February 8, 2019
Plaza Argentina BC (Robert Jantzen)
Rikki and crew took a well-deserved rest day at Camp 2 yesterday. They’ve all been working hard to keep the train on the tracks and they’re right on schedule. One thing that is equally as important as climbing hard on longer expeditions, is resting well too. It’s important to let our bodies recover and get as strong and healthy as possible before going to the top. They made a carry up to high camp today and it went well. It’s a little breezy but nothing they can’t handle. The plan now is to move up to high camp tomorrow around 20,000 feet and make a summit attempt on Sunday. Let’s see if weather forecasts agree with their plan over the next 48 hours.
Down at Plaza Argentina, Robert jumped on the internet and gave me a ring. Their entire crew arrived at basecamp as a team this afternoon and are now enjoying some of the amenities. Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day and they will start mentally preparing for the mountain above basecamp as well as prepping group loads. Please excuse the poor quality of the photo above and keep in mind that it was sent from 14,000 feet on the side of a mountain in Argentina. I just figured friends and family back home would like to see it.
Luke Reilly