It was another day of strong winds today on Aconcagua as the team attempted to move up to Camp 2 at almost 18,000 ft.  They were getting blown around by the strong winds, and setting tents up in these strong winds would have been very difficult.  With a forecast of even stronger winds for the coming days, the crew decided to turn around and head on back down to base camp.  They worked hard, and tried to get up the mountain two times, but the extended period of high winds is just not letting up.  It’s been a tough season so far with several very powerful wind storms destroying tents and keeping climbers off of the upper reaches of Aconcagua.

Jim, KT, and Agustin are back in base camp tonight, and will start hiking out to the trailbhead tomorrow.  It will take them 2 days to retrace the route that took them 3 days to hike up.  They’ll be back in the hotel at Penitentes on the 24th if all goes according to plan.

I’m sure they are a bit disappointed, but they made a great effort and worked hard, sometimes the mountain just isn’t meant to be climbed.