The team has been slowly sorting through the mountains of equipment that made it to the refuge. As they begin their scientific investigations, the also need to train their bodies for the climb to the top of Licancabur at 20,000 feet. They did a training climb and managed to reach the rim of the volcano Juriques. At the start of the climb, as they gained elevation, they could see the ruins of an ancient Inca village, which served as a trading post in this region.

They climbed to the 18,500 ft. high rim, picking their way through various sizes of talus (fist-sized-and-up sized rocks) and scree (smaller-than a fist-get-in-your-boots sized annoying rocks), but all made it safely to the top.

At the crater rim, they saw a good deal of penitent snow, which is a particular form snow takes when it is sheltered from too much direct sun and kept in a very cold, dry climate. Basically, some of the snow sublimates, leaving needle and sheet-like structures.

Along with conditioning their bodies, they were also able to further test the wearable physiologic monitors (CPODs).

Stay tuned as more information about the team come in, and be sure to check out the latest pictures in the photo album!