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Teamwork Rules!
Jan 3: After an uneventful night at the Chilean ski zone of La Parva (2800m), the team left for the attempt on Cerro (is Mount in Spanish) Plomo (5,450m) today. With the exception of Ting Sern (a lighter pack), we were all hefting 25kg+loads. This part of Chile is really dry with rugged peaks of volcanic origin. Our plan was to acclimatise prior to the major objective of Ojos del Salado (6,885m) 800km north of us in the Atacama Desert. The team of Gil Piekarz (Brazil), Jorge Cambiaso (Argentina) and the two of us from Singapore are warming up to each other. Language barriers are both a hindrance and a challenge.
Some real team work was displayed as the day wore on. Gil dropped his rucksack twice to double back over tricky terrain to help Ting Sern. At these altitudes of around 3,400m+, it was no mean feat. Ting Sern, as you might recall , has mild cerebal palsy from birth but this has not deterred him from being a contributing member. His balance and coordination dictates that a team with him has to provide some additional assistance over certain kinds of terain.Though he would not be climbing wiith us on Everest, his role as technical office is invaluable.
Here , in Chile, he's in the unusual position as being part of a self-sufficent expedition: carrying al it's fuel, food, clothing and climbing gear. We camped at about 3,500m, after an exhausting 6-7 hours going up and down several valleys. To perk us up that evening, we enjoyed some dehydrated Brands Essence of Chicken (Gil like that quite a bit, surp...) and some spicy noodles. Ting Sern was really knackered but game for the next day's approach march
Jan 4: A river crossing which would have been dangerous for Ting Sern was resolved again by some doubling back and getting his hefty pack across first. Jorge is playing sweeper on this trip. Just getting our Nera Worldphone and Apple Powerbook here is amazing enough. We've also received a weather report, courtesy of Meteorological Service Singapore (thanks!). We're camped at 3,700m, just above a raging glacial river with Cerro Bismarck (4,785m) overlooking us.
Cerro Plomo remains elusive but we hope to set eyes on it tomorrow as we head to our summit camp at 4,200m. In the meantime, we hope to get some digital pictures to you of the approach trek to the climb, taken with a Canon IXUS with an all-weather casing.
With good acclimatisation, a summit bid is planned for the 6th of January.
Cheerio,
David
Hoje eh o nosso terceiro dia nos Andes chilenos. O tempo estah maravilhoso, azul e muito agradavel. Estamos escalando o Cerro el Plomo com 5.440m de altitude nas cercanias de Santiago, proximo aos centros de Ski La Parva, Farellones e Vale Nevado. Basicamente o primeiro dia foi de translado de Santiago a La Parva com o meu corsa - tive que fazer duas viagens devido ao volume do equipamento. Dormimos em La Parva e ontem comecamos a caminhada propriamente dito em direcao a montanha. Juntos conosco estao quatro chilenos - dois casais, e um italiano que esta viajando pela America do Sul.
O que imaginavamos um dia mais tranquilo de caminhada foi na realidade bastante duro. Caminhamos cerca de 6:30 hs e chegamos cansados no primeiro acampamento a 3.400m de altitude. Mas, a noite com a Lua em crescente e sem vento compensou o cansaco. Um bom chimarrao, uma belo jantar e uma boa noite de sono nos refez completamente.
O dia de hoje, 04 de janeiro, foi mais tranquilo, caminhamos cerca de 4 horas ate uma altitude de 3,700m. Podiamos chegar aos 4.200m, mas como nosso objetivo aqui e fazer uma boa aclimatacao resolvemos estacionar por aqui mesmo e aproveitar para descansar e escrever um pouco. Amanha vamos a 4.200m, La Holla, e depois de amanha para o cume do Cerro el Plomo.
Ciao!
(rough translation)
Today was our third day of climbing in Chile. The weather was wonderful, blue skies and very pleasant. We are climbing Cerro el Plomo (5,440m) just in Santiago's outskirts, close to the ski centres of Ski La Parva. The first day was spent moving equipment from Santiago to the Ski Centre. We slept in La Parva and yesterday we began the walk in direction the mountain. Together with us were four Chilean - two couples, and an Italian traveling through South America.
What I imagined to be a calm day of walking turned out to be quite a tough day. We walked about 6:30 hrs and we arrived tired at the first camp, 3,400m. But, the cool windless night with a crescent moon compensates for the fatigue. A good maté, a beautiful dinner and a good night sleep recharged us completely.
Today, January 04, was easier, we walked about 4 hours to an altitude of 3,700m. Our aim here was acclimatization and we decided to take advantage of the situation, took an early rest and to write a little. Tomorrow we are going to aim to reach 4,200m, La Holla, and the day after tomorrow for the summit of the Cerro el Plomo.