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CLIMB WITH PRIDE-ACONCAGUA 2007Updates from the team in Argentina Updates from Rene’e via e-mail 5:53am local time Well, here we are back in Penitentes - Shereen, Kabie, Harun and me!!! Stephanie and Zabil are on the mountain with Brad, our cameraman from the USA. We think they are still at Camp 1 but we will call in about an hour to see how things are going. Hope you are all well and not worrying about us. The plan now is to trek to Confluencia in a couple of days to try and meet our Summit Team when they come out via the Normal Route. It will take us about six hours I think to get there and we will camp there for a night or so depending how it goes. We might also make a day trek from Confluencia to a glacier called Plaza Francia. We've had quite an adventurous week even though we didn't get past basecamp. Can't wait to tell you all the stories when we get back to KL. Till then, take care and lots of love to all. Rene'e XXX
12:53pm local time As you know by now, the whole team made it to the Basecamp at Plaza Argentina (4200m) on 20 January 2007 after three days of trekking through the Vacas and Relinchos Valleys. First to arrive were Stephanie and Zabil who walked into camp at about 4:30pm. They were followed by Kabie about an hour later and then Harun and Shereen with yours truly arriving at about 6:45pm. 21 January 2007 was a rest day but a good part of it was spent preparing for the first carry to Camp 1 the following morning. Unfortunately, both Shereen and Harun showed signs of mild AMS (acute mountain sickness) and so they were ordered not to go any higher until given the green light by the camp doctor. The medical checkup also showed that my blood pressure was high although my oxygen saturation levels were good - but at least I would be able to attempt the carry with the other climbers. The day of the carry, the four of us (Stephanie, Kabie, Zabil and myself) set off at about 11:00am for Camp 1. The guides had set the turnaround time at 5:30pm, meaning that wherever you were en route to Camp 1, at 5:30 pm you would have to turn around and head back to Basecamp. By 4:00pm it was clear that I would not make Camp 1 in time and so I headed back down to Basecamp as instructed where a second medical check-up showed that my oxygen saturation levels had fallen while my blood pressure remained high, probably due to the effort of the day's climb. The others made it to Camp 1 despite some pretty strong winds and tough terrain and cached food and part of their gear such as ice axes, crampons and summit day clothes, all as planned. During the return trek to Basecamp, Kabie was overcome by altitude sickness and this left him dehydrated which in turn led to fatigue and exhaustion. We immediately took him to the camp doctor where he was given oxygen and told to get complete rest for the next few days. The lead guide decided that the team would take 2 rest days instead of 1 after the carry in the hope that this would give us all sufficient time to rest and acclimatize before the move to Camp 1. But in the end, we had to accept that the Summit Team would now consist of just two climbers, Stephanie and Zabil, the only team members who had shown no signs of acclimatization or other medical problems. The rest of us would now become the Support Team and do everything we could to assist Stephanie and Zabil in achieving the goal of reaching the summit of Cerro Aconcagua in the name of the PRIDE Foundation. On 25 January 2007, Stephanie and Zabil made the move to Camp 1 together with Guides Andreas and Laura and cameraman Brad Clement from the USA. With the exception of Kabie (who returned to Penitentes a day earlier on the advice of the camp doctor), the Support Team went with them to an elevation of about 4400 m where we had a small "ceremony" to hand over the Climb with PRIDE banner and Malaysian flag. Watch out for our next update as the story of the Climb with PRIDE Aconcagua 2007 expedition unfolds! Warmest regards,
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