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STATUS:
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--The
team of Doug
Stoup, John Griber, Glenn Poulsen and
Ryan
Sutter climbed Cerro
Aconcagua via the 'Polish Glacier Traverse' route.
Unfortunately, their repeated summit attempts were thwarted
by high winds and extremely cold temperatures.
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John and Ryan did reach
21,100 ft. -- well into the high altitude 'death zone;'
which was no small potatoes, considering the grueling
conditions. And they also managed to get in a few snowboard
turns while successfully testing some cool new satellite
equipment.
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Aconcagua,
at 6,962 m (22,841 ft), is situated in the Andes mountain
range in western Argentina, and is one of the revered
'Seven
Summits' -- the
highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere. The name
Aconcagua, loosely translated, means 'stone sentinel.'
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Temperatures above 5,000
m will reach -20 °C and even lower, with -30 °C to
be expected at the summit. Strong, gusty winds are possible,
with the occasional 'viento blanco,' or white wind, racing
up to 180 km/hr at the highest
elevations.
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The goal of the ICE AXE
team was not only to summit; but to document the adventure
live over the internet with daily dispatches -- which they
accomplished (see audio and video at right).
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In 1897, Briton Edward
Fitzgerald's team made the earliest recorded ascent. Swiss
Matthias Zurbriggen reached the summit first, followed by
two other expedition members several days
later.
Photo
archives:
Click
Here for John's photo gallery
Click Here for
Ryan's slide show
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Coverage
produced by Tony Caravan
Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved.
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