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Tuesday, March 22

Patagonia: Are you down?

Guillaumet is viewers right
In t-minus 1 hour we will be leaving the Rancho Grande in pursuit of our climatic goal: Aguja Guillaumet. A 2580m (8,510') mountain within the Fitz Roy Massif.
Guillaumet
In less than a week we will be on a plane returning from whence we came. Home. A delightful place filled with routine and all those friendly faces we have missed over the past three weeks. The question begs, what is it exactly that we came to accomplish in this far away land called Patagonia? Escape? Adventure? Vacation? A foreign experience? I suppose throughout the trip we tangled with all of those aspects. For me, climbing mountains allows me to come face to face with who I really am. The stress involked focus forces me to reliquish anything burning in the back of my mind and deal with the absolute present.

We have done much preparation for this moment. Since we arrived we've climbed nearly 30 pitches of rock, hiked/walked close to 80 miles, explored our surroundings, and fine-tuned our rope skills. All while having fun (whether type 1 or 2).
Ethan leading
Nick leading
Celebrating the climb
Getting down
Our final goal for the trip is to hike roughly 6 miles to our base camp and then when our weather window appears: climb through 40-50 degree snow, 13 pitches of moderate rock climbing, and a final 30 degree snow slope to the summit of Guillaumet.

We have 5 days worth of food in order to give us the best chance of catching the wind at its lowest. Our suspecting window is forecasted to arrive between Wednesday morning and Friday morning. Being the first day of fall here in the southern hemisphere, it is hard telling.

Here goes!

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for taking the rest of us along with your photos and descriptions. Beautiful scenery and refreshing atmosphere!!!

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