Days 12-14
Plaza de Mulaz to Nedo do Condores

In the morning I will leave base camp for the three to four day climb to the summit. Yesterday I did a porter run to drop off half of the things I need to summit at the high camp at 5,400m. This included my plastic mountaineering boots, extra gas, food, ice axe and my summit suit. It took me six hours of constant slow climbing to reach the camp and to remind me that I was not on holiday the whole time I had a dull headache and shortness of breath. Once I arrived at camp Nedo I fought off a vomit for around an hour so my body had some time to adapt to the higher altitude before I descended back down. Unfortunately due to the limited internet access available I cannot show properly show you the literally breathtaking views I witnessed over the Andes. I was able to see the coastline from where a started 13 days earlier which truly was a humbling experience. I could actually see the start and the finish line from the point I was standing, this moment was worth every breath it took me to get there.

To give you an idea of the effect altitude has on performance it took six hours to get up and only one and a half hours to get down. Today I taught the other members of the United Nations climbing team the card game Scum and it has been a great day relaxing and having fun before we all face the beast that is the summit of Aconcagua. I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to all of the people who have made it possible for me to be in the position where I get another chance to stand on the roof of South America. I promise I will do you all proud and give everything my mind and body possibly can to make it to the top in the name of raising awareness for men’s mental health.

Please contribute to this adventure by following this link and donating whatever you can to the cause
https://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/DavidWilliams/

I leave you with this message from my new Chilean friend Juan who is a commanding officer in the Army if Chile ” me gusta hacer montaña,porque trabajo en el año en las cosas que debo hacer para vivir y para mantener una vida normal al igual que todos, pero en la montaña hago lo que yo quiero hacer , separo mi tiempo para llevar mi cuerpo y equipo al limite y guardar dia a dia en mi retina todos esos hermosos paisajes y lugares que ni la mejor camara puede guardar. Estar en la montaña tambien significa estar estar mas cerca de Dios y escucharlo de una forma nitida y sin distracciones. En la biblia puedes encontrar las innumerables veces cuando Dios quiso hablarle a sus hijos, Los apartaba y llevaba a la montaña, Moises , Abraham , entre otros son un ejemplo de eso” which translates to ” I like to go into the mountain because I work a lot of the year very hard and I do my daily routine like a every person in the world, but I need to have my own time for myself to do the things which make me happy not receiving orders, and to test my body to extreme limits and prove to myself I can make it. The other reason is like many people in the bible when God wants to speak with them, he brings them to a peaceful place totally free the noise of the city or the people, and that is awesome for me because I want to listen him in all year but when you stay here, your ears are so open and free”

Te Amo

Dave #sea2summit7

Sent from my iPad