On the 21st of December, after 4 full days at base camp, we were able to move up. We got going around 9:30 and headed up. I had a bit of a headache, and it resulted in me going pretty slow, but it was a really nice day. Even with me feeling not great, the climb to Camp Canada only took us 2 hours, where it took a guided group that was going as well around 4 hours. It was pretty crazy how slow they were going. It was a beautiful day and we were able to play cards outside in the afternoon once we got our tent all set up. We melted some snow for drinking water the next day, made some pasta for lunch and really had a very nice day, both of us excited to finally be moving up.
The next day we were able to go up to Nido De Condores (Camp 2) to cache some food and fuel. This marked a new high again, getting us both to 17, 715 feet! The climb to Nido only took an hour and a half and it turned out to be an amazing camp compared to Canada, it was much more spread out and not as exposed. Right as we got to Nido, we ran into Olli and Andy, who had made an attempt on the summit that morning from Nido. They did not make it, Olli made it to 6000m and Andy made it to 6500m. They said the wind really started to get to them, and Andy looked so beat up! It was interesting to hear from them how the attempt went and also good to hear that it was easy to find the route. We got our food and fuel cached at a really good campsite, which was good because high winds were expected the next couple nights, and after spending about 45 minutes at Nido headed back to Canada. I had a bit of a headache that night, but it went away with Aleve. Between me and Chris we were beginning to go through about 4 pills a day, the altitude was definitely starting to have an effect on us.
On Sunday, December 23rd we moved up to Nido. We reached our camp around 12:30, ran into Kelsey and Andy after a couple minutes there. They gave us our goggles back and told us that they had made the summit the day before. It was really good to finally hear about somebody successfully making it to the summit, even though they had made it late and said it was really tough. They gave us all of their extra snacks, then they headed out to spend the night at Plaza de Mulas. The day was absolutely beautiful even though it was supposed to be windy and miserable. We spent most of the day melting snow to get all of our water bottles filled and make sure that we were hydrated and well fed while it was warm. Olli and Andy told us that the weather window looked good for the summit on Thursday, and that was when they were planning to summit. Chris and I decided we would be going for it on Wednesday, then we would have another chance if we didn't succeed. Our heads continued to bother us and we consumed I think 2 pills each again this day.
On Monday, December 24th, Christmas eve, we stayed at Nido de Condores. We melted a lot of snow, played some rummy and pretty much just waited out the wind. It was projected to be 50mph, but we don't really think it got that high. We had Mountain House ice cream sandwiches for our Christmas eve dinner. It was kinda funny, but they were pretty good considering it was dehydrated ice cream...
On the 21st of December, after 4 full days at base camp, we were able to move up. We got going around 9:30 and headed up. I had a bit of a headache, and it resulted in me going pretty slow, but it was a really nice day. Even with me feeling not great, the climb to Camp Canada only took us 2 hours, where it took a guided group that was going as well around 4 hours. It was pretty crazy how slow they were going. It was a beautiful day and we were able to play cards outside in the afternoon once we got our tent all set up. We melted some snow for drinking water the next day, made some pasta for lunch and really had a very nice day, both of us excited to finally be moving up.
The next day we were able to go up to Nido De Condores (Camp 2) to cache some food and fuel. This marked a new high again, getting us both to 17, 715 feet! The climb to Nido only took an hour and a half and it turned out to be an amazing camp compared to Canada, it was much more spread out and not as exposed. Right as we got to Nido, we ran into Olli and Andy, who had made an attempt on the summit that morning from Nido. They did not make it, Olli made it to 6000m and Andy made it to 6500m. They said the wind really started to get to them, and Andy looked so beat up! It was interesting to hear from them how the attempt went and also good to hear that it was easy to find the route. We got our food and fuel cached at a really good campsite, which was good because high winds were expected the next couple nights, and after spending about 45 minutes at Nido headed back to Canada. I had a bit of a headache that night, but it went away with Aleve. Between me and Chris we were beginning to go through about 4 pills a day, the altitude was definitely starting to have an effect on us.
On Sunday, December 23rd we moved up to Nido. We reached our camp around 12:30, ran into Kelsey and Andy after a couple minutes there. They gave us our goggles back and told us that they had made the summit the day before. It was really good to finally hear about somebody successfully making it to the summit, even though they had made it late and said it was really tough. They gave us all of their extra snacks, then they headed out to spend the night at Plaza de Mulas. The day was absolutely beautiful even though it was supposed to be windy and miserable. We spent most of the day melting snow to get all of our water bottles filled and make sure that we were hydrated and well fed while it was warm. Olli and Andy told us that the weather window looked good for the summit on Thursday, and that was when they were planning to summit. Chris and I decided we would be going for it on Wednesday, then we would have another chance if we didn't succeed. Our heads continued to bother us and we consumed I think 2 pills each again this day. 
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