Northern Patagonian Icecap crossing 2009
Nov 23
Dispatch #18
Published at 10:25
PASO COLOMBIA CONQUERED
Camp 13, Bengt reports: After 3 days waiting, we desperately wanted this to
THE day. We peaked out at 5am and were met with gale winds, snow and zero
visibility.
At 6 it was no better
But at 7am we saw the mountain! That got us going. We hurried through the
routine morning stuff and scrambled out. Only to be med by total whiteout.
We continued as if nothing. Packed the sledges, pottered around a bit and
waited, refusing to give in to this blindfolded chess game with Mother
Nature.
AND, at Noon it broke up! We hurried away. It was very steep, high and hard.
The conditions were heavy but ok. As we neared the summit (the Paso
Colonia), it all closed in again, but up we got!
We were extremely happy and it felt like a major victory. On the way down we
got a huge bonus. The wind died down, the whiteout dissolved and the clouds
departed. And for the thousands time we were completely flabbergasted to see
these fantastic mountains appear around us. It can¹t we described by words,
and again our memory card in our cameras took a sever beating. It is just
plain impossible to stop taking photos.
As we camped, it was a stunning sunset, nice and cold, and downright the 3
happiest campers in the world.
Camp 13, Bengt reports: After 3 days waiting, we desperately wanted this to
THE day. We peaked out at 5am and were met with gale winds, snow and zero
visibility.
At 6 it was no better
But at 7am we saw the mountain! That got us going. We hurried through the
routine morning stuff and scrambled out. Only to be med by total whiteout.
We continued as if nothing. Packed the sledges, pottered around a bit and
waited, refusing to give in to this blindfolded chess game with Mother
Nature.
AND, at Noon it broke up! We hurried away. It was very steep, high and hard.
The conditions were heavy but ok. As we neared the summit (the Paso
Colonia), it all closed in again, but up we got!
We were extremely happy and it felt like a major victory. On the way down we
got a huge bonus. The wind died down, the whiteout dissolved and the clouds
departed. And for the thousands time we were completely flabbergasted to see
these fantastic mountains appear around us. It can¹t we described by words,
and again our memory card in our cameras took a sever beating. It is just
plain impossible to stop taking photos.
As we camped, it was a stunning sunset, nice and cold, and downright the 3
happiest campers in the world.
- Name: Camp 13
- Elevation: +1300 m
- Latitude: 47° 11’ 17” South
- Longitude: 73° 37’ 27” West
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