Aconcagua 2009

Had a brilliant trip up Aconcagua with Peter Clulow (Katie's Dad), summiting on March 17 after a week of perfect weather. We seemed to acclimatise well enough, with only a few headaches and a brief spell of nausea for Pete. The last day was a real challenge, with 1100m of altitude gain and very little oxygen to do it with. Slow,but we got there!

We were climbing at the end of the season, and as a result had the mountain to ourselves. The other bonus was the best weather of the the season!

The girls (Katie and Rosie) joined us for the first two days, and then headed on a bus epic towards Iguazu Falls, 1500km away.

We spent two nights in this shelter at 5900m, which was great on the one day that the wind did blow -12 inside, -30 outside!

at 6700m

on top

Looking down the 2500m South Face

Although it's not a technical climb at all, the height makes everything pretty tough at the top. Also you never know how your body will react to 40% of its normal oxygen levels. I lost my balance a bit, and Peter reported more memory blanks than usual!