Flat tent...!

Hi this is post 2 worried oif I write a long one and lose connexion I have to start again
Nightmare when we got downlast night from Camp 1 my tent had been flattened by a freak gust of wind ripped broken bust... the guides tent has been flattened by a huge catering thing like a polytunnel which was ripped up into the air and landed on their tent which will be our tent above base camp it hasn´t ripped but their poles are all bent and bust so they are trying to fix them i think they can. whe we got to camp 1 yday it was blowing a gale and we helped another group put up their tents Larry my guide laept on one of them as it blew away!! and saved it but they lost one God it was windy. Any way my poor tent is in a sad heap we slept i akitchen tent last nighyt I was lucky that some amerecans who we came up with rescued it otherwise all my stuff would have blown away.
Any way sunny day warmsih but guess what windy and all good otherwise so love to all and don,t worry I am really feeling well and chllenged but in a good way!!
all love J XX

camp 1

hi guys made it to camp 1 16k feet wild windy snowy and freezing BUT I am feeling so strong! I made it up with my pack loaded no porter which was to my mind a triumph it was 8 hours up and down we stashed some supplies up there and then came back down its all acliamtisation. So at base camp now and haed up tomorrow so probably will be out of contact til I either do it or not! I am feeling really good physically, its a bit of a mind F.... being on my own gudes are great but one can slightly dwell on where I am!! But part from that it is so sodding windy it just doesn,t stop really cold and windy all the time. I am supremely confident physically but the weather is wild and windy and cold so that truly is my enemy and I am goinmg to do exactly what I think is right I am not obssesed with the summit if the cold and wind carry on I will have no worries in coming down it is a huge challenge to have got this far I stink no shower for a week and pooing in a hole!! Its not home!
all love J XXXX

basecamp

have arrived at basecamp great hike in saw condors and foxes, it seemed bit easier than last time, its been VERY windy for 2 weeks!! was v windy all way up hikes are long think of being in thre gym for 8 hours a day and that sort of does it! storm forecast for tomorrow again it was v stormy last night but it is fine when we are at basecamp, hope the wind will drop soon! Miss everyone but fel happy and strong. there is much more snow up here than b4 so we will be in crampons from here which apparntly makes things easier. Its very cold indeed as well but sunny.
First big test to camp 1 tomorrow so will try and give a report on that on Monday after that i will be out of contact but love from aconcagua send me messages!!! any way i am happy and feel good gudes are great. J XXXXXX

THE OFF

In haste just to say we are off!!! nerves have gone and excitment has taken over. Yippeeeeeeee!

Penitentes

Just leaving for Penitentes where we will spend tonight. I was quite keen to avoid it its a dump, and go straight to the starting point but the night there is a really important start to acclimatisation to the altitude as its about 7,000 feet up so my body will start getting used to the altitude. Rushing it could screw everything up the slower you acclimatise the more chance you have of not getting altitude sickness headaches etc. So that is that!

All my stuff including my big rucksack is packed into one big bag which Mules will carry to base camp, once we are there no doubt more stuff will be dumped as I have to carry everything from Base Camp myself in the big pack. Up to base camp I only have to carry my day pack with weather gear and water and bit of grub in it so its not very heavy.

Really enjoyed my last bath and last sleep in a nice bed and sheets for 18 days .... just chilled out last night packed repacked and packed again!!!!

Any way think of us early tomorrow starting out on the big adventure say a little prayer and I'm only 1500 short of 60,000 for the Louis Dundas Centre Of palliative care so it would be great if it was 60 plus when I get down!!!!!!!!!!

Also if you leave comments on the blog I will see them at base camp I hope!!!

Love J XXX

Colin

Have to mention Colin my trainer who has been a total legend for the last four months and whose training last thursday culminated in my seriously wanting to hit him or at the least give up and go home he pushed me so much. (I didn't do either) If you read this thanks mate for everything I think a lot of my confidence has come from your training and your really positive approach and encouragement.

Ground Hog Day!

Well after 30 hours I am here! My vendetta with BA added considerably to my journey time but principles are principles! And Air Canada are brilliant, Seem less through Toronto and Santiago really easy. Slept almost the whole way , the last leg to Mendoza was hideously turbulent and Aconcagua was bathed in Stygian cloud.

It is very weird being back here, It really feels like I left yesterday its a very weird ground hog day feeling. I think I am even in the same room as last time eeek! I'm sitting surrounded by all my kit no doubt the guides will whittle it down quite a lot there does seem to be quite a lot of stuff.

I met Carlos and Larry my guides last night, they seem pretty cool Carlos is from Santiago and Larry is an Alaskan and my confidence has soared, I am feeling alarmingly positive and very excited now I am here. I'm also apprehensive certainly, but the gloom's of the last few weeks have vanished totally.

I'm also relieved I decided to do the private climb, the group I would have been with left yesterday, there are 13 of them my idea of hell.. both my guides from last year Wesley and Maria Jose are guiding them so we should hook up at Base Camp which is really great and something to look forward too.

Went out to dinner last night and ate most of a cow well left most of it I have never seen a sodding steak so big! Also I am in the heart of the Argentinian wine growing region, AHHH! Bliss, even my shampoo in my hotel room is White Wine Shampoo, Honestly! No Nickers.... I haven't tasted it!

Really interesting to hear from Rodrigo and Carlos that the extreme conditions on my last trip are now in the annals of the history of Aconcagua, it was a famous storm, that in itself is cause for a minor confidence boost I had assumed it was always like that!

Any way the guys are here to check my stuff see yah XXXX