HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED

Hello and thanks for visiting my climbing blog!

My name is Scott and I live in Atlanta, GA. I always had an interest in climbing mountains, but never really knew how to get started. In January of 2005, the company I was working for decided to open an office in Memphis and I volunteered to move and help get things kicked off. When I arrived in Memphis I only knew one person, whom I met a few years prior at a wedding, so I gave him a call. He agreed to meet me that evening, but couldn't stay out late because "...he was heading to Africa the next day." Upon meeting him that night, I learned he was leaving the next morning to try his hand at climbing Kilimanjaro.

The next morning, I was talking to my mother and telling her about the conversation from the previous night. During this conversation she asked me if I realized my Uncle Steve had been a climber for years. "No," I responded. She gave me his phone number and the following weekend I made a call to a relative I hadn't spoken to in years. Little did I know how much that call would change my life!

In the 6 years since, I've been to Africa (Tanzania & Kenya), Russia (Moscow & Mineral'Nye Vody), Mexico, Georgia (The country, not the state), and South America (Chile & Argentina), summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Elbrus, and Mt. Rainier, made two attempts at Cerro Aconcagua, an attempt at Ixta, made quick stops in London and Quito, Ecuador, met an endless number of extraordinary people, and developed a new relationship with my uncle.

The blog entries, pictures, and details below are my attempt to share my adventures with the rest of my friends and family. I hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Earthquake in Chile

Ok, Ive stumbled upon 5 free minutes and figured I'd address the questions coming in about the earthquake in Chile. For those that followed the Aconcagua climb last year, you are aware we flew into Santiago, Chile and then on to Mendoza, Argentina - which is the normal flight pattern to reach the mountain. I believe the center of the earthquake was about 200 miles south of Santiago, which means it was probably about 250-300 miles southwest of Aconcagua.

From what Ive been able to read and hear through the guiding companies, there were very few teams on the mountain when this happened since the season is at the tail end. The teams on the mountain did feel the earthquake, and it sounds like they got a pretty good shake, but were not in harms way. In actuality, they were able to continue up the mountain and summit.

The biggest dangers on mountains, at least when you are stationary, are rock slides, falling boulders, and avalanches (Altitude sickness & crevasses would be close behind, but those are more of a problem when you are moving), which brings me to my point. With those 3 things - rock slides, boulders, and avalanches - always being a big problem, a lot of time camps are strategically established on the mountain with those dangers in mind. Now, it is mountain climbing so you are never 100% safe and we'd be naive to think the danger level didn't increase with an earthquake, anytime you are low on a mountain and rocks fall they need somewhere to go, but if you did your homework in the first place you are increasing your chances of safety. Since I have been climbing, I have only heard of 2 instances of people being hit by falling debris while sitting/sleeping in camp (And one of those was a freak accident on Kilimanjaro when hikers were camping in an area they shouldn't have been). In Aconcagua's case, it's a very "dry," rocky mountain, so falling rocks are a bigger issue than avalanches. The reverse could be said on a mountain like Elbrus, which is a heavily glaciated mountain.

From my understanding, the airport in Santiago is still closed so the hikers coming off the mountain will most likely switch their outbound flights to Buenos Aires or another major South American country. For those that summitted, I'm sure they will be OK with this!

In the meantime, my trip is still a "go" and let's all pray Chile recovers quickly because its a beautiful country.

SZ
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownMarch 18, 2010 at 8:11 AM

    ZJ: It's time to get this blog out of the hotel and moving towards the trail head. The lack of progress or writing if you will, shows your Petzel lamp remains in your travel bag sitting on the hotel room floor. It's time to make Babu' the head guide (a writer) and to get this Land Rover rolling down the long road. Time for you to get out of the pool...

    http://mountainmadnesssucks.blogspot.com/

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