Mon 20 Nov '06 - Punta Arenas - The Waiting Game.... Part 2... Weather delays departure.
Alas, we're still in Punta.
It was all going too well to be true & we fell victim to the natural elements over which we have no control. The flight was postponed 30 mins before take off due to a change in the weather conditions at Patriot & we had to stand down & go on 2 hourly standbys which by 19.00 hrs eventually led to a full stand down until tomorrow. So we start the process again tomorrow. This is not unusual & the norm is for at least 2 aborted departures. Last year they had a 10 day delay in getting people out & anyway you get used to the weather dictating progress when you're mountaineering & just get on with it. It could be worse, we could be stuck at camp 1 or 3 high on the mountain waiting for a storm to blow itself out, so at least we have the comfort of our beds here (& the bar).
Politics & competition are now coming into play in the race to the summit. Freddie the Swede is climbing with us & is just 24 hrs ahead of an American who is also here in their individual bids to set new records for the 7 Summits. They both started in May on Everest but Freddie summited 24 hrs ahead & both are now on their final summit so there is an added edge to this, which frankly the rest of don't need. Anyway our Jagged-Globe guide cannot allow Freddie's objectives to interfere with the overall team objective of the full team summiting so Freddie is now trying to get an ALE guide to climb with just him. The American is a guide himself & therefore will be allowed to climb with just one other person & will have a clear advantage & should make up the 24hr deficit easily. The stakes are high because both obviously have serious sponsorship, TV & books deal etc riding on setting a new record. Whoever is successful & one of them will be, will have knocked 100 days off the old record. Try & imagine the logistics & effort involved in climbing the following in 7 months......and the cost!!
Everest, Tibet
Carstensz Pyramid, Australasia
Kilimanjaro, Kenya
Elebrus, Europe / Russia
Denali, Alaska
Aconcagua, Argentina
Vinson, Antarctica
There are also 2 Swedes & 2 Slovenians racing to be the first to Climb Vinson & ski the decent & the Swedes are also claiming that if successful, they will be the first to have climbed & ski descented the 7 Summit Series. Anyway, good luck to them & we're staying out of it.
That's all for now & I hope I won't be sending a similar update tomorrow, because we're already a day behind & just want to get going. I may send an update before we head tomorrow or else we'll still be here & I won't have anything much else to do.
It was all going too well to be true & we fell victim to the natural elements over which we have no control. The flight was postponed 30 mins before take off due to a change in the weather conditions at Patriot & we had to stand down & go on 2 hourly standbys which by 19.00 hrs eventually led to a full stand down until tomorrow. So we start the process again tomorrow. This is not unusual & the norm is for at least 2 aborted departures. Last year they had a 10 day delay in getting people out & anyway you get used to the weather dictating progress when you're mountaineering & just get on with it. It could be worse, we could be stuck at camp 1 or 3 high on the mountain waiting for a storm to blow itself out, so at least we have the comfort of our beds here (& the bar).
Politics & competition are now coming into play in the race to the summit. Freddie the Swede is climbing with us & is just 24 hrs ahead of an American who is also here in their individual bids to set new records for the 7 Summits. They both started in May on Everest but Freddie summited 24 hrs ahead & both are now on their final summit so there is an added edge to this, which frankly the rest of don't need. Anyway our Jagged-Globe guide cannot allow Freddie's objectives to interfere with the overall team objective of the full team summiting so Freddie is now trying to get an ALE guide to climb with just him. The American is a guide himself & therefore will be allowed to climb with just one other person & will have a clear advantage & should make up the 24hr deficit easily. The stakes are high because both obviously have serious sponsorship, TV & books deal etc riding on setting a new record. Whoever is successful & one of them will be, will have knocked 100 days off the old record. Try & imagine the logistics & effort involved in climbing the following in 7 months......and the cost!!
Everest, Tibet
Carstensz Pyramid, Australasia
Kilimanjaro, Kenya
Elebrus, Europe / Russia
Denali, Alaska
Aconcagua, Argentina
Vinson, Antarctica
There are also 2 Swedes & 2 Slovenians racing to be the first to Climb Vinson & ski the decent & the Swedes are also claiming that if successful, they will be the first to have climbed & ski descented the 7 Summit Series. Anyway, good luck to them & we're staying out of it.
That's all for now & I hope I won't be sending a similar update tomorrow, because we're already a day behind & just want to get going. I may send an update before we head tomorrow or else we'll still be here & I won't have anything much else to do.
posted by Kevin Dempsey at
4:06 PM
