Mt. Aconcagua and one of it's largest ice formations, the Polish Glacier.

Today I’m sad to learn that Mt. Aconcagua,  a giant South American peak I attempted to climb several years ago,  has become a collection point for the dangerous chemicals known as PCBs.

The news comes from a study by a joint German/Chilean team of scientists who in 2003 climbed Aconcagua and took samples of snow at six intervals between 11,400 feet and 20,300 feet.

They found PCBs in every sample, with a lower concentration the higher they went. On average they found half a nanogram of PCBs per liter. This concentration doesn’t represent an immediate danger to climbers, they reported, but might have grim implications for wildlife, as well as the thousands of Argentineans and Chileans who rely on Aconcagua’s five glaciers for their drinking water.

Aconcagua’s toxic load is less than that found in the mountain ranges of the more industrialized Northern Hemisphere, such as the Italian Alps, where the concentration is four times greater.

A guide draws water from an ice-covered glacial pond at 19,000 feet, during my climb up Aconcagua. Is this water tainted with carcinogens?

Still, it makes me take a cautious look back on the climb up Aconcagua,  where I expected the danger to come from ice and storms, not chemicals that cause rashes, hair loss, cancer and impotence, as PCBs are suspected to do.

Despite being banned more than three decades ago, PCBs are still at large, afloat in the ocean, as I reported back in March, and now airborne on our tallest, wildest peaks.

PCBs Found on Mt. Aconcagua is a post from: The Ferris Files

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200711/goodgoing.asp

New story in Sierra magazine is a post from: The Ferris Files

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If you enjoyed the maps of Aconcagua that gave context to the posts, thank Steve – he created them unasked. He organized posts on the site to make them easy to navigate. Every day he took the short, aborted satellite-phone calls I left on voicemail and stitched them together into one smooth audio delivery. On the weekend of January 20, prior to our summit attempt, Steve spent a fair bit of a vacation
weekend in Tahoe perched in front of a computer with a dribbling Internet connection, making sure the communications went through. This is the kind of guy you want on your side.

Steve, it wouldn’t have happened withoutcha. Hats off to you.

Hail the Digital Maestro is a post from: The Ferris Files

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It lies not on the mountain, but in the digital realm of this blog, and the remarkable community that converged here during our rocky isolation.  It’s such a surprise.

Keep in mind that while we climbers were the few who got to experience the mountain firsthand, we were the only ones who couldn’t experience this blog. The nearest computer was several days’ hike away. My “blogging” consisted of speaking into a tempermental phone from a field of rocks in a faraway land. I frankly doubted whether anyone could hear me on the other end, and if they could, whether anyone was listening other than my parents and girlfriend.

Then we tromp back to civilization and log on at an Internet cafe, and my word, everyone’s been listening, hundreds of people every day. They’re not just my people, but the co-workers of my fellow climbers, friends of my brother-in-law’s parents, and others that emerged from who-knows-where. And it’s not just a polite interest. They cared about our chances of making the summit and were keenly interested in how I’m doing, after turning back from the summit 1,600 feet shy of the goal. 

My favorite response is from the second-grade students of my fellow climber Louise Cooper, a teacher in Los Angeles. She sent a note yesterday that the tykes were glad to see her but inquired with concern about me, a person they had never met or even seen. They made such comments as, “at least he tried; he can always try again; I know when I’m feeling sick I just want to go to bed; and, he was brave to turn back! “

To have something vital to share, like the tale of this climb, and to learn that many people – some you don’t even know, and all over the country – are following every word, well, it just doesn’t get any better than that. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for Listening is a post from: The Ferris Files

Pre-Trip To-Do Lists, Urgent (3)

Undone Items (17)

Socks Which, When Turned Inside Out, Explode in a Mushroom Cloud of Volcanic Dust (1 pair)

Items That Smell of Volcanic Dust (47)

Items that Smell of Spilled Sports-Drink Dust (5)

Extra Dust

Water bottles, Dirty (2)

Pee Bottle, Uh, Dirty (1)

Thermos, Encrusted with Soup Mix (1)

Mule Shoe, Spotted with Rust and Discovered on Trail (1)

Rock from Summit, Gifted by Marshall (1)

Wool Mitten, Mate Abandoned Somewhere on Summit Route (1)Sunscreen Bottle, Exploded in Backpack (1)

Sunscreen-Covered Satellite Phone (1)

Regrets (1)

Adventure Artifacts is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Aconcagua

36 Photos

See Photos of Aconcagua is a post from: The Ferris Files

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I am at the internet cafe, where for the last few hours I have hungrily been reading everyone´s comments on The Ferris Files. Thank you so much for your well-wishes! All this time I haven´t known for sure whether anyone was hearing what I was speaking into that satellite phone, or what anyone had to say in response. I am delighted that the posts got to you. Your thoughts propelled me upward, in ways big and small.

