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Steep Canyon and Snow Baths
Friday, September 17, 1999
 Vern | |
 Hear Vern's Call from Aconcagua |
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Buenas días, Zoners de montaña. This is Vern Tejas with Team Omega giving you the low-down on what's up down at Aconcagua.
Today we're moving to the base of the mountain; last night we camped just below it. We're about six miles to the east and it's a beautiful sight to see — right out our front door, perfectly picked, as if a portrait. And we've also been noticing that there's also quite a lot of owls in the neighborhood. I'm sure they're eating on the rabbits — the jackrabbits that we've noticed are all around.
The other thing that is happening right now is we've had some clear, brilliant weather and the solar input and the reflected solar input off the snow has created a situation where it's almost difficult to travel in the afternoon.
We were able to take snow baths yesterday and melt water to save our precious fuel for up high — that was a real plus. Yesterday morning we climbed through the Relinchos Valley, a very steep, narrow gorge and we were forced to climb a ridge that came up in order to avoid a waterfall in the valley itself. First time we've actually done any climbing so far and with 80+ pounds on your back it's quite a challenge at 11,000ft. So we're looking forward to a little more flat climbing today to the base of the mountain, and hopefully move into Plaza de Argentina, which is considered the jumping-off spot for both the Polacos and the east ridge routes on Mount Aconcagua.
Hasta la mañana. And for those interested in the stats at 6:24 this morning, we're at 11,840ft, 32 degrees south, 38.290; 69 degrees west, 52.618. It's 20 degrees fahrenheit and about eight...[Transmission Fails]
—Vernon Tejas, MountainZone.com Correspondent
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