Randosteve skis with glaciers in the Horcones Valley. The weather forecasts we were getting off of the satellite internet connection at Plaza de Mulas continued to show unsettled weather for the upper elevations of Aconcagua. Unsettled weather means average winds at about 80mph, with stronger gusts, and temps rising to a maximum of about -5F […]
South America
Glen Poulsen and Kim Havell on the flanks of Aconcagua. The crew was no doubt excited to get on the snow and the plan was to have a few days skiing and acclimatizing, while we waited for better trends in the weather forecasts which would allow us to move up higher on the mountain. At […]
Roadside attractions at Penitentes. Teaming up with Glen Poulsen from Tahoe and Kim Havell from Telluride, our quest to climb and ski Aconcagua began with a short stop over in Penitentes, a small, yet interesting looking ski area north of Mendoza. A few nice peaks with snowy ramps were visible behind burnt out faces near […]
Glen Poulsen scopes out a serac in the Horcones Valley of Aconcagua. Working my way back to Jackson today. Man…what a wild last few weeks it’s been. Some of it seems like a lifetime ago, other parts…will live in my memory banks forever. Before I get on with telling the story of Aconcagua and easing […]
Back at basecamp… …and the weather determined it was not meant to be. Steve called this morning and the team has returned to base camp from Camp Two and a half. The weather over the last couple days has been challenging – cloudy with the winds bringing the temps. down to approximately minus 40F with […]
Headed up to Camp Two and a Half! Well, despite some serious weather obstacles, the team has decided to move higher still! Steve called today to report that the team has decided to continue up to Camp Two and a half tomorrow, even after spending a full day in the tent yesterday, enduring “nuclear winds”. […]
Headed up the Mountain! Steve called yesterday to report that the team has now moved up to Camp One (and a half), located a little over 18,000 ft. The team is doing well – everyone is feeling strong, and the plan is for the team to either take a rest day today or start shuttling […]
I talked to Steve again yesterday, and unfortunately the team has been stymied in their attempts to move higher on the mountain because of the wind. Apparently, on Wednesday, it was -25F on the Summit, with a wind chill bringing the temp down to -60F – enough to keep the team in base camp for […]
Randokitty here, again for Randosteve… Steve called this morning to say that their “recon. ski” went great yesterday, and that they actually found some great snow! The wind was howling this morning though, and so the team is taking a rest day. So far, everyone on the team is acclimatizing very well and their “pulse […]
Randokitty here for Randosteve: Steve called today, on the satellite phone, from base camp. The two day trek in to base camp went well, and the team is doing great, settling into camp at over 14, 000ft. At three points along the trek in, the team members’ oxygen levels were tested and all three members […]
All right! We, Glen Poulsen, Kim Havell and myself, are on our way to Los Penitentes today, and the next stage of our adventure to climb and ski Aconcagua. Los Penitentes is the staging area before heading into basecamp. Los Penitentes is also where we load up the mules that will be carrying our heavy […]
Well, after finishing one adventure, it’s right on to the next and I am already missing RandoKitty…big time! Now, I am in Mendoza, Argentina, to attempt to climb and ski the Polish Glacier on Cerro Aconcagua which tops out at 6962m (22,975′). I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the good weather that has been such […]
More radness in Ushuaia. Another day of skiing up in the Marshall Glacier zone yesterday. This time it was with Thomas Laakso and Adam Clark. Thomas is the ski category manager for Black Diamond Equipment and Adam Clark is a pretty well known photographer in the ski world. Skiing up to the Marshall is pretty […]
Ushuaia harbor. Got out skiing for a few hours today. No real plan…just cruise up to the glacier and tour around to get my legs back under me and grab a feel for the conditions. I’m glad I brought a couple pairs of skis with me, since the snow conditions are extremely variable, ranging from […]
Sam Bass psyched to have made it to Ushuaia, Argentina. Wow…36 hours of non-stop traveling…and now I’m here in Ushuaia with an amazing group of people. It was very cool to see the group size heading to Antarctica slowly grow from just three of us flying out of Jackson, to larger numbers rendezvousing in Atlanta…and […]
Kind of mellow dramatic, but click here for some musical accompaniment to this post. Wow, the day is finally here and today I am off to Ushuaia, and the southern most point of Argentina and South America. It will take two full days to get there, but luckily the longest flight to the southern hemisphere […]
I’m headed to the east coast for Gore-Tex camp today and I figure this will be the last gear list update before I head back to Jackson and then jump on a plane (or five) on Sunday to head southward to Antarctica and then on to Aconcagua. My mind has been racing and no matter […]
T-minus 9 days until I leave for over 6 weeks on this epic adventure to ski on the Antarctic Peninsula and Aconcagua, one of the seven summits. And for sure…I’m felling the pressure. I’ve had these Julbo Explorer glacier glasses for about three years, waiting for the right opportunity to bust them out. Well, it’s […]
More packing and refining of the gear-list for Antarctica and Aconcagua going on lately, and it’s fast approaching less than two weeks away! Today we’ll touch base on the clothing, outwear and base layers that I will bring. I’ll be taking a mixture of hard and soft-shells (both jackets and pants), a couple insulating layers […]
I know these next few weeks are going to fly by with a busy schedule of working, traveling to the east coast and getting my gear ready for the upcoming trip to Antarctica and Aconcagua. It’s a little tough to pack for this trip, because really, one almost wants two completely different setups to deal […]