Climb beautiful weather2/25/2023 Just past the top of the fixed lines, we found the cache location, marked by many other wands. They were just headed up to acclimatize with some lunch at Camp IV. Good for them! They were being guided and ascending on skis clear to the fixed lines, which was impressive. The mom responded that her daughter was 17 and her son 15. I started to brag that my son was along too and he was only 18 years old. We met a family from Jackson, Wyoming on the way up. My confidence grew as I was feeling really strong. Charlie and Derek felt this made things more aerobic since we were using more limbs. Once on the lines, I thought things were easier because I could use my hands and feet to advance. I encouraged Tom to set the pace because of the conflict we had the day before, and he led us up to the the lines at a great pace. Each of us had a Petzl ascender with us, specifically for these fixed lines but also to aid us if we fell into a crevasse. Here we left our poles and pulled out our axes and our ascenders. I think it was more for solidarity and to keep us together than safety, for we just used our ski poles all the way up to the fixed lines, 1500 feet above camp. We roped up, even though many other climbers weren't roping up. We roped up, even though the initial slope isn't that steep. I figured real relief wouldn't come until we got off the mountain. Both Derek and I kept chapstick in our chest pockets and whenever I pulled out my highly desired, cherry-flavored lip balm, I'd pass it to Derek after I used it. Memories of viciously burning my face while skiing just for a day in Colorado drove me. I was so paranoid of being in an entirely white and reflective environment for weeks that I overcompensated. I think I was wearing the buff too much over my face in an effort to avoid burning myself. I was a little concerned about how chapped my lips were becoming. I hoped that things would go well enough that we'd continue to Camp IV, just to check it out, but we already discussed the possibility of not even getting up the fixed lines if conditions weren't good or if Charlie was still feeling anything in his lungs. Now we only had to carry four days of food and some fuel. This time we didn't have to carry nearly as much weight as we had been doing for our caches. Our plan for today was to do a small carry to the top of the fixed lines. No effects besides obviously moving slower, but it didn't seem any different to me than being on top of a Colorado 14er. I was still feeling very strong and having no effects from the altitude. Once it did hit the tent, things warmed up fast and if there wasn't any wind, it felt very balmy. It stayed cold until the sun got high enough to hit us. How cold? I don't know, but we had been getting reports at 0 degrees and this was much colder. And if we're in the clouds, then that means snow, since it's cold. We're so high that the clouds we have are either at our level or below us. I think because when you get a weather report that says "cloudy" or "partly cloudly" that means we'll be in those clouds. It snowed again the the night we got to Camp III, but it wasn't too much. Monday, June 13th: Carry to 16,200 feet - Strava - Day 7
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