Safe Arrival at Base Camp, mule included

I just got a call from Scott about an hour ago, and he is at base camp and feeling good. His muleteer and mule met him there with a large portion of his gear. Tomorrow he will make a trip up to Camp II with a load of supplies to stash behind some rocks for him to use when he reaches that point. He'll spend another night down at Base Camp as part of the acclimatization process (so his body gets used to the altitude).

Though there are several other climbing parties there, the language barrier is a factor, so he will be climbing the Normal Route rather than traversing the Polish Glacier.

We figured out that he is 5 hours ahead of Pacific Time in the region of Argentina where he is located. I should get another call from him in about 5-6 days after he has successfully reached the summit and makes it safely back to Base Camp.

In the meantime, he is using the Spot tracker to send me "okay" messages every day so that I know he's alright. He also has a "help" message programmed in that he can send me if I needed to contact the ranger with his exact coordinates, but let's hope I don't ever get to see that message. I copied a link to this post that shows his last coordinates, so you can see where he's at on Google maps if you're interested. (just click on the title of this post) Thanks for keeping him in your thoughts!

Aconcagua Expedition - '08/'09

Merry Christmas Eve! Scott leaves tomorrow afternoon for Argentina, where he will embark on a climbing expedition to the highest point in South America. Aconcagua stands tall at 22,841 ft. in the midst of the Andes mountain range, where there are eight other major peaks over 22K. Aconcagua is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere, and it is located in western Argentina near the border of Chile.

Here are some pictures of Scott and I at the highest point in Costa Rica during our vacation this Thanksgiving. Reportedly you can see both the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans from the top of Mt. Chirripo (12,530 ft.), but unfortunately it was much too rainy and cloudy for us to get a view, but all 3 of us made it safely to the top - Scott, Dana and Bambino!