Cafe Andino, Neil Young and Alan

Ah blogs. The best intentions, but the worst habits.

I have just quickly appropriated Alans computer, a Huaraz local, while we sit in the gringo hangout of Cafe Andino listening to classic Neil Young. Climbing the three stories of stairs is like walking into the Cheers bar where immediately previously met climbing friends are also hanging out doing nothing but sipping a bitter fresh lemonade, eating a salad, or researching their lonely planet.

Song update.. Sting Fields of gold. Love that song.

Anyway, will try and do something proper on here in a bit as I recover from a severe bout of the dios and other assorted maladies! Chao for now.

Huaraz

Hola, a quick update as have been busy with travelling to Lima and then getting to Huaraz (8 hr bus ride). Huaraz is at 3,000m so immediately after getting off the bus I was hit with the nausea of swaying side to side. That quickly resolved itself, but any significant exertion is met with rapid breathing (could be that I am just unfit!) and sometimes a minor headache.
That said, went to 3,800m today and tomorrow off to Laguna 69, which is at 4,500m. All of which is to help me acclimatise to the proper mountains that await. The first looks like it is going to be the classic acclimatisation mountain of Pisco at 5,800m or so. Mostly a walk up with two sections that may require pitching apparently. My partner at this stage is Ian Gough, a kiwi lad that also has found his way to Peru to spend time in the Cordillera Blanca for the dry season. Hopefully we will be able to line up some good mountains, so until then, chao.

Expedition humour

I came across several classic Monty Python skits the other day, hopefully not too similar to my own proceedings leading up to my impending expedition!

Mountain Climbing Expedition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdMV42czPCI

Hairdressers Expedition on Everest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F2SJS6B1wQ&NR=1

Counting down

Just over a week until departure now. A short update on the proceedings thus far include:

1/ several people to contact in Huaraz that I should be able to climb with
2/ local information on the conditions suggesting the CB is not as full of snow as previous years; one chap suggested it was closer to July conditions than June;
3/ my Espanol is getting marginally better (I can understand and speak simple sentences);
4/ my 'stuff list' is slowly diminishing, as is my bank account for such purchases! and
5/my rib injury is gone but so is my fitness with lots of farewell gatherings and excessive eating (though some suggest fattening up before climbing at altitude anyway!)

Hasta la vista, Scotito

Training days

Training days. Trying to make the most of time remaining before contending with the variables (think challenges) that a high altitude 3rd world expedition provides in itself! These last weeks have provided their own variables that make climbing sugar snow at altitude seem relatively safe..

Tinakori hill at 303m high is a perfect training hill for a climbing expedition. The hill provides approximately 280m of elevation gain in a matter of 15 minutes. However it is not the elevation gain that provides the challenge, it is the darkness of after work running over countless pine tree roots that merge and meander with the trail that provide the unanticipated proprioceptive progress I have been experiencing lately.

Running virtually blind under the canopy of 80 year old pines planted during the '30s depression means ankles generally roll with the roots while eyes seek out the silhouette of vague contours of erosion under the beam of the headlamp.

Yet no run has been flawless, about a week ago I took a mighty trip, falling rapidly. I think my toe caught one of said roots throwing my balance immediately. Yet while a tremendous face-plant seemed imminent I somehow managed to tuck myself into a foetal ball and roll with the fall. Commando style. Picking myself up and patting my self down (only superficial cuts and bruises) I proceeded, gingerly.

Not to mention I am still carrying my rib injury from 4 weeks ago. A slippery rock with a full pack during a recent Search and Rescue exercise saw me crashing down less gazelle like. No hands, no protection, ribs on rock, ouch. Though this fall did not prove painful immediately, the last four weeks of sudden movements, coughs and sneezes remind me of the fall. Alas, 2 more weeks and I should be right!

The accumulation of stuff

Ah stuff. We are surrounded by stuff. Stuff to make us feel good, stuff that allows us to do stuff. Actually say stuff enough times and the word starts sounding abstract, like stuff.

Stuff is getting expensive for high altitude climbing. No surprises there, mountaineering is never going to be a cheap pastime. Not when you justify spending the scores of money on the instance that that one piece of stuff may just come to your resuce. Other stuff becomes dispensable as you plan the quickest exit off the mountain, which naturally ramps up the price.

Some of the stuff I have recently acquired I would not otherwise need for climbing in NZ. Stuff like a 4 season tent, a single skin high altitude tent, high altitude boots, a water filter, a second sleeping mat.. Then there is the stuff that I should have had but have until this time been trying to avoid buying; like an altimeter, proper glacier sunglasses and walking poles..

Then the sensible question is what is the opportunity cost of this stuff! Savings on a house deposit, savings on a relationship not put on hold again, savings on a safer more sedentary life.. Ah but none of the above gives the feeling that is experienced when standing successfully on the top of a mountain.

Trading a bicycle for an ice axe

The roving mountaineer? Indeed. The reincarnation of the roving cyclist in 2010. Why not!?

The plan: to climb the high altitude mountains of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru from June this year.

The assumptions: the same as the roving cyclist, to meet people along the way that will enable experiential living of the local environment, be it cultural and / or natural.

The story thus far: Got to quit work, then start planning! Yikes!