After a good resting yesterday, today the expedition would continue. The plan was to hike to Camp 1 with a double function: acclimatize further/get used to the higher altitude and next to this we were going to carry up the supplies (13kg per person) to Camp 1, for use there and the higher camps.
Breakfast was planned for 9 o’clock and we would leave Plaza Argentina at 10:00. As we would return to Basecamp, no special material was needed. We left camp on time and with the backpack fully packed (in my case with macaroni, soup etc.) we started our walk.
We were all very anxious and ready to move up the mountain, to get just a little bit closer to the summit. Along the way – above 4810 meters – I celebrated that this was (already:) the highest point I’ve ever reached (after reaching the Mt Blanc summit – 4808 mtr. – in 2008) The walk continued and was fine until we got approx. 150 altitude meters under Camp 1. The stretch that followed was pretty steep and hard wind(s) came down the slope, throwing ruble and debris straight in our faces. This climb was planned with wearing helmets, so luckily we could protect ourselves by bending over/against the wind.
After a 3 hours (pretty intense) walk we arrived at the camp site. A Norwegian group climbing together with us was already there, so we could not enter the main tent yet. After waiting for a while they left and we sat inside for an hour to get used to the altitude. Meanwhile we dropped the supplies/we left them at Camp 1 and started the descent.
Returning to basecamp we got to realize that there were not only heavy winds up in the mountain, but also at the camp site. Jurjen and my tent was partly blown away and the personnel at the camp site had taken out the poles and put stones on the tent to further mitigate any damage (as loosing/heavily damaging a tent would have serious impact on the rest of the expedition) After restoring our tent with guide Hernán, we evaluated the situation and heard that couple of tents had a kind of “liftoff” situation and one tent of the Norwegian expedition was heavily damaged.
The rest of the day we had some time off and at 19:30 a great meal was being served. Now is time to do some writing and reading and afterwards early to bed/get some well deserved rest.