Back home in the Portal!

Well, we are home sweet home at last! The beautiful, wonderful Eastern Sierra. Working, climbing, hiking, and eating hamburgers at the Whitney Portal. So far we have been playing around on the established lines...including one of our own that we hadn't yet repeated...somber de la Luna. Myles soloed two grade V's, 5.9s in a day, for a total of 33 pitches. I soloed cathedral peak on a whim for my first climbing in tuolume meadows and decided to do it again, I had so much fun. Then, hiked up the north fork for the 1st time this season and soloed the Impala, which is the 1000 ft granite pyramid up from upper boyscout lake...Becky route 5.7, but endless wandering on good granite for all levels of difficulty.
Just updating, so now you know where to find us:)
Slide show for our Patagonia trip will be at the Whitney Portal Hostel June 29th

Heading Home!

We are now sitting in Buenos Aires Airport waiting to head home, drinking our last Quilmes Cerveza for awhile. We had some successes, some failures, some close calls, but nothing short of a memorable time. We have seen the country of Uruguay, hanging out on the beaches with the locals and enjoying the tranquil, slow moving atmosphere of Punta del Diablo. Brazil for a day with a quick border hop. Argentina has been our main transfer station. Then there is Chile... home of the giant rock walls and wild weather, a place with locals that you won't forget and friends that you look forward to seeing.

We have many friends and family to thank for our first international expedition: To my folks and Amy's folks, thank you so much for the support and help! Our bosses Doug, Earlene and Dougie of the Whitney Portal Store- thank you for employing our sorry asses and allowing us to use your "home" the Hostel as base camp. Trango climbing equipment, Elevation, Mammoth Mountaineering Gear Exchange, and Rab for giving us a chance and the tools. Erratic Rock in Puerto Natales for allowing us to loiter around the Hostel when the weather was poor. To Justin and Trisha Hall, Ruth from Holland, Billy the Kid, the House Mother Julie, Big Paulie and his older brother Bill, as well as Rustyn, thank you so much for always making sure we had what we needed, when we needed it, and always leaving us with a smile on our faces... Dirty B. hope to see you around! Pedro the Spaniard, and last but definitely not least, Nico, the local Chilean climber. This guy is as strong as bull and an awesome person. His donation of a rope for our Central Tower Project was huge!!! If you are ever in the Torres look up Nico and friend Thomas, both great guys and friends. We also need to say thank you to the American Alpine Club for the help received with The Mountain Fellowship Grant. And, finally our family of guadalaparques for their support, company, and fresh baked bread!


Here's some photos...


Edit: We have landed! We are home!

Pasamientos en el Torre (written by Amy Ness waiting for our escape)

Disappointment, yes, there is some of that. We've sat in a portaledge bombarded with snow for a whole week now. Everything was going to plan before...we were just a little worried about our water supply; 3.75 gallons would not suffice. We had counted on a storm, nothing major, just a few days so we could refill our water jugs and continue onward. Everyday we would get our hopes up, then late afternoon would give us just enough clarity to keep us pinned to the ledge. "Tomorrow is going to be clear," we would say crawling into our sleeping bags under a starry sky. Then, in the wee hours of the morning the pitter-patter of snow on the rain fly would begin, anew. We were one pitch from the corner, having done 10 new pitches out of twelve on great granite to get to this point. We began with 20 days of food and 70 lbs of water to allow us the time to free-climb the Central Tower of Paine. But here we sit again, day 7 of storms, resolving to go down when we get a break in the weather. March is too late. Even if we get clear skies in a few days, the chance of it giving us enough time to not only get up, but establish a free variation and let's not forget, get down safely, does not seem likely. Yesterday during our few hours of sunlight, the first we'd had in 6 days, we experienced the fear of being a "sitting duck" as snow and ice cascaded down onto our ledge. How we wished we were under a roof! We battled to get on this wall, more so than any of our previous endeavors...which is probably what drove us to sit in a 3X6 space of battered, patched rainfly material during the worst storm we've seen in Patagonia, yet. A week. An entire 7 days of just sitting here and it is still snowing! We will come back. Even now, we sit wondering how to save the funds to allow us another chance. Central Tower, one. Moser-Ness, zero.

This was written during one of many moments of clarity and self pity in the portaledge... Now we sit, eating chocolate and drinking the last of our Chilean wine, waiting for our flight home in a few days. We are excited to be out of the park; three months was too long and March was too late. We can't wait to get back to the Sierra granite and sunny Californian days, but we will return for the Central Tower, we have a vendetta to take care of!

Central Tower, Torres del Paine Patagonia. Going for a wander and a battle

Well, the wall beat us back on this one. We meandered, wandered and explored the Tower for five great days. We climbed 12 new pitches up the Central Tower at a very moderate grade with great protection. We had 20 days worth of food and 70lbs of water in tow.

At the end of day five we established our High Camp... Camp III, which was about 1,500 feet off of the glacier when the storm hit. For eight days we sat in our six foot by three foot portaledge getting slammed by the weather. We had plenty of time and supplies to wait, but we were slowly loosing the battle. By day twelve of being on the wall we woke and tossed the bags, we could not afford another storm. If caught higher on the wall, we could have a problem.

After gathering our items from under the wall and high-tailing it to our Base Camp, the weather, true to form, changed and laughed at us for five days, while the Tower basked in the sun.
( Amy has the full story written out from when the event was taking place, but we accidentally left it in the tent. We'll post later)

We now have just a few weeks left in the park, so for our last ditch effort we are putting everything into the South Tower. Light and fast with terrible weather... Good time!

