February 9, 2012
Life in the clouds can be a bit fuzzy.
Phil called in from the hut on Orizaba after “given’ it one heck of a go” this morning. Despite the teams effort they were forced to turn around 500ft short of the summit. 500ft doesn’t sound like much, but if you’ve climbed at all you realize that 500ft can be an eternity in the mountains.
With close to a foot of new snow on the upper mountain, blowing ice and snow in their faces and just generally being surrounded by a ‘black cloud’ Phil, made the tough decision to turn around.
The group is all smiles and anxious to get downhill to ‘wash the stink off’, grab a bite to eat and relax before making the journey home later this week.
Tye Chapman