The End of the Road

Horcones Helipad

I am sad to report that today my Aconcagua expedition has come to an unexpected and early end. Having completed the first carry to Camp 1 at 5,000m on Sunday 29th, my second medical assessment at Base Camp revealed a worsening case of Pulmonary Oedema (fluid on the lungs). Within an hour of the assessment I was transported by Helicopter to Horcones base. I will spend the night at the Refuge in Penitentes and transfer to Mendoza in the morning for further medical assessments. Descending to a lower altitude already feels much better.

This is a gutting end to the expedition and my Everest dream. Getting here has taken months of training, preparation and a huge amount of support from my family, friends and colleagues. But altitude related illnesses are unbiased and can affect anyone regardless of age or fitness. Learning how my body responded to altitude was part of the journey and sadly, despite giving it my best, I have had to come down.

It has been amazing to see South America for the first time and have the opportunity to climb Aconcagua. I hope my departure does not impact the summit success for John, Shamin and Kevin on the expedition team. Thank you to two of the best guides ever (Mauricio and Maria) who made the expedition so much fun and kept us safe. And thank you to the Aconcagua Park Rangers for their medical assessment and evacuation provisions…they were professional and did not waste anytime with getting me off the Mountain.

Happy New Year to all…already lots of low altitude things to look forward to!

I will be on the way back to the UK later this week hopefully.

Merry Christmas and Let the Expedition Begin

Christmas Tree/Air Freshener

Merry Christmas from Argentina!

After two days of travel and two days of preparations it is time to begin the expedition! Conditions here in the valley remain excellent and we will set off around 9am for a 5 hour trek between Punta de Vacas and Pampa de Lenas (2,800m). We are all itching to get started and glad that this day is finally here. It has been a long time coming and it has taken a lot of training.

Kit Inspection Complete

Kit inspection complete. A few small things to purchase but no major items were missing or unsuitable. Starting to prepare the day pack now.

Expedition Itinerary

Aconcagua Training Campaign Complete

Thats the final weekend of training complete ahead of the Aconcagua expedition. I managed to smash two new PB times despite the greasy conditions underfoot, 50mph winds and occasional shot of hail in the face.

I was at the Pen-y-Pass car park ready to start at 09:00. I had views of Crib Goch up to 600m then nothing but hill fog. The wind was fairly light in the morning and the snow from three weekends ago had disappeared from all but the nookiest of crannies. With the trail running gear on and sport mode enabled, I hit the hill with the mindset that this was going to be my last shot at a fast time in non-winter conditions. I managed to run all of the non-scrambling sections including the summit ascent to the finish. The efforts paid off and I hit the summit in 1hr 16min 18sec to secure a new PB (1 min 52sec faster than my time from October 5th). The new PB’s did not end there though…after a quick tap of the hand on the summit post, it was straight into the descent section via Y Lliwedd. I was back at the car just before mid-day with a final route time of 2hr 42min 45sec. Not bad going for a wet lap.

Trail Running Shoes – Inov8 Roclite 312 GTX

A quick lunch, £5 more in the parking meter and the winter mountaineering boots on and I was back on the hill for 12:00. This time a second Snowdon summit via Crib Goch and a descent of the Pyg Track. Some fairly tired legs and ~50mph crosswinds on the ridge resulted in a slower ascent, but energy levels remained high and I was back at the car in 3hr 38min, which was handy because my parking ticket expired after 4 hours!

Winter Mountaineering Boots – La Sportiva Batura 2 GTX

It will be a combination of gym sessions and strict mince pie avoidance techniques over the next two weeks to avoid any excess body baggage. That said I have just made an entire apple pie disappear without using any magic. The legs are now in recon mode.

Snowdon Horseshoe Route View in Google Earth

T-Shirt from my first ascent of Snowdon in 1992…clocked more than 40 ascents since then

More details of the upcoming expedition this week!

Sand & Snow

Snowdon from Crib Goch

Back in the hills after a month in the desert…and what an amazing day it was! After a week of storms here in North Wales, a high-pressure system parked itself over the UK for the weekend brining cold but clear and sunny weather in Snowdonia. Conditions under foot were certainly different to when I left in September. Snowdon had received the Guinness treatment and was blanketed white above 700m with ice on the ground all the way from Pen-Y-Pass.

It felt great to get the trail running kit on again after a month confined to the gym, jogging around the marina and hitting the climbing wall in Dubai. I’m in the UK for the next month and with the clock ticking for Aconcagua I’ll be pushing the pre-expedition fitness hard. Off to Scotland tomorrow for two weeks (of work) with plans to explore the Grampian Mountains over the weekend with an old climbing mate.

Cracking Views

Next Time Crampons

Trail Run to Summit

Conditions at the Top

Ice & Lemon (Dubai)

Closest thing to Mountains in Dubai

One Month To Go!

Black Diamond Raven Pro

My new axe arrived this morning too. A great lightweight bit of kit with a beautifully simple design and construction. Looking forward to some quality training conditions this winter.

Summit Series Mitts

My North Face Himalayan Mitts arrived this morning…given how cold it is here in Wales I think they will be getting a test drive pretty soon. Snow already on the hills in Snowdonia…will post some pics on the weekend.

Training Sucks

This little gadget is the Power Breathe Black Series…its a breathing resistance training device to help condition my lungs to cope with the increased breathing rate at altitude. Twice a daily for the past five months I have been completing breathing exercises and this morning I hit level 5 of 10.

Now I don’t just blow candles out…I blow them over…grrrr.