Aconcagua Update - Viento Blanco!

This season we have two trips to Aconcagua under the leadership of Ben Kane who has come off of a very successful autumn campaign in India and Nepal. He is leading our January Polish Glacier and February False Polish Glacier trips.

Polish Glacier update - Viento Blanco!!

High winds on Aconcagua

Ben and Ash are now back down from a strong effort on the mountain which has unfortunately been halted by very high winds (70-100kmph by some estimates) which have been scouring the mountain much of the last week. After arriving at BC, and moving well on the acclimatization portion of the climb, it became clear that the Polish Glacier was not in suitable condition due to heavy snowfall and high winds.

Camp Colera on a calm day in 2003

As such they had retooled the plans to include a run up the False Polish Traverse using Camp Colera at just over 20,000ft. On the 23rd they pulled into Colera and were met with high winds which made even establishing camp a serious challenge. They then spent a very uncomfortable night with the tent being heavily buffeted by the infamous "viento blanco" or "white wind" which, at its worst, can be easily strong enough to  lift and throw tents filled with climbers and gear.  The next day they beat  hasty retreat to BC and are beginning to make their way back out to town today. 

We'll look forward to hearing the full details and sharing the story along with new images shortly. There are always great lessons to be learned from surviving challenging conditions and with Ben's experience on Broad Peak, Cho Oyu, Ama Dablam, Satopanth and more we know that Ash was in good hands!

Feb False Polish Update
We have a great group of 6 climbers joining us for a Feb 2 start in Mendoza and we'll hope they have a calmer wind for their trip.

They will be following the same route as our Jan 10 group with a beautiful trek up the Vacas Valley, turning up the relinchos valley and basing themselves in Plaza de Argentina. Our February 2 team will be going a bit lighter  than the Jan 10 Polish team with no ropes, ice axes, ice screws, stakes etc to carry! If all goes well they will plan for a traverse over to the Plaza de Mulas BC after summiting from either C2 or from Colera. The summit plus traverse makes for a fantastic trip and the majority of our teams are able to make this itinerary. The advantage to this route is that you can enjoy more solitude with the quieter approach of Argentina but then take advantage of some of the amenities (beer and burgers!) on the Mulas side on the way out.


Upcoming Trips  update
Spots are filling up for summer trips to Noshaq, Broad Peak, K2, G2 & Spantik. We hope to confirm all 5 trips, plus a trek to K2 BC, in the next month or two. We are already taking applications for Autumn trips to  Stok Kangri, Satopanth, Cho Oyu, Ama Dablam, Khumbu Peaks and Everest BC trek.

For more details see our full listing of expeditions: www.fieldtouringalpine.com/programs/expeditions
and our full list of treks: www.fieldtouringalpine.com/programs/treks

Let us know how we can help you with an adventure in 2012!

FTA Autumn trip report

From Ben Kane
Brisbane, Australia

Note: Ben is only home for  a few weeks before he heads of to Aconcagua for the Polish Glacier (Jan 10) and False Polish (Feb 2). We still have a few spots left on each trip as well as the Feb 2 Polish Glacier with Stu Remensnyder. See the FTA site for all the details!

Well what an amazing season! I have finally made it back home to Australia. Its been an epic Autumn season in the Himalaya, and we've had so much fun with such a great crew.

Ama Dablam Nov 2011
Ama Dablam was a great success and we topped out on the 24th of Nov in very clear weather. It was great to be back on the mountain that was my introduction to the high Himalaya back in 2007. The upper part of the route seems to have changed dramatically since then, with more hard ice and exposed rock. Having said that, we managed to summit from Camp 2, which involved some incredible night climbing of the Grey Tower and a stellar dawn on the exposed Mushroom Ridge! For lovers of exposure, this is a must do climb.
Ama Dablam 2012 Info

Khumbu Peaks and Passes  Oct 2011
Our Khumbu Peaks and Passes expedition in October was a blast. For those that wish to get to know the Khumbu & Gokyo region and do a bit of climbing along the way, this is a full itinerary jam-packed with four peaks and three high pass crossings. A superb introduction to Himalayan climbing.
Khumbu Peaks and Passes info

Satopanth September 2011
Satopanth is a semi-technical peak in the Garwhal range of Northern India. In September we ran our second expedition to this peak and had great success, summiting from Camp 2. The peak involves an approach from the holy village of Gangotri, past the headwaters of the Ganges river at Gamukh,
establishing base camp at a lake under the awesome west face of Visuki Peak. Climbing on the mountain entails a glacier approach, some amazing mixed climbing to gain Camp 2 and a very exposed ridge to gain the upper face and summit. The exposure and surrounding scenery make for one
incredible climb. Incredible India they say, and it is true.
Satopanth Info

Big Thanks
A big thanks goes out to our local staff, Siddhi, Pemba, Uttara, Ratna, Arun and of course Nima T. Sherpa. Thank you so much. I'd also like to thank our Ama Dablam guide staff Brad Jackson (assistant guide) and Meagan McGrath (guide-in-training) for their great contributions.

Finally, I'd like to thank all of our members that joined our expeditions, Gavin, Scott & Nicole, Veronika, Richard, Seng, Mattias, Colin and Bryson. Thanks for a wonderful Autumn and for all the great memories. All the best for the future and I hope to see you out in the hills one day soon.

Next up - Aconcagua Polish and False Polish

Aconcagua's Polish Glacier

As for me, straight back into training! We've got our Jan 10 Polish Glacier and Feb 2 False Polish and Polish Glacier climbs coming up shortly, and with spaces filling quickly, make sure you jump on as soon as possible!

