January 12, 2016
Luke’s team on the top of Imbabura.
Let’s catch up with our teams in the Southern Hemisphere. Luke, Romulo and team are ‘barely’ in the Southern Hemisphere right now and part of the day will be in the Northern Hemisphere, actually. They are up at the climber’s hut on Cayambe and taking the day to do more acclimatization and training. At around 15,000 ft., it’s a good place to do both. Luke called in late yesterday, 11 Jan, and said it was a spectacular night at the hut. Stars a bunch. If weather holds, they’ll make a summit attempt this evening/early tomorrow. At 19,000 ft, Cayambe will be their first big test.
Josh, Robert, Martin and crew finish their hike out today from Pampas Lenas on Aconcagua and will be in Mendoza this evening. Short hike and I’m sure they’re looking forward to showers and a hotel bed. Mountain said no this time but it will be waiting when they’re ready for a rematch.
And furthest south is our team on Vinson with Austin Shannon. Camp 1 right now, around 10,000 ft. Austin said they got a couple of inches of snow, which is a lot for Antarctica and that temps are actually ‘reasonably warm’. Remember, this is Antarctica so everything’s relative. They’re likely to use today to consolidate camp and get a bit more acclimatization before they try to make their big carry to C2, high camp. One step at a time.
Next up – Jonathan Schrock heads to Aconcagua with our third team of the season. They all arrive Mendoza on the 17th and we’ll follow their progress once they hit the trail.
Phil Ershler