Arriving in Base Camp 

Our first day in BC was a rest day which was welcome. We went for a short walk and settled into BC. The following day, we had a carry-day up to Camp 1 at 5000 m. I did not feel too good that morning; I’m not sure what it was, just a general feeling of unwellness. Looking at all the gear that had to be carried up, I would have preferred to not carry much but I knew that was not an option. I chose to carry a bit less than half of my weight that was going up and gambled that I would be better and stronger for the final carry up to Camp 1. 

It was interesting to trek up the moraine of the Relinchos glacier. This was my first encounter with a moraine. Moraines are either rocks and sand on top of a glacier, or rocks and sand that are left after a glacier has melted away. At times, it was like walking in a pile of sand and in other places there were large rocks on top of the glacier. The final hill up to Camp 1 was steep with lots of loose sand. It felt like I was taking two steps forward and sliding one back! We walked really slowly, both because of the weight in our backpacks and for our bodies to adjust to the ever-increasing altitude. 

Coming over the edge on the top of the hill, up to Camp 1, was unbelievable. I think we all felt like lying down for a minute and just resting. The idea of leaving everything but the backpack behind felt very good. It was literally a load off our shoulders. 

We set up two tents, put our gear into them and returned back down to BC. On the return, I felt a bit nauseous. It might have been because I had not drunk enough water, the weight of the load I’d carried, or that we just had been at the highest altitude I ever had been to. I drank a liter of water to see if it would help and together with a bit of rest in BC it did. Next morning it was all gone, and we enjoyed another rest day. 

After another rest day, we moved up to Camp 1 following the same procedures as our first rotation. This time I felt much better and arrived up at Camp 1 in good shape. 

Our first day in Camp 1 was another rest day, with a small hike to a higher altitude. My body still felt good. Then we had a “weather day”. It was really windy so we had to stay indoors in the tent the whole day. We lay safe and warm in our tents and listened to the wind whistling – first high up on the mountain, then coming lower and lower before our whole tent shook. With this kind of wind, it was safest to stay in our tents. The strong wind gusts came at varying intervals. We cooked our food in the tent lobby, so even that was warm and comfortable despite the howling winds outside. We even had popcorn and tea in the afternoon. It’s amazing what a thin piece of tent cloth can do! The only challenge was to “run” out for “toilet” visits. Meaning, “go outside as fast as you can and find a place a bit away from the tents in a terrain with no vegetation!” 

Rumor had it that the weather forecast for the following day was good so we were excited to pack up our camp and start our move to Camp 2 after the windy day. Everybody in the team felt good, so the extra rest day had done us well.

Moving up the mountain

On our move to Camp 2 our main guide stopped the group. He shared that he did not feel good. In fact, he had pneumonia and had to get down from there. Everybody looked at each other and wondered what was happening. We got it that he did not feel well, but that he had to turn around surprised us all. The rest of us were in good shape and ready and eager to move up the mountain. This had suddenly become a major issue as now we only had one guide and eight clients. Not a good ratio on a mountain like this. Most of us had limited high altitude experience. I think we all felt disappointed and afraid that the whole climb was jeopardized. We just sat there on the ground without speaking much. We were in a guided group because we were new to the game and now the guide could not continue. As the guides were standing there talking and trying to find out how to solve the issue, an Argentinian passed us on his way down. They asked him if he was a guide and he said yes. Truth was, we later found out, that he was not a guide he was a porter. He agreed to turn around and join our climb as one of our guides.

All of this took lot of time, so the two guides agreed that we should set up camp in the Middle camp between Camp 1 and Camp 2 – at 5350 m. They said that we did not have enough time to climb up all the way to Camp 2 before the sun set. When it sets it becomes very cold so it was better to camp there. In my mind I questioned this decision but did not say anything.

They told us that we would use too much energy to move up to Camp 2 the following day, and then go for the summit push from Camp 2. They said that instead we should have a rest day in the middle camp and do a summit push from that middle camp. Several of us were questioned it, but they said that many people had done a summit push from there. They also said that it was because we had some incoming weather, so we had to hurry and go for the summit while the good weather lasted.

They also changed around on when we should start our summit push, to a bit later than the original plan. None of us was very experienced with high altitude, so we went with the plan.