Well, after several days of planning and camping at the summit of Licancabur, the team has made it back to the refuge safely. The following is an account of their preparation, climb and activities on Licancabur over the last few days.

Field Notes - 11/14/04 by Greg Kovacs

The team had an update ready to go on the 10th and then discovered that anything with a hard drive in it was not functional at our altitudes and temperatures, which goes to show that technology has its limits too!

11/8- 11/9/04
In San Pedro some of the team finished assembly and test the GPS/sonar survey boat to be used in the summit lake.
Part of the time in San Pedro was spent searching for equipment to finish the assembly of the sonar boat. The boat was tested successfully and was readied for the climb to the summit lake. Upon returning to the refuge, final preparations were being made for the climb to the summit of Licancabur.

11/10/04
Today, the team climbed to Camp 1 on Licancabur, at 17,509 ft. (the summit is 19,730 ft.). The ascent was laborious, but thankfully uneventful. The group was in good spirits and everyone jammed their tents onto the narrow ledge that would serve as home overnight.

The other interesting fact about such high mountain camps is that those incredible winds and rapid temperature declines forces everyone into their tent by 4:00 or 4:30 pm. Naturally, with the extreme cold, everyone ends up in their sleeping bags, and soon, asleep.

The problem is that one really cannot sleep the full 14 hours until the sun once again warms the tent up. This, combined with the incessant sound of wind battering the tents leads to rather limited rest.

11/11/04
Today, the team reached the Licancabur summit camp at 19,005 ft. After sorting through the gear that had been carried up by the porters, most of the team set up camp. Part of the team carried on over the crater rim at 19,432 ft and set up camp right on the edge of the summit lake (19,294 ft.).

Needless to say, all were a bit tired, but in great spirits. As typical for camping at such altitudes, nobody had great enthusiasm for eating. The team did manage to take down enough calories and liquid to be ready for the big day tomorrow, which would include water sampling and carrying out the bathymetric and thermal mapping of the lake.

The lake had an ice layer on it that remained present until very late in the day, at which point the winds were so high that reliable navigation of the remote-controlled sonar boat would be difficult or impossible.

11/12/04
Today the boat was assembled together and prepped for use in the summit lake. A great deal of activity ensued, including a variety of scientific sampling tasks.

After a successful day, we settled down for "dinner" and tent-lock-down by 4:00 pm.

11/13/04
The lake was not only mostly frozen, but was making strange "ice under great stress" sounds as the wind and changing temperatures changed the balance of forces that had prevailed overnight.

Today the team dove in the lake to take water samples, measurements and document the dives. Everything went as planned. When the dives were over, team members dragged themselves to shore, and noted that the water on the suits froze immediately.

When everyone was ready, the team trudged up to the crater rim and regrouped at the summit camp. After a brief break, they began their descent, which was done at a safe, but fairly rapid pace. Returning to the refuge, all were elated that the mission objectives were met! The team looked forward to some good sleep and, within a day or two, some opportunities to scrub the mountain dust from ourselves.

So far, it has been an incredible adventure, and thanks to a great team, a very rewarding experience.