Was it the eggs? Or was it the water? Is the wall telling us to take time? Or was it carelessness?

http://www.supertopo.com/tr/We-are-trying-But-man-this-is-tough/t11848n.html

Whatever the case, it truly forced me to contemplate a six hour crawl from our Base Camp at Campamento Torres followed by a two and a half hour bus ride to a clinic.

It got a hold of me, and then it got Amy. The kidneys battled and fought for three days, leaving us feeling as if we went 17 rounds in the ring. Electrical pulses of hell would shock the guts in terrible fits. We laid in our tent starring at the ceiling until it passed... Eventually, we recovered... So we got right back to work with our plans... The Central Tower of Torres del Paine.

We hiked the duck-taped and glued rainfly and haulbags to the Tower. Twenty days of food and some torn-up ropes were delivered to the base. Equipment was shuttled from its previous resting place in a haste, to get it and us out of the "War Zone" in front of the North Tower. A rock the size of a truck tire was inches away from the cash spot...too close for comfort. Nicolas our new friend, a Guadalaparque, was our companion and porter for the day. He had his first trip on the glacier with me...and a "Taste of the Paine". With Amy's helmet on his head and an ice axe in hand, I had him jumping crevasses and self -arresting.

"Nicolas... Necistamos ir muy rapido!" Right then a sheet of granite came off the North Tower, sliding down the slab into the glacier.

I looked at him, "I told you... Esta muy peligrosa!"

We crushed snow under our feet as fast as we could to get out of the "Zone".

At our Advanced Base Camp (A.B.C.), Nicolas got to see how we were about to live for the next few days. He watched as I drilled a quarter-inch button head, from which we would hang the portaledge just feet off the ground. We determined this area safe from rock and ice fall. We were under a small spire 15 minutes from the "Tower" and 2 minutes from water... A nice location for our A.B.C. We were excited with the million dollar view out of our front door and the climb about to take place.

Day two, we wake with work to do. Moving more bags... Seems like thats all we do - 70% moving bags, 30% climbing.

The icy glacier was rock hard. We strap the crampons on and go for a walk. As we are coming down the glacier I take my eyes off the ground and my feet for a second...maybe I was being hasty. I start to slide. Then, the right crampon sticks nice and solid, and the foot is now under and behind me. My own ass gives it the final death blow.

I swear and holler in extreme pain!

Questions go through my head immediately...

" Did I stab myself?... God, tell me I stabbed myself!"

"Is it broken... Please don't be broken?"

" You are so Stupid Myles", I yell...

"Let it be a sprain!"

I immediately unlash the crampon, unstring the boot.

" No blood, shit I didn't stab myself!"

Grabbing the ankle, I'm hoping its not a big deal. I can see Amy's face, the expression says it all. I tighten the boot as tight as it will go, throw the crampon back on. Do some front-pointing to get over some crap ice and "OOOUCHH!!!... This is going to hurt" I yell to Amy.

We make it back to Advance Base Camp. Amy tells me,"We will just hang for awhile and let it get better." She decides to hike down the next morning for more food and supplies at Campamento Torres while I ice in the glacier.

By day three we are terribly bored. It's raining, then sleeting, then snowing. It keeps snowing. It snows a half meter before dark. Now we have to wait for the ankle to heal and the snow to melt...I'm doubtful either will happen.

Booochsh!!

A wet-slide has just pounded our ledge. We laugh, but we know this is going to be a problem. Another one comes down and a few others during the day.

Day four. We wake to snow above our doors on either side of the portaledge. More wet slides pound us. The walls are gone. The gear is buried. The ankle sucks. The crevasse nightmare of a glacier would be an unnecessary work hazard. The wall and route can wait. The cash of equipment has disappeared for the time. The ropes are frozen. The portaledge is leaking. " Let's get the hell out of here!!"

We slam the wet, frozen gear into the haulbags and abandon A.B.C. Amy leads my crippled being out of there. The frozen water under the snow battles my descent. I fall face first, on my back, on my side. I tumble, crawl to get up and swear at my carelessness. Ice slabs are a total nightmare. The moraine field I see coming looks like a mine field. I try giving Amy my two cents, but she tells me she's got it. She does. She is in charge and had done a phenomenal job thus far.

The pain killers I threw down the gullet have kicked in hard. We make it back down to our Home Base at Torres Campground. We dump our frozen puffy jackets and sleeping bags in the tent; swallow another pain killer and begin the five mile hike out. We hope we will catch the bus back to Puerta Natales. A stop at Refugio Chileno to numb the pain with two beers, a cup of wine and another half a pain killer. We hit the trail again, with me cursing and falling all over, but we eventually make it to the bus.

We find a hostal to crash for the night. We stop by Erratic Rock Hostal to say hi to friends. The Belgian Climbers have just put up a hard first ascent in the French Valley of Torres del Paine and are giving a slide show presentation... perfect timing!

We wait for ex-rays (the hospital does not ex-ray on Sundays). We need to know if its broken, fractured, sprained, whatever. We ponder whether we will be chillin' on a beach or hanging on the side of a Giant. Both sound good, but we each know what the other is truly hoping for.

Ex-rays on Monday...

Boom!!! We are back!!!

Doctor says it's the ligaments. "Wrap it. Heat it. Stay off of it for two weeks. In six weeks it will be fine" he says.

So... I will rest it for a week and tape the hell out of it. Amy will scout and photograph walls for future endeavors. I'll stare at the ceiling of the tent with the foot wrapped. Then we will start digging the equipment out.

We did't come down here to slip on a glacier and call quits. Even though the ledge leaks, the ropes are hacked and the ankle is jacked... I think we still got one more good effort left.

Lets do it!