Today, we leave the relative luxury of the lower hut to slum at the high hut — for three nights! It’s going to be rough, but I’m excited to get back onto the glacier.
Yesterday we walked 40 minutes to a glacier to practicec crampon and ice-axe techniques. The whole day is fantastic sport.
Courtesy Carl C
Crampons feel awkward at first, but we pick them up quickly. We practice the French step (feet perpendicular to the fall line, the downhill foot crossing over the uphill), the duck walk (for gentler slopes), and a steep descent with toes straight down — each step landing with all crampons engaged.
Then Ossy introduces basic front-pointing — keep your heels down! — with and without use of ice-axe support.
After each skills session, Ossy leads us around the glacier to stitch everything together. The weather is terrific: sun, light wind, no drama. We joke that with this much good weather early, the bill will come due soon.
Courtesy Ossy F
By the time we get back to the high hut around 5 p.m., I’m realizing I haven’t hydrated well. A headache creeps in, and Advil does nothing. I drink something like six cups of herbal tea without needing to pee. Dinner is chicken and rice, and I can barely stomach it.
Ossy reasonably advises against taking Diamox until it’s actually needed. Some climbers react badly to it — like the poor guy in another group who (we’ll hear) had a rough reaction and ended up in a Quito hospital for three days. I’ve felt great until today, so I decide to hold off. Jeff started Diamox the day before — at what I later learn is double my planned dosage — and he feels fine.
Alex and Carlos leave us at day’s end and head back down to the lower hut for their purported “business need” for Wi-Fi (and their actual vacation need for wine).
Travels With Burma Jones 