Two weeks in Chalten and the storm up in the mountains rages on. Every climber in town is overfed and charged on coffee mate, waiting for the weather gods to smile and chattering endlessly about a potential dry window this weekend. In the meantime, we continue to fester in style – bouldering, noshing, and dancing the night away. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the cool local people (with their wonderful doggies) and meet up with friends from around the world who have converged on this little town for a shot at summit glory. It’s a who’s who of badass alpine climbers: Mikey Schaeffer and Kate Rutherford are here, as well as Chad Shepard, John Gleason, artist Jeremy Collins (who has been teaming up with Renan on a big simul-painting) and we hear that Nicolas Favresse, Sean Villanueva, Ben Ditto and friends just pulled into town following their send of the Central Tower of Paine and ready to crush something over here. We’ve been hanging at the boulders with Tommy Caldwell and Josh Wharton a bunch. And of course the regulars are here: Rolando Garibotti, Kevin Thaw, and Bean Bowers are generously sharing their sage wisdom with the newbies. Last but not least, shooter Tim Kemple rolled in on the scene and has joined our crew. We go up into the mountains tomorrow. Wish us luck.

Fitzroy veiled…for now

Renan and Jeremy Collins work their simul-painting

Our neighbor, Rolando Garibotti

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