Cliffhanger awaits intrepid climbers

Brian Hayward WEEKEND POST REPORTER

BECOMING one of the first South Africans to summit South America‘s Aconcagua, the world‘s second highest mountain, using a treacherous route over a massive glacier, will be no easy task for former Port Elizabeth schoolboy Andrew Raubenheimer.

Not only is he facing -46°C conditions, but a massive snow storm is forecast for the mountain tomorrow – the day he and his only team-mate, Dobek Pater of Johannesburg, plan to leave the base camp and begin their ascent.

Adding to the dangers of their climb is the deaths just last week of three fellow climbers using the same dangerous route – the Polish direct route over the Polish glacier – to summit Aconcagua, which lies in Argentina and is part of the Andes mountain range.

“It‘s an extreme route, which is probably why no other South African has done it,” said Andrew‘s father, Darrell, who lives in Port Elizabeth. “But the beauty of it is they know what they‘re doing and both are very cautious.”

Darrell, his wife Evie, and son Greg will celebrate Andrew‘s 25th birthday in his absence tomorrow.

“He and Dobek will be celebrating with a freeze-dried strawberry ice- cream dessert he‘s taken up the mountain especially for the occasion,” said Darrell.

But after a brief rest and short celebration, it‘s back to business for the pair who will spend most of their ascent scaling icy columns and having to keep their wits about them.

In his last contact with his family before starting the climb to base camp last Sunday, Andrew said the dangers which lay ahead were immense.

“We still have to see how the direct route looks. But for now we cannot have any cloud cover; just lots of sun. The route has claimed three lives in the past week,” he said.

“With snow levels up to the hip we need lots of sun to harden the route. (I‘ve) just been speaking to some Polish climbers and they say the route could avalanche at any time. It‘s looking very bad at the moment.”

But Darrell remained upbeat about his son‘s choice to scale the world‘s second highest peak which, should he and Pater succeed, would make them South Africa‘s first climbers to do so using the dangerous Polish glacier direct route.

“They are not doing a walk-up; it‘s an ice climb up the glacier. It‘s pretty extreme and very dangerous,” said Darrell.

“When he told me about the climb I thought the idea was fantastic. If you‘re going to do it, do it properly. He‘s following his passion.”

Having cut his teeth in experiencing the great outdoors during his school years at St Dominic‘s Priory with the school‘s outdoor adventure club, Klippies – short for Klipspringers, the sure-footed mountain buck – Andrew also spent many holidays with his family hiking the snow-covered mountains around Rhodes.

“We‘ve always been an outdoor family,” said Darrell. “We used to go on bush safaris, travelling into Botswana and places in Zambia. Andrew was brought up like that.”

According to the website which details the climbers‘ movements, the pair will have a chance to reach the summit from Tuesday to Thursday next week.

But Darrell said: “This climb is not about breaking records. It‘s only a success when he gets back down safely.”

Today will see them resting at base camp before their ascent to Camp 1 tomorrow.

According to the popular BBC Planet Earth documentary series, the Andes has the most volatile weather on earth.

The website says: “The climb from Camp 1 to Camp 2 can take about eight or over nine hours if conditions are not great and the wind is up.”

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