Ecuador Team Moves out of Quito
The last 3 days have been busy for our private Cayambe team. CTSS lead guide Robert Jantzen reported that everyone arrived smoothly (with all their luggage) and gear checks went off without a hitch. Yesterday the team toured around Quito acclimatizing on the Teleferico up to over 13,000 ft and touring the equator.
Today they loaded up into the bus and drove into Cotopaxi National Park for an acclimatization hike to the top of Ruminahui. By now they’re all settled in at the Tambopaxi Lodge resting up for tomorrow.
Currently Cotopaxi is closed to summit climbs due to an increase in volcanic activity but its lower flanks remain accessible. Tomorrow the team will head up just past the Cotopaxi Refugio for a solid snow school course before returning to Tambopaxi lodge for one more night.
Then the attention turns to Cayambe!
Cheers,
CTSS Team
Vinson Team Back to Union Glacier
A quick one to let you know the team have flown back on the ski planes to Union Glacier from Vinson Base Camp and will have a few days to relax and recover, before their scheduled flight back to Chile on the 9th. It's a great place to be for a few days with good food, hot showers and a wonderful mix of people coming and going from all their polar adventures.
Every one happy and doing well.
Cheers
CTSS Team
100% on top of Kili
Fresh news from our Kili team who all stood on top of Africa at 8:15am this morning. They had a fantastic sunrise, perfect weather and a magic summit.
Congratulations;
Brothers; Jon & Dan Z
Colin M
Maryna K
Guy S
CTSS Guides Tendi Sherpa & Gerry and the entire Guide, porter and support crew
They are all back to Barafu Camp now to have a rest and some lunch before they drop further down to Mweka Camp for their final night on Kilimanjaro. Tomorrow they will finish their descent and head back to the creature comforts of the hotel! What an amazing adventure for the team.
Cheers
CTSS Team
High on Kili
Over in Africa, the team are doing a great, strong and steady job.
They are currently at Karanga Camp (3,963 m) today.
Today is a relatively short day but saw the team tackle the famed Barranco Wall. A bit of a scramble, you need to use all four limbs as you traverse the Wall to the top of the Karanga Valley. From here, the trail undulates through many inclines and declines to Karanga Camp. Our selection of Karanga Camp is strategic – significant time at altitude is essential for safe acclimatization. Sunsets here are particularly spectacular with views of the southern glacial valleys and ice fields towering over 3000 feet above you.
Tomorrow they will move to their final camp before the summit bid Barafu Camp.
Cheers
CTSS Team
Vinson Team Back to Base Camp
The team are already back to Base Camp from High Camp and are resting and will now await a clear weather window to fly in the ski planes back to Union Glacier and from there, a hot shower and onward to Punta Arenas.
As with all aviation in Antarctica, flights are entirely weather dependent and the pilots will only fly in perfect visibility. With a little cloud cover at Vinson Base Camp, the team will have turned their eyes to the skies.
Not a bad place to take in the majesty of Antarctica! and they have 24hour daylight to do it.
Cheers
CTSS Team
Aconcagua Summits!
A massive congratulations to our Aconcagua team who put in an enormous 16hour summit effort today. Fighting through some of the toughest conditions the mountain offers (on top of it being one of the most physically demanding climbs already!) the team pushed through heavy new snow, with cold and windy conditions.
On top,
Johannah M
Jocelyn B
Sharon M
Tom D
Eric C
Kirsty M
We are proud of them all and grateful to Guides Quique and Nani who said it was one of the toughest summit days they have ever had which is saying a lot!
Everyone is safe and sound back at High Camp and they will descend tomorrow.
100% on top of Vinson!
The entire Vinson team have stood on top in absolutely perfect weather!
Congratulations Peter V, Maria S, Devin G & Sidharth R! and Guide Mike Hamill.
They are back at Camp and tucked up in bed. Tomorrow they will drop quickly and efficiently down to Base Camp, pack up and hopefully bounce all the way over to Union Glacier for hot showers! and to await their flights back to Chile.
Congratulations Vinson Team!
Photos from a previous expedition.
