|
here is the Normal Route to the top, between the first two dots was about 2.5 hours, between the middle dot and top was about 6 hours, it was about 4 hours to come back down 
the first two and a half hours i was fine then i got mild altitude sickness, the last six hours was fucking terrible, constantly felt nautious which means i couldnīt eat anything becuase iīd gag, i think i had about two cookies and a bit of chocolate for energy which isnīt much, i had trouble balancing, couldnīt construct sentences and would talk in monosyllables (i was a complete zombie most of the climb) bad headache and sore throat, and for two hours i was hyperventilating and felt really emotional like a little girl on the verge of crying, extremely wierd sensation, too hard to explain it, but this gave me aloy more energy than before??? maybe some extreme form of catharsis? but that feeling went away an hour from the top (unfortunately) cause i lost the little energy i had, and the last hour was absolutely horrible, every step took all my will power, every three steps i would need a 5 to 10 second rest, putting one foot in front of the other was all i could think of.
i knew i couldnīt go back because, one because i would have been depressed and thought that my entire time in Ecuador running, swimming, gym, every day would have been a waste, and two because it would force Franklin and Jeff to go back, if it was just me and franklin climbing (who has climbed 200 times before) i may not have made it to the top, stubborn pride was definately a factor, i would have hated to see Jeff have to turn back because of me. He took the altitude far better than me, he asked me once or twice if i could go faster (both of them were matching my pace) because he was freezing, it was about -20, but i couldnīt, i told him i had never pushed my body so hard in my life and this was as fast as i could go. we both had mild frostbite on our fingers afterwards. you kind of forget about the cold after a while, initially its uncomfortable, then the tips of your toes and fingers start to sting and just as the sting starts to become unbearable it goes away or you forget about the cold as you just try and focus on putting one foot in front of the other
when we started to come down i started to feel better, first it was easier going down hill, but after an hour my energy started to fcome back as the oxygen became thicker, Jeff however started to feel worse on the descent because of exhaustion (and the fact taht we hadnīt slept in 30 hours) i had a half an hour sleep in the car on the way home, and then because there was a party at our house when Ecuador were playing Mexico in the Cupa de America i stayed up for another ten hours and drank beer with my ecuadorian friends until i passed out on the couch
| quote: | Aconcagua!
Man that's like a just under 2 km's higher (over 7,000m) Highest peak in the Andes if i remember correctly (from old school geog days)
Sick shit man, gotta train yer ass off for that ascent!
|
franklin climbed Aconcagua and said it was easier than Chimborazo because its 630metres higher than Chimb. but you do it in 12 days instead of one, although this is coming from a guy who has climbed chimborazo 200 times and has a dream of marrying a girl on the peak of the mountain  so i doubt it will be easier for me, he was running two hours a day without stop before he climbed Aconcagua
| quote: | Originally posted by Omega_M
OMG, your pics are awesome.  Can you post them in high resolution ?
What next : Mt. Everest, K2 ? |
high rez here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sexyalpaca/
|
the temp and wind chill up there is about 20-degrees 60kms an hour
