New Climb Aconcagua 2009
After 18 months without a major climb, I will be climbing Aconcagua December 10th to January 2nd. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in South America and the highest mountain in the world outside of Asia. Aconcagua stands 22,841 feet. I will be climbing the false polish route. I am still looking for experienced climbers to join my expedition. If you are interested, please email me at paul@paulelwell.net More details to come.
Denali 2008 Photos
Photos from my Denali 2008 Expediation are posted under the photo section. Click here to go to the photo section or click the link at the top of the page.
Back From Denali
After waiting for several days at high camp, we ended up without another summit window. We had to decent due to lack of food, fuel, and wanting to get down to thicker air. We made it back down the mountain in three days fighting wind and fierce blowing snow conditions. Once back at base camp we were able to get a flight off the glacier the same day. It was a challenging trip as always and it was a little disappointing not to reach the summit however I know the decision I made were wise ones. I ended the trip safe and with all my fingers and toes and can climb another day. A full trip report will be posted shortly.
A Tough Choice
We only had two possible summit days left, today and tomorrow (Monday). We really wanted to attempt the summit, especially after being at 17,200 foot camp for a week. After that much time, you think you are going out of your mind from boredom. Try to imagine what life would be like being stuck at high camp. You lay in your bed, eat only dehydrated food, without a shower and have little to do except stare at the ceiling for 16 hours per day for a week. It is a test of your sanity. It is the sacrifice mountain climbers have to make at times for that ever elusive summit. Of course, when you have been in a situation like this for a week, it adds significantly to your desire to reach the summit and go home.
In order to have enough food to summit and get to the bottom of the mountain, today and tomorrow were our only options for a summit. This obviously made us very determined to head to the summit today.
However, we woke up to poor weather conditions. It was nothing but a cold, windy and a white out because of the snow. Regardless, we proceeded to get ready to summit while hoping for the weather to change. It did not change. We even got to the point of roping up. Meanwhile, I had a bad feeling in my gut. It kept getting stronger with each passing moment because of the the weather conditions. Finally, I told my teammates that I was not going to join them for the summit attempt. If they wanted to try for the summit that was ok with me. I was not comfortable with making the attempt in the white out conditions we were faced with. It was very tough to take a stand against the majority but I knew I was being true to my climbing phyolosophy. In addition, I was being true to the promises I made to my family and my wife. Hopfully, the weather is ideal tomorrow so I can reach the summit. For now, I know I made the right choice regardless of whether my partners make it to the top or not.
A Second Chance
With the disappointment of my summit attempt yesterday being abandoned to avoid frostbite and the poor weather forecast, we were almost sure we would be heading down the mountain to go home today. However, to our surprise, the weather forecast did a 180! The days that looked terrible for summiting before now have low winds and reasonable temperatures. With two other team members making it up here yesterday, we are now planning a Sunday summit attempt.
Denali Summit Ridge
Also, congratulations to my climbing partner, Peter! He solo climbed to the summit of Mount McKinley after I had to turn around yesterday.