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- Dec 14, 2012
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Aconcagua Team Turned Around 200ft From Summit!
So close.….. Our persistent, strong team got so close to the summit today, just to be turned around by mountain authorities! Joshua checked in from Base Camp of Aconcagua after two very long days on the mountain. His email conveyed the hard work, patience and disappointment of the team, and the ultimate satisfaction that 200 feet from the true summit is still an incredible accomplishment!
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=7642703bc408887499d73d8dc69fa712 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=2420ba6855025955e8e634de2cc3f893 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=4479d83fdb6dd7860d9d96089ec83f1a 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=472f3494f369f34c939cff02e3f0e574 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=cb802fadc628650641bce666b8891fda 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=5ac44c211248cad47b91abe8b2779a7a 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=7aeb176029bfb75a218e62ff2b0c6f3d 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0045.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=0972513da254fa24df75891ca25cf166 640w)
Alex and Dawn taking a break. Joshua Jarrin photo
“I am glad to inform that we are back in Base Camp after two very long days. At the same time, I want to say congratulations to Dawn and Alex for their great effort. Yesterday, we lucked out with 24 hours of great weather. The wind slowed down and we had our chnace. Due to the special conditions of this expedition and our strange weather conditions, our only option to attemp the summit was from Camp 2. However, both climbers are strong and we all agreed that we wanted to go for it!
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=9b1e29f5b9ce685a2e0df031b3c3cfe3 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=22b32d946dfe41a852db7526d34ce368 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=585aaa9e8f46c374d01fab9b5d720b7d 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=e3e7da2bf40e3c6b548d88b60919b304 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=52e3957287214cf688d8e9a270d0fb81 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=7b29d01fdfb267976ce4c208ebfee34d 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=f551e408d9047584aa86ac076b01b9c2 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0029.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=cd9cf42536b066fd33d67d3904f72fd8 640w)
Resting at Independencia Camp. Joshua Jarrin photo
“We started walking yesterday at 6am (weird time I know — but before that we still had strong winds and I didn’t want to expose my team to frostbite, which had happened on other teams that had started before us.) I told the clients that a long day was awaiting us — we were looking at an 11 hour ascent.
“When we had walked 10 hours, we were 20 minutes away from the summit and everything was looking good. At that moment, three rangers were coming down from the summit and ordered us to turn around. I tried to explain to them that I was aware that it was a late summit but that we were fully informed of the weather forecast and that we were planning to take a direct route back down. On top of that, we were ahead of schedule. Our team was a bit tired (as is expected being so close to the summit!) but nothing out of a normal ascent, and actually, they were doing great! The ranger’s argument was that I had my clients roped up, and someone who needed to be roped up is not in good enough condition to go to the summit. (I have always roped up clients close to the summit just to put everyone at ease for an additional safety measure). In the end, the ranger’s closing argument was “maybe you are right, but we are the park rangers here…”
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=18ec4358a2c5e071e873596b85351ad5 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=cef1dd25b2aa4148590049bd34208586 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=03eb34195f231dee96a57201c817ea8f 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=6b51b4c3146f10f0ce7a8390707c57a9 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=eeaff1795c53f7fd5bf719eb00b7902c 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=e989bdbdac78434ca5cef052e50d6e97 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=33d1f680be6643b837ac1642f7701ddb 640w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FDSCF0042.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=bbef17e7040b0665264b976a3ae64c73 640w)
Alex nearing the summit. Joshua Jarrin photo
“Ouch! Sadly, we had to follow their orders and turn around. I want to say thank you again to Dawn and Alex who understood that we made it to the top, but just didn’t take the “classic picture” due to circumstances out of our control. We are all relaxing in our tents and preparing for the hike out tomorrow, happy and content.”
Well, in the end everyone was doing their job to the best of their ability and an official summit was just not in the cards for our team this time. We are looking forward to our upcoming Aconcagua expeditions and are wishing improved weather conditions for the teams to come!