TJO HOO!!! Bram called last night. He'd just had a needed shower and shave... he was disgustingly dirty. No comment... but at least I didn't have to share his bodily odeurs (however, I gladly would have, should I've been in Mendoza). Mmmmmm real masculin stuff, with a 13 day beard. ;-)
I'm really happy and relieved to have him safely back. We didn't speak long, but he did tell me this:
They moved up to camp 1 on Monday, on to camp 2 on Tuesday and since the weather forecast didn't look that well, they left for the summit in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. This is rather short, approximately 2 days faster than scheduled. In hindsight, there was a window for two more days summiting... but at that time they estimated it best to give it a shot. You don't sleep up at 5800m, you just try to get as much rest as you can. Bram had a slight headache, but with a pill it was gone. But it didn't feel right at all that morning, nothing corresponded and after 5 min of walking, the guide told Bram he thought he couldn't make it. Bram thought, oh no, not that on top of everything... and decided to take some decisions of his own. He suggested that the guide would follow Bram in his footsteps (swapping places), giving it another 30 minutes to see if they could find the rhytm. Which they did... But it was very hard and so high. Bram said he was right to have prepared and trained that hard, or he wouldn't have made it (at least not with the -2 day schedule). And it was so weird up there. You kind of hallucinate, you walk in your own bubble, your own little world of thoughts, moments thinking you're at home, or in a bar... with no room for error. Kind of scary huh, but they made it to the top.. and down. But he saw some awful things up there, not dead people, but people which makes you wonder: - what the hell are they doing up here??? Bram's kept a diary, so he'll share this with you later.
Bram and Tim celebrated last night with dinner and drinks, today relaxed and actually got invited by the guide to have dinner in his home! Something he's never done before with any clients... so there must be a friendship going, and probably also out of respect for a great climber! They were picking up ingredients at the local market for cooking. Fantastic, it'll be a great night!
Tomorrow Tim's on his flight back home, Bram's in Mendoza for two more days of sightseeing and relaxing. We look forward to pick you up in Marseille on Thursday!
Brigitte, give your man a big hug from us when you pick him up on Tuesday. Hopefully with luggage this time...
Sweet dreams everybody,
xxx Jen
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