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Clear but Far From Calm
Thursday, December 30, 1999
 Tejas | |
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Buenos días, Mountain Zone. This is Vern Tejas with Alpine Ascents up on Aconcagua. We're at Camp II and we're feeling the altitude. The weather has been clear, but it hasn't been calm. I figure we got 49 kilometers of wind coming out of the west and it's pushing the wind chill down to 18 below zero fahrenheit. This means we are doing most of our living in our tents or very quickly making dashes outdoors to take care of necessities.
Today, however, we did have enough energy to get up, put our crampons on, and go for a little acclimatization hike. We went up on the lower part of the Polacas Glacier, and were able to look down to the east glacier. A spectacular view – as if you're looking down from the edge of the world. And then we also were able to spend a lot of time laying out in our beds just trying to make red blood cells so we'll be acclimatized for our summit push in a day or two from now.
Hopefully the weather will hold and the winds will drop. All of us are waiting, eagerly, for the opportunity to top the mountain and then get back down where the O² is thick. All from now from Camp II on Mount Aconcagua, at 5,760 meters above sea level. Ciao.
—Vernon Tejas, MountainZone.com Correspondent
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