These trips are about the most fun you can have in the mountains, a great introductory to high altitude with minimal objective danger and the rich cultural experience that Mendoza, Argentina has to offer (and the best Malbec & steak in the world).
Polish Glacier Climb | False Polish Climb

All the best and enjoy the festive season,

Ben

FTA Ama Dablam 2011 - Summits!!

from stu in the usa office
24 Nov, 2011

Ben called in a few minutes ago from camp 2 with Ama Dablam summit news - here goes!

The entire team left at about 2:30am on a clear and calm morning and then made their way up the Grey tower fully in the dark. Ben said that it was a wonderful climb and that he enjoyed it even more than when he has climbed it during the daytime. 
 
There is something about climbing in the dark that is hard to describe but the small pool of light that illuminates your small section of the route give you complete focus on the next step but little more. The sense of scale and danger that can give you vertigo in the daylight are absence and the experience is much more intimate. Mostly just the sound of your crampons scraping on the rock or crunching in the ice and the distant din of other climbers the only hint that anyone else in the world exists.

The grey tower with the snow ramp visible just above the Brad's red helmet in 2005

The Grey Tower (really a couloir of sorts) is a wonderful mixed section of rock, snow and ice and always requires creative climbing from hooking ice axes on rock to grabbing icy pockets with gloves...anything goes in this couloir! The tower joins a steeply slanting ridge which is climbed to gain an airy traverse which then gives way to the purest climb on the route...2-3 pitches of 50-70° snow and ice. This section is always enjoyable and quite sustained leaving one breathless upon reaching the Mushroom Ridge

As the sun broke and they crested onto the Mushroom Ridge the wind picked up and it was very cold for a few hours but they were already well warmed up from the earlier effort. Ben estimates that they had winds of perhaps 15-20 km/h which was about as good as we had hoped for but this wind still sapped them a bit and it stayed with them for much of the rest of the morning. Ben said that they all climbed with down jackets on when it can be quite usual to only have on a down jacket at rest points.

They encountered very hard blue ice along the side of the "dablam" above the old camp 3 and Ben said it was very difficult climbing and they all enjoyed it thoroughly. As they neared the top the winds died down and Ben said that it was "stinking hot" climbing the last 20 mins or so and that he was really surprised how quickly the temperature moderated. As such they enjoyed a calm and beautiful summit celebration with view to Cho Oyu, Everest, Makalu and of course looking down on Island Peak where they had been just a week ago.

Between 11:30am and noon the following members of our team summited:

Benjamin Kane
Siddhi Bahadur Tamang
Meeagan McGrath
Bryson McLellan
Colin Carnahan

Brad made a prudent decision to abort the push about an hour or so from the top and begin to work back towards C2 and to be ready to support and challenges the summit group might have on the way down. Always good to have level headed climbers who climb within themselves and Brad is a great example. Taking several efforts to summit Everest and with climbs on Ama Dablam, Denali and more in his background Brad follows in the Ed Viesturs model of knowing the hill will be there next time and following gut instincts... good stuff Brad!

Ben noted that the summit area had changed considerably in the last few years and that it is no longer a long flattish top but rather marked by crevasses and a series of minor peaks. It will be interesting to compare images from Ben's last summit and this years. We'll have a great image gallery for the main site put together when the team is back in Kathmandu and post a bunch here.

The team will clear the hill and had back to BC tomorrow for a well earned summit supper! They have already moved up the flights from Lukla and now hope to be back in Kathmandu on the 29th if all goes well.

Next Up - Aconcagua
Ben will then get a well deserved break until the heads off to Argentina in January to lead our Jan 10 Polish Glacier climb and our Feb 5 False Polish Glacier climbs.  We have spaces still on both climbs as well as our Feb 5 Polish Glacier climb (with Stu) so let us know if you want to join Ben and FTA for a trip to the top of the Americas!

Further Ahead - Ama Dablam 2012
We are already taking bookings for Ama Dablam in May 2012 as well as Oct and Nov 2012 and are looking for motivated climbers to join us!

We'll have more updates as the team makes their way out to the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu so stay tuned!

FTA Ama Dablam 2011 - in C1 on summit push!

from stu in the usa office
Nov 22, 2011

Ben called in a few minutes ago to let us know that everyone was feeling great in C1 and they are planning to move up to C2 tomorrow. They had a great weather all day long but for a few clouds in the afternoon. When Ben called they were brewing up tea and and enjoying a beautiful and clear sunset. 

Setting sun along the ridge between C1 and C2 © stu remensnyder

If the winds remain calm they'll aim for the top on the 24th or 25th.The last few days have seen very calm winds but they are unfortunately looking to pick up a bit for the next 4-5 days so our team will have some wind for sure and we hope not too much. The predictions are for winds between 15 and 30kmph at the 7000m level and depending on how much shelter they get from the wind they may not even feel much of it till the summit plateau. 

Ama Dablam from just above base camp © stu remensnyder

I recall in 2005 having nearly no wind all the way to the top but just after cresting the ridge with winds were so strong you could not hear another person talk and spending more than 5 mins on the top made no sense. After dropping down just 50 meters it was once again quite calm and nice. We'll hope our team sees such a pattern enabling them to climb with little or no wind for most of the day.

climbing above C2 © stu remensnyder

The teams coming down have mentioned that the mushroom ridge is quite soft and it has been difficult to manage with big packs so our team is looking to summit from C2 to avoid the need for heavy packs to C3. As such they will have to depart at 2am and manage the cold of the early morning before catching and warming rays if sun. Our team in 2010 did this as well so it is something Siddhi is ready for and has good experience doing! 

the awesome traverse just below the mushroom ridge © stu remensnyder

The team has spare days yet so they will be cautious about pushing through cold and wind and if this bid does not go they will rest up a few days and try again.


Ben plans to call in from C2 with the latest on the plan for  a summit bid and we'll have that tomorrow!

FTA Autumn 2011 - Summit push is on!