January 5, 2016
To The Top
“Sometimes you eat the mountain and sometimes the mountain eats you.â€Â It’s a good line. I think that sums up the day for IMG teams. Mike Hamill called in from Plaza Mulas, which is base camp on the Horcones Valley side of Aconcagua. They had hoped to take a summit shot this morning but the mountain said no. Regardless of the forecasted weather lull this morning, the winds picked up to an easy 60-70 mph, snow fell horizontally and visibility went to zero. Even an attempt was out of the question. Mike, Leandro and team did a stellar job of keeping their wits about them and got camp taken down, packed up and they descended. That was an impressive feat, in itself. Great effort and a great decision. They’re safe, warm and ready to hike out tomorrow. Heck of an effort and absolutely the correct decision.
At the other extreme, Greg Vernovage just called in to say that the entire Vinson team was standing on the summit, in absolutely perfect weather. No wind, great visibility and in Antarctica, that equates to ‘relatively’ warm. Sensational effort by Greg, Austin, Gretchen, Doug, Grace, Francois, Brooke, Robert, Chaz and Moselle. They will be in Vinson base camp by tomorrow afternoon.
Phil Ershler