano, early in our summit day.

They are all back safely in High Camp now, probably going to sleep as I type, so in that respect the climb was a success, but they did not all reach the summit today. Shortly after the last conversation with Todd, the weather began to change, and when the weather changes at 20,000 ft (over 6ooo meters) it can happen fast. By the time they were approaching the summit today it began to snow pretty hard, and the visibility was described as being inside a ping pong ball. They reached over 22,000 ft (6,700 m) before the weather forced them to turn around.

Ali, heading for the top, as clouds begin to stream over from the south side of the mountain. We decided to give her a chance to see the upper part of the route on her own, so she could get up and down quickly enough to make it back to high camp to assist Joe and have the stoves fired up when Todd and Tom made it back.

The team made a decision to allow Ali to climb ahead so that she could go for the summit and then descend to assist Joe back at high camp. While Todd and the Toms were about 3 hours from the top, Ali took off and made her summit bid. She had been gone about an hour when the weather began to deteriorate, and the snow began to fall at a rate of about 6" per hour. She made it to the top in dense snow, limited visibility, but low wind. She was then able to descend back to Todd and the Toms before the weather really began to shut down.

With the increasing amount of snow, and the decreasing visibility, Todd and the Toms had decided that prudence was the better part of valor, and they had turned back from part way up the infamously loose gully that leads to the summit and is known as the Canaleta. Ali caught up with them as they descended the long traverse that cuts across the West Face of the mountain, and they all made it back to high camp in blustery conditions.

Tom C, at 22,000 feet. The snow was falling at a rate of 6" an hour at this point, although we were a bit sheltered by a rock overhang in the photo.

I'm sure they are a bit disappointed, but they gave it all they had, they didn't give up, and they climbed to 22,000 ft. Most importantly, they are all coming home safely so I'd call it a pretty successful trip. It is an exhausting climb getting that close to the summit, and high camp is no place to recover your strength, so I don't anticipate anyone having any energy for another attempt tomorrow, they left it all on the field.


They'll start down the mountain tomorrow, which goes amazingly fast. Tomorrow they'll be at base camp on the southwest side of the mountain "Plaza de Mulas" where they can buy a cheeseburger and a beer. The following day they will hike out to the road (18 miles or so) where a van will wait to take them to Mendoza for a proper celebratory dinner.

Congratulations to all of the team for a great, safe trip.

Ali would like to pass on a personal message " Feliz Cumpleanos Mi Amor" I'm sure you know who you are.