Lucky to be on Aconcagua

Hi everyone -- we are lucky to actually be climbing Aconcagua this week!! After coming down off Vallecitos and having our rest off the mountain, we had to make the drive to Aconcagua Park. At the time we were delayed due to a landslide that had resulted in a road closure. Thankfully the road was opened later that day and we were able to pass through. The passage was short-lived, however, because another landslide hit and everything was closed again. We had come through a nearly deserted ski area parking lot with a handful of cars--this quickly turned into approximately 1000 cars as people were forced to stop due to the road closure ahead (now, thankfully behind us). Reports are that it will be four days before the road is opened once again. We had managed to sneak safely through during a 4 hour window. A four day delay for us would have meant an abrupt end to our Aconcagua dream for 2013.

Today we walked about 20 kilometres up a river valley to a height of 14,300 feet which has left us feeling a bit tired but in good spirits. Tomorrow is a planned rest day where we will organize our gear for the remainder of our climb. On Monday we expect to go to Nido de Condores and then on to Cholera Camp on Tuesday. Here we plan to wait for a good weather window for our push to the summit. We had initially hoped for a summit push on Tuesday or Wednesday but due to gale-force winds, we expect that we are much more likely to make our summit attempt on Thursday. In the meantime, conversations at camp have become mundane, focused on food, bodily function, and the all-important weather. Stay posted and watch the tracker as we continue our climb.