Lafayette

Thanks for the advice, it´s good to read what the wiser and cooler heads have to say. Blanco is a nice guy. He had a good attitude, just not the skills. The best characterization of his abilities is that he´s a good client for a guided trip. (BUT DIDN´T TIP!) It´d be much easier if I found him to be an asshole. I would be more apt to solve my problem with my fists than my tongue. I´ll be posting a TR in the next few days.

Hey Guys, So I´m down in Argentina with a buddy of mine. Due to weather we were unable to summit Aconcagua via the Polish Direct, and instead ended up traversing. For the past two weeks we had a third climber, met over summit post, who ´joined´ our ´team.´ We´ll call him Blanco. Blanco is pretty much the most useless climber I´ve ever met. At least if I bring a girlfriend into the mountains I can see some benefit. With Blanco, other groups were asking us if we were working as guides. For two weeks he didn´t contribute shit to the team, relying on us to ferry loads, boil water for him, gather snow, and adjust our plans for a Plaza Argentina exit. (He wasn´t able to make the carry over the pass to exit the other side.) On summit day we woke up and got gear up. Blanco was outside saying he was ready to go when I pointed out that he was wearing a pair of convertible pants, and no snow or wind layer. He was surprised it was so windy. After weeks of question his mental, fitness, and equipment preparation we basically had to say what the hell are you doing. He would have froze and it would have been our fault. His excuse was that he didn´t think he would have made it to camp 2 if he´d had to carry all his gear. He left wind, and down pants at base camp. Another example of his skills was when he tried to explain how much shorter it would be to exit down the horcones valley. This was until I showed him that you needed to exit to the road and not just the random park boundry line on the map. (Author´s note, it is still shorter, but he was looking at the thing on the map.) When looking at random small snow peak, he claims wow isn´t it beautiful. This is looking north up the valley, Acon is the giant mountain to the west that has a ton of snow on it. Look, maybe this is a bad diatribe but his claims before the trip were the ability to climb WI5, doing Denali, North Ridge on Baker, and a few years of experience in the cascades. He later revealed his WI5 was on up to 80 deg ice, I dunno too much about ice climbing but figure WI5 is harder than that. He might have had expedition experience, but he couldn´t work either our jet boil or the whisper lite. Which tells me that for three weeks his partners had to do all the cooking for him. My partner and I basically felt we were guides and he was our responsiblity. Maybe I´m just trying to relase some stress by venting, and I apologize for the useless diatribe. But these are only a couple of many situations that he put us in that not only made more work for ourselves, but challenged us to change plans and accomodate Blanco. When we got back to Mendoza he never even bought us a beer or a dinner for having to carry his weight (figuratively and literally.) My question is, should I reveal on Summit Post that this guy is a twinky who overstates his experience? He has plans on doing the rest of the seven summits, and I would hate for somebody else to be partnered with this ass bag. Or should I just relax, drink some more wine, and find more senoritas to cool hot head. Maybe the act of venting will be enoug therapy in itself. I´ve met some great climbers via CC and SP, but will take a long hard look at the next guy. Adios, W!ll

I just used Aymara and they were very helpful. We had a summit poster ass bag out at Plaza Argentina. With only one tent we were in a bit of a bind but Aymara was gracious enough to let Gordo live in their mess tent. They were also super helpful and excited to talk to us about the climb, route conditions, and summit weather. All the muleteers charge the same price so it´s a crap shoot, but I found Aymara to go above and beyond in terms of helpfullness. We had some extra gear to sell at the end of the trip and one of the Aymara porters gathered his buddies as we basically auctioned off our gear. Gotta replace it when I get home, but the prices we got were worth it.

nice

I´m in Quito currently. Climbing with a porter is a sad way to climb a mountain, but there are plenty of guided parties taht will do this for you. There are many certified ecuadorean guides that do private trips. They can be seen in the refugios doing everything from cooking, to assisting the client put on boots, harness, and gaiters. It´s rediculous. As for shops, Tatoo is definitely a good one. Andes Sport, and altus. Just walk down Juan Leno Mera in the mariscal district. You´ll find what you need. For clothes most prices are comparable, unless purchasing a local brand that is a slightly better deal. But does sacrifice quality. Tech gear like beaners, axes, etc. is more expensive than US prices.

buzzkill

PM'd

DD gave constructive advice. I might admit to doing the same thing when I was starting out.

zing!

Axes. I can't seem to get the link to work.

Where ya at? I could use some fleece pants.

Three times in three different days.... http://www.bogley.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=188852 So even if it hasn't changed your view. It definitely has for other "people"

That TR is almost better than porn.

Ouch, I'm actually a native Kiwi so truly harsh. I lived on the South Island for six months and didn't think it was bad. Wasn't climbing, but got some epic snowboarding in during their winter, and some beach time during their spring/summer. As for Hugh, as much as I can in south america. Likely just the intermediate level slogs, I'm not great with technical ice routes...yet.

How is quito for meeting up with other climbers? I'm solo and haven't had luck trolling Summitpost or other online boards.

I'm interested in those ice tools. I'll offer 140. Please PM me if interested and we can arrange...

Just saw this, guess I don't troll the posts here enough. I'd be interested can you send me some more information?

Killi is about the same height. And that's a five day climb. I'm trying to head south, but don't have time to travel until after Thanksgiving.

Anybody headed south for the antipodean summer?

And if the previous don't work out. Then I will. Let me know. hockettw at gmail.com

I wouldn't say these are the best. But I don't think they've been mentioned, and they deserve to be. I would second/third Annapurna. Enjoyable as it talked about climbing a mountain that wasn't really mapped at the time. High Adventure by Hillary. You'll read a thousand books about bad ass guys doing incredible stuff in challenging terrain. Here's a guy that does it all, and says that his greatest accomplishment is helping the sherpa people of nepal. A modest hero. Lastly, the Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. Denser then the testosterone prose of mountain writers. Thanks for posting this question. I've enjoyed seeing what the rest of you recommend. I'll have to check them out.

Thanks for the insight. I now have a better understanding of the late autumn glacier conditions. As for arresting, that's a question that we discussed. I like to think that I could. However reading has suggested un-roping in very icy conditions. I should have practiced some self-arrests on the stuff before hand. The route is well within my ability during the summer. The changing will have to be matched with a change in gear. For a successful trip I'll need ice screws, and ice tools.

I'm interested. I'm waiting for a weather window to open up so that I can snag it. Will be practicing on other peaks in the area before hand.

Hey all, This weekend I attempted the Emmons-Winthrop route on Rainier. The climb was enjoyable, great weather, great company, and great views. But no summit, so the proverbial monkey is still on my back. I do have a couple of questions, and if you've got a minute to you think you could lend your advice? The reason we didn't climb, was that after making it to Camp Schurman we found the glacier to be 100% solid glacial ice. Better for mixing in a drink, than for a snow picket. We decided not to ascend because if either of us fell in a crevasse, there would be no ability to build an anchor to pull the other out. The pickets were rendered completely useless. In this situation, should we each be carrying two ice screws to build an anchor? In summer, the route wouldn't have been a problem for either of us. In fact, I felt climbing around the ice provided better traction than a small layer of snow. My second question is. For winter climbs, is an alpine start needed? When the daytime high is like 20 deg, won't that negate most rock/ice fall? Can I leave camp at 5 am and be back doing the whole trip in day light. Thanks, Will

I've got time, and frequent flier miles burning a whole in my pocket. South America? New Zealand?