![HIGH CAMP - ACONCAGUA, ARGENTINA [3003 AR] The night before going to the summmit, everyone was in their tents, sleeping or trying to sleep, when I crawled out of my tent and saw this amazing sunset.](../imgThmb/3003_AR_O.jpg)
![HIGH CAMP VIEW - ACONCAGUA, ARGENTINA [3004 AR] Aconcagua, the Sentinel of Stone, is the highest mountain in the western hemisphere. According to some international climbing experts, the 22,841 feet of Aconcagua represent, psychologically and physiologically, several hundred meters more. In the Himalayas there is vegetation until 16,500 feet (5,000 meters). In the central Andes mountains there is only vegetation until 11,500 feet (3500 meters). The relative humidity of the air is very low.](../imgThmb/3004_AR_M.jpg)
![3 CLIMBERS DESCENDING ILLIMANI - BOLIVIA [3016 BO] Two young and very fit Danish guys with no prior acclimatization and little climbing experience hired a Bolivian guide to climb 21,201 foot Illimani. They were hours behind us (we were well acclimatized) and later told me they were vomiting on the summit (glad I missed that). Here they are descending into a dangerous area. They made it safely down.](../imgThmb/3016_BO_M.jpg)
![ILLIMANI HIGH CAMP - BOLIVIA [3019 BO]](../imgThmb/3019_BO_M.jpg)
![HUAYNA POTOSI - BOLIVIA [3015 BO] Do I really want to climb a mountain with a cemetary in the foreground? Huayna Potosi is roughly fifteen miles due north of La Paz, which makes this mountain the most popular climb in Bolivia. The normal ascent route is a fairly straightforward but challenging glacier climb, with some crevasses and a steep climb to the summit.](../imgThmb/3015_BO_M.jpg)
![HUAYNA POTOSI - BOLIVIA [3036 BO] Rodrigo on the 19.996 foot (6094 meter) summit, "Can you hear me now"?](../imgThmb/3036_BO_M.jpg)
![OUR TRACKS UP PEQUENO ALPAMAYO - BOLIVIA [3018 BO] Pequeno Alpamayo is 17,618 feet high (5,370 meters).](../imgThmb/3018_BO_O.jpg)
![PEQUENO ALPAMAYO MINUTES LATER - BOLIVIA [3026 BO] The weather changes fast in the mountains.](../imgThmb/3026_BO_MV.jpg)
![COTOPAXI - ECUADOR [3530 EC] Cotopaxi is Ecuador's highest active volcano at 19,388 feet and is located in the Eastern Cordillera. It is a stratovolcano (very similar to Mt. Fuji or Mt Shasta) with an almost perfectly symmetrical cone, rising from a highland plain of 3800 meters and covered by a glacier starting at a height of 5000 meters. It's a moderate glacier walk with a short steeper section close to the top.](../imgThmb/3530_EC_O.jpg)
![COTOPAXI'S CRATER - ECUADOR [3531 EC] If reaching the summit isn't enough, seeing this crater from the top is!](../imgThmb/3531_EC_O.jpg)
![PERU [3040 PE]](../imgThmb/3040_PE_O.jpg)
![PERU [3041 PE]](../imgThmb/3041_PE_A.jpg)
![VAL - CLIMBING HIGH IN PERU [3042 PE]](../imgThmb/3042_PE_M.jpg)
![MOUNT COOK - NEW ZEALAND [3085 NZ] We were up early racing to go fishing on a river near Twizel on an unusually clear and sunny day. 'Hey, is that Mt. Cook?' 'I don't know. I think so. In the 6 years that I've been here I've never seen it.' 'Pull over, please.'](../imgThmb/3085_NZ_O.jpg)
![EARLY MORNING CLIMBERS AND MOUNT ELBRUS - RUSSIA [3030 RU] That is 18,510 foot (5642 meter) Mount Elbrus, known as the highest mountain in Europe and one of the seven summits. Elbrus is located in the Caucasus Mountains. There has been some dispute as to whether the Caucusus Mountains are considered part of Europe or Asia. If they were considered to be in Asia, then the highest mountain in Europe would be Mont Blanc (15,771feet) in the Alps. I took this photo on another climb just across the border in Georgia.](../imgThmb/3030_RU_M.jpg)
![MEG GONE WILD - RUSSIA [3031 RU] There are two ways to get to the hut on Mt. Elbrus - you can walk or you can take the snowcat. The strong girl walks. The smart girl hitches a ride with the gorgeous Danish guys she met on the chairlift.](../imgThmb/3031_RU_M.jpg)
EARLY MORNING CLIMBERS AND MOUNT ELBRUS - RUSSIA [3030 RU] That is 18,510 foot (5642 meter) Mount Elbrus, known as the highest mountain in Europe and one of the seven summits. Elbrus is located in the Caucasus Mountains. There has been some dispute as to whether the Caucusus Mountains are considered part of Europe or Asia. If they were considered to be in Asia, then the highest mountain in Europe would be Mont Blanc (15,771feet) in the Alps. I took this photo on another climb just across the border in Georgia.
