10 Days
Slow, slow. Our numbers have dropped off drastically since our last airlift. This was somewhat foreseen but was helped along by bad weather. Our numbers would have been steadily good if the weather reports had been correct. We have had people reserved who canceled due to bad weather. There is an organization in the valley that calls all the huts every night to give the weather. They analyze the weather reports from France, Italy and Switzerland and give us a summary. Yesterday the weather was forecast to be clear and sunny. We awoke to snow and freezing temperatures that persisted throughout the day leaving significant accumulations on the climbing route, which makes for difficult climbing on the rock sections of the mixed route.
Last week was dark and rainy and we spent most days alone. Fortunately there are the Olympics and we have a small color TV this year. We have been conserving our energy by going without lights on these dark days so we can watch the Olympics with the precious battery power we have. Since we are watching the Olympics on Italian national TV it is decidedly italo-centered. They are doing very well with over 20 medals (5 Gold) in this first week. Today the weather is clear but cold. We have taken advantage of the clear, sunny weather to get showers and wash clothes. I just heard on the radio that it is 47°C (in the 100sF) in Athens for the Women’s Marathon. It is hard to imagine when we have just gone over 10°C (about 45°F) for the first time in three days.
The end is near though and we have started our list of closing tasks. If the weather holds out we will do some lunches for day-visitors but, with the tough climbing, our overnight reservations with continue to be meager. The good thing about the cold weather is that it looks like we might finish the season without having to lay the 150m of black tubing for the alternate water system. Which means I won’t be in as good a shape as I would like for the Ob Hill Uphill race at McMurdo this year.
Tags: Rifugio Boccalatte
Luke