Vue du sommet de l'Alpamayo (5.947 m)

RAUL MARTINEZ Y ADRIAN UCLES ON THE ALPAMAYO SUMMIT (5.947 m)

We just got to Huaraz, now are the 21 h PM and we are very tired. Broadly speaking, we can say that everything went as planned.

We arrived at BC on the 28th, Day Celebrations in Peru. The next day we moved from CB to CII, directly, without sleeping on the CI. Ten hours of activity to exceed 1100 m.

And on the 30th, leaving at 1 AM, after another ten hours of activity to climb, Adrian and Raul reached the summit of Alpamayo, with Igor, the Basque climber who joined to us. They stroked our dream, because the decline was pendant. A slow but steady decline until the CII where we melt into a hug and a brief conversation we decided to pull off to the Base Camp. Finally had sixteen hours of activity.

In my case, the decision was clear, I began the journey until to reach the base of the corridor, at the time I made a reflection. Matching my strength with respect to the requirement of the route and decided to return to the CII. The accumulated fatigue of the last few days and see what would have cost up at least two hours, was what tipped me to look at the lonely tent and follow the footsteps of my colleagues from here.

We’re all very well and am more rested will give you more details.

This mountain is dedicated to our main sponsor: Dynatech, while at this time to thank the support of Hinaco, City Council and Artic Monzón. And of course, our families, without them this would not have been possible.

Fran Lorente

He arrived at Base Camp with the intention of joining another roped team. We gave him the opportunity to join us, we think that being a double roped team increases our chances of success; this way we all benefit from it.

Tomorrow we will climb towards IC; we must surpass a cumulated one thousand two hundred meters incline. We will see the most beautiful mountain in the world from up close; we will look at its face and caress its slopes.

We hope the Alpamayo welcomes us with its best clothes and our dream comes true.

Fran Lorente

Our bodies are ready once again to face new slopes and long days. We are slowly getting used to the fact that we are in the final stage of the expedition. We are aware that all the efforts we have made up until now were in order to be ready and able to face our great goal more competently.

Tomorrow we are setting off to our mountain’s Base Camp. It is a long twenty-two kilometre journey which we think we will complete in approximately eight hours; the following day we will set off to the IC, where we’ll spend the night and we will wait for the best day to try to reach the top. It will all depend on whether anything has gone wrong, the weather is good and we have the strength to continue.

In principle, we can’t send news out from Base Camp, if we find a way we will keep you informed. It seems that we will not be able to send reports for a few days; as soon as we are able to, we’ll keep you up to date.

Your support has always been important but we are now at the critical point of this adventure and we need to feel you are close.

We thank Dynatech for its help, our families for their understanding and all of you for following our progress.

Fran Lorente

We are aware that this expedition is not over yet. Therefore this break is only a breather, an interruption in the project. We spent the day reorganising equipment and planning our tackle on the Alpamayo, our Ithaca, our dream, our aim.

We tried to find last minute information. Apparently, the mountain’s conditions are good.

After the accident, calm has settled, that’s the way the mountain is. Climbers hold themselves back when news is not good; an easily understandable human reaction. But the mountain is still there, forever serene, forever superior, forever powerful, no event can perturb it. However, today we met a special guy, one of those who understand the mountain and behave like it. Manuel Moya, “loco Moya” for friends, a Chilean, engineering student, with a spotless mountaineering profile, not only for his sports curriculum, but also for his serenity, for his way of facing slopes. He reached the Alpamayo IC one day after the accident; the rescue operation had already started so he couldn’t do anything. His intentions didn’t change, his analysis was clear: he was facing a serene mountain, unaffected by events. Loco Moya used the Alpamayo’s weapons and was cool and calm when facing its slopes, taking careful steps, sparing his efforts. He went past the Argentinean’s body but he focused on the way to the top. Nineteen hours after starting his ascent, at nine pm they reached the top of the Alpamayo, only his roped team was able to face the Direct French route.

This is the way things are, only those able to face up to the challenge albeit circumstances deserve to reach their goal; with perseverance, determination and without ever losing faith.

Fran Lorente

http://blog.dynatech-elevation.com/2010/07/22/sin-tregua/comment-page-1/#comment-1754

1. Julieta says:

Hi…excuse me…I’m writing because I’m really worried…I see that you keep your blog updated and I’d like to know whether you have some information about the mountaineer who had an accident on the Alpamayo. Some of my friends are over there and I can’t locate them…I’d like to know if there is any news about the person who fell…thanks a lot.

From our location in the Andes, the news comes from third parties, therefore it is not very reliable. We heard at Casa Zarela that an Argentinean mountaineer was climbing the French Direct route to the Alpamayo; he was going to climb with his partner but, in Huaraz, they found out that she was three months’ pregnant and preferred to remain at Base Camp, he decided to climb on his own. On the fifth pitch, he plunged into the void dragging with him a two-Austrian roped team. The Argentinean died, one of the two Austrians has a serious spine injury and we haven’t heard anything about the other one.

ADRIAN UCLES

As for our intentions, we aim to go to the Pisco area, 5735 m, in order to continue the long acclimatisation process; to do this, we must reach the Base Camp, located at 4700 m, today, sleep and set off to the Pisco on the following day. We’ve been talking to some Italian people, who recently descended, and the conditions on this mountain seem to be very good; we expect to find it in these same conditions.

We are now ready to face new slopes and suffer while climbing them with the only purpose of reaching our goal.

Fran Lorente