Happy New Year
Updates from the Mountains
Our Vinson Team moved to High Camp in more perfect weather. Today they are taking a rest day (even though they are all feeling strong and fast - they'll get added benefit of some more acclimatisation time). They will set off for the summit tomorrow local time and the forecast is looking great.
Our Aconcagua team woke to some really tough conditions with heavy snowfall. They came up to Camp 3 today, and all are tucked up in bed to get some rest. Everyone ate well and is feeling good. Tomorrow is summit bid. With the snow and the cold temperatures, it will be a big challenge, but they are well supported & we wish them good luck! The day after tomorrow, it gets a bit windier so the 2nd is definitely their day.
On Kilimanjaro the team did great, climbing through the rainforest to Machame Camp. Today they moved through Heather forests to Shira Camp (3,885m) They had some cloud and sun but no rain which is always good!
We hope you all had a great New Year celebration no matter where in the world you celebrated! here are some pics from the Kili team.
Cheers
CTSS Team
Happy New Year & News from 3 of the Seven
Across 3 continents we have teams working hard and living out their dreams and bucket lists. What a way to wrap 2022 and welcome the New Year!
On Vinson - the team are making record speed. After dinner at Union Glacier last night, they flew to Vinson Base Camp and tucked up for the night. Today they headed out early, being able to travel relatively lightly thanks to pre-cached camps, and have already made it up to Low Camp. They are all feeling strong and moving fast. Their plan is to take advantage of this spell of beautiful weather and move to High Camp tomorrow. They will likely rest and acclimatize there on New Years Day, but this team, being small and fast may surprise us and hit the summit on the 1st, bringing in 2023 in style!
On Aconcagua - After their rest day at Camp 2, the team carried and tagged Camp 3, before a planned retreat back to Camp 2. The forecast is true with considerable snowfall (approx 50cm!) so it is a good time to take a rest day there and let the storm pass. A lovely opportunity to muster their energy for the summit bid in coming days.
On Kilimanjaro - The team have all arrived in Tanzania, completed their gear checks and briefings and today arrived at the Park Gates to begin the first day of their climb. Today they will climb through the lowland rainforest to reach Machame Camp. Everyone very eager and excited to get going. Tendi (14x Everest Summiteer!) & Gerry (over 500+ summits of Kilimanjaro - he stopped counting at 500!) are leading the team.
We wish you, and yours, all the best as we welcome in another year.
Cheers
CTSS Team
Vinson & Aconcagua Updates
An update from South America to see out 2022!
Vinson: Our Dec 15th Vinson Teams with Guides Tomi, Zeb and Robert (Kitt, Priyanka, Saurabh, Holger, Harold, Steffen, Jay, Wilson, Nick, Ben, Aseem, Vlad, Mario, Kevin & Wylie) have just minutes ago landed safely back in Punta Arenas Chile! They are all excited and eager to get home to you all after an epic adventure on the ice. Congratulations team!
Guide Mike Hamill remained on the ice at Union Glacier and welcomed our second team (Bel, Devin, Peter & Sid) who flew in to Union Glacier today. They are having some dinner at Union Glacier and may even fly out to Vinson Base Camp tonight as the weather forecast is good and the 24hour daylight makes flying possible 24/7 when the visibility is clear. We look forward to their ascent over the coming days. They will have a smooth trip with pre cached camps and light loads!
Meanwhile, over in Argentina, our Aconcagua team are doing great. Right on schedule. They had a much deserved rest day today at Camp 2 to help acclimatise and refuel the tanks, they all ate a huge dinner which is always a good sign at altitude!
Tomorrow (the 30th) they will carry a load to Camp 3 (High Camp - Colera) before dropping back to Camp 2 and take another rest day on the 31st to wait out a small weather cycle. From there they will move to High Camp on New Years Day and are looking at a summit bid on the 2nd. They will continue to adapt their schedule to how they are feeling, the weather etc as they have plenty of contingency days up their sleeve to use whenever/however it works best for them at the time.
Happy New Year to everyone at home as we lead into the weekend.
Cheers
CTSS Team
ACONCAGUA
