Well if you have been following Adventure Consultant´s website, you will know that I didn´t make the summit of Aconcagua. I turned around - or as my friend Scott would say, I strategically withdrew - about 1.5 hours after leaving our high camp, camp 3, on summit day at an altitude of 6,280m due to a combination of a complete lack of strength and energy, nausea and cold feet. However goal no. 1 was never to summit; it was simply to enjoy the journey and to complete the traverse (we climbed up the eastern side of the mountain and down the western side) without being evacuated by helicopter or mule - both of which I did.
A full expedition - carrying loads up and down the mountain, erecting and dismantling tents etc - is hard work. And Aconcagua is a hard, hard, hard mountain.
This was not an ¨altitude record¨ for me; I got to a higher altitude when climbing Mera Peak in Nepal last October. However I class this as, by far, the hardest thing I have ever done. And the achievement that I am most proud of.
Full details tomorrow. I am off to replace some of the weight that I lost - about 5kgs in a little under 3 weeks - with more of the finest food and wine that Mendoza has to offer :-)
Edit: I had intended to start my Aconcagua report today (Friday) but I am running out of time. I leave the hotel in just over an hour on this my last day o/s during my 6 month odyssey. Get home to Sydney on Sunday and will start my report then. Thanks to everyone for the emails & comments :-)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
hi jen, we are so glad you are down and safe. Heard about another man on the mountain who didnt fare so well. so we are pleased about your withdrawal. We are proud of your achievements, it must have been a hard slog. Much Love, Gayle and Baz xx
That's a shame Jen.
Did you get cold feet as in "feet not warm enough" or cold feet as in "a case of the nerves"?
Cheri
i dont understand how the mule fits into the helicopter.
sorry to hear that jen.
so have you thought about your next expedition yet? ;)
Post a Comment