Last few on our way!

We are the last of 13 to depart to Mendoza Argentina.   We'll be converging  as a team Sunday Dec 20 and then officially on the trail Monday with 3 days until we reach Basecamp at 14,000 ft .

On behalf of the team I would like to wish everyone Happy holidays.

Brad Henry

Ken Hurley - the Eagle has landed in Mendoza...

Hi All,

After 26.5 hours, no hassle flight, no hassle with customs, long but smooth flight, I arrived in Mendoza. The Andes look smaller than I expected, however it may well be a lack of sleep prevented me from seeing to clearly.

My two duffels were slightly above the 50LB limit, however UA checked them all the way through from YVR to MDZ, no extra charges incurred. By the time I came through Immigration in MDZ, the bags were being thrown on the carosel, I picked them up, then sailed through the last checkpoint without a hitch, meals and all...
Get at least 100 to 200 Argentine Pesos in YVR to have so you can pay taxi in MDZ, and maybe buy yourself a cold drink at this end. Although US$ accepted in SCL Starbucks, and I negotiated a US$ taxi rate of $7 from airport to Hotel, and the Hotel exchanged a few US$ so I could tip the bellhop, otherwise bartering in US$ is much like it was in the Philippines when I lived there. In fact MDZ looks a lot like Manila, just a different side of the world.

Anyway, look forward to seeing one and all here

Ken Hurley

Advance Party Arrives in Mendoza

Late today Mendoza time (Okanagan Valley +5), Edmond, John, Jerry, Glenn and Don arrived in a balmy 34C in Mendoza, Argentina. The rest of the team will arrive by 20th December. Travelling down to Mendoza can be via various routes, these guys arrived via Vancouver, Mexico and Santiago , a mixture of JAL and Lan Chile airlines. The bagage limit for the route was 2 x 23kg for each passenger, everyone left with exactly 46kg! Not a gram to spare.
But we're safely here and planning some paragliding tomorrow as a treat, right by the city. Here's hoping you're all enjoying shovelling the snow, we're just off for an ice cream!

Blog Update via Sat Phone

The picture shows just some of the technology off to Argentina this Sunday with the advance party from the Climb for Prostate Team. I've been busy testing and tweeking all the equipment which will be
supporting the team.


Radios, laptops, satellite phones and camera batteries will all be recharged by the solar panel in the picture throughout their time on the mountain. The orange device is the Spot GPS which will automatically update our position every 10 minutes once on the mountain and post it on the map on this blog page, it's accurate to within a couple of meters, so if whoever has it clipped to their belt decides to go for a pee in the middle of the night, you'll see it happen live!


As a test, this blog entry and picture were uploaded via the satellite phone you see in the picture. I've just got to find out who's picking up the phone bill!


Blog entry by Jerry Mason

Climb For Prostate Training Video

While this was done in August of this year, it has taken me this long to find the video and post it to our blog.

There is a great interview of Brad, John, Kieth and Ken at the Liesure Centre.

Eight more days and I am off to Aconcagua... See u all there...

Link to Picassa Training Video.... Paste into your browser

http://picasaweb.google.com/kwthurley/Downloads?authkey=Gv1sRgCO2cnu20tta0cQ&feat=email#slideshow/5412925906961263442

Biff and Brad Do Flora Swiftly

Brad and Kevin recently acquired new paragliders for their climb of Mt. Aconcagua. Within a week, they tested their new wings high up in the Chilliwack Lake Valley. See the video here.

The climbing doctor: Don Scaman prepares for Argentina

By Vikki Hopes - Abbotsford News

Don Scaman was coming down the Bugaboo Spire in eastern B.C. with a team of fellow mountain climbers, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, the lead climber dislodged an ice sheet six inches thick, and began barrelling down the mountain, as if on a sled. He was travelling towards a massive crevasse, and he swung his ice axe into the snow, frantic to find an anchoring point.
It didn’t work. His fellow climbers could do nothing but watch in horror, certain their friend would be swallowed by the gigantic chasm ahead.
Instead, the momentum sent the climber clear over the gap and safely on to the other side.
A few shots of tequila and a good rest followed.
It’s the kind of scene that doesn’t happen often with Scaman, but when it does, it makes an impact.
An Abbotsford doctor, Scaman has seen a lot in his 30-plus years of mountaineering, but mostly it has been from the perspective of appreciating the world’s natural beauty.
He has scaled so many mountains he has lost track of how many climbs he has done. They have included 10 ascents of Mt. Baker – seven to the summit – and three climbs on Mt. Rainier.
He has made numerous treks in the coastal range and Rockies, spent six weeks hiking around Nepal, and recently returned from Patagonia, a region located in Argentina and Chile.
Scaman, 58, returns to Argentina this December as part of a 13-member team scaling Cerro Aconcagua. It’s part of a fundraising effort called Climb for Prostate.
The team has so far raised about $120,000 for prostate cancer research.
Scaman was invited to join the team, which heard about his mountaineering experience and wanted to have a doctor on the journey.
It was the ideal opportunity to combine his passion for the outdoors with a way to raise funds and awareness about a crucial men’s health issue.
“Men’s health has always been neglected. Women do a far better job of taking care of their health than men do,” he says.
Scaman was also attracted to the challenge of conquering the western hemisphere’s highest peak – 6,962 metres (22,841 feet).
“It’s always been something I’ve wanted to do. This is as big as I’ve wanted to go.”
The group consists of two others from Abbotsford – John LeBlanc and Ken Hurley – as well as men from Chilliwack, Surrey and the Okanagan. They range in age from 49 to 59.
They have done three climbs together – twice on Mt. Rainier and once on Mt. Baker – and have trained individually throughout the year. Scaman, for example, is an avid runner and also enjoys kayaking, playing hockey and skiing.
He also gets together whenever he can with the three other men he first started mountain climbing with in the late 1970s. They all had an affinity for the outdoors and tackled Mt. Baker together on their first climb.
“We didn’t even know what we were doing, but we made it to the top,” Scaman said.
They nicknamed themselves the Abbotsford Veg – as in “vegging out.” They later took rock-climbing lessons to perfect their skills for the more technical portions of their climbs.
However, Scaman said he prefers basic mountaineering over rock climbing.
“That’s a young man’s sport. You have to be like a monkey to do it,” he laughs.
The Climb for Prostate team arrives in Santiago, Chile on Dec. 20. From there, they travel to Mendoza, Argentina to begin the 14-day trek.

For more information, visit www.climbforprostate.com.