Got the bus back to Santiago in Chile and flight home tonight. Will be back for a few days to sleep, re pack and then I’m off to climb Kilimanjaro with Marie Curie Nurse Janet Suart. I am also going to be joined on this leg by some of the…
Had my 3rd shower of the year last night, awesome! Arrived in Mendoza