We are all generally well (though these typing fingers are still swollen from altitude). I have shaven and can see my face again. Terri´s cough, which she acquired during the last push to the summit, is there, but subsiding.

Last night we sat in a bistro (they had chairs and glassware and everything!) and joyously feasted on steak, salad, lasangna, wine, beer, and pretty much anything we could lay our hands on. Our table seemed an island of liveliness amid diners dully living their preprogrammed lives. It wasa reminder of how alive we were while we were on the mountain — cold, dirty and often miserable, yes, but vitally aware of our existence.

In a few hours we will visit a winery in the nearby countryside. Tonight we might catch a lesson at a tango club. You know, all that Argentina stuff that we were too remote to enjoy until now. !Ole!

Back in the Warm, Flat World is a post from: The Ferris Files

Descent from Base Camp to Pampa de Lenas (9,100 ft. / 2,800 m)

“…Bursts of wind and snow clattering against the tent…”

Click to play (1 min. 59 sec.)

Pampa de Lenas is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Plaza Argentina (Base Camp) (elevation 13,790 ft. / 4,203 m.)

“…it’s a question that hurts to ask right now.”

Click to Play (1 min  42 sec)

Could I Have Made It? is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Post:

Plaza Argentina (Base Camp) (elevation 13,790 ft. / 4,203 m.)

“…from the beginning I felt like a frozen lobster…”

Click to Play (6 min 51 sec)

My Summit Attempt is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Blog:

Return to Base Camp (elevation 13,790 ft. / 4,203 m.)

“…50 people including a dog…”

Click to Play (1 min 46 sec)

Team Stray Dogs – Summit Day (Excluding David) is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Blog:

Return to Camp 2 (elevation 19,000 ft. / 5,800 m.)

“…mind and body are intact…”
(map)

Click to Play (31 sec.)

Close But No Cigar is a post from: The Ferris Files

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David hasn’t sent me any new audio posts yet, but I heard it through the sites below that they made it to the summit! I’ll post anything David sends as soon as possible.

In the meantime check out these sites:

Marshall Ulrich’s trip log – edited by his wife Heather

Terri Schneider’s blog – edited by Penni

-steve

I Heard it Through the Grapevine is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Blog:

Waiting at Camp 2 (elevation 19,000 ft. / 5,800 m.)

(map to the summit)

“…we are excited and scared about the ordeal to come.”

Click to Play (1 min 16 sec)

Other postings about this trip:

Marshall Ulrich’s trip log – edited by his wife Heather

Terri Schneider’s blog

Summit or Bust is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Blog:

Pinned at Camp 2 (elevation 19,000 ft. / 5,800 m.)

(map up to camp 2)
“…wind rammed into our tent like a gunshot…”

Click to Play (2 min 5 sec)

A Restless Rest Day is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Post:

Chilling at Camp 2 (elevation 19,000 ft. / 5,800 m.)

(map up to camp 2)
“…it’s about 25 degrees in our tent…”

Click to Play (1 min 40 sec)

Waiting… is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Post:

Trapped at Camp 2 (elevation 19,000 ft. / 5,800 m.)
(map)

“it huffed and puffed and tried to blow our tent down last night…”

Click to Play (1 min  34 sec)

Wind Storm Delays Summit Attempt is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Post:

Second Climb to Camp 2 (elevation 19,000 ft. / 5,800 m.)

(map)
“…50-mph gusts that nearly knocked us over…”

Click to Play (2 min 5 sec)

Climb to Camp 2 is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Post:

Rest Day at Camp 1 (elevation 16,240 ft. / 4,950 m.)

(map)

“…too much time on our hands…”

Click to Play (2 min  37 sec)

The Calm Before The Storm is a post from: The Ferris Files

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Audio Post:

Rest Day at Camp 1 (elevation 16,240 ft. / 4,950 m.)

(map)

“What is your Aconcagua?”

Click to Play (1 min 12 sec)

A Note to My Clients and Students is a post from: The Ferris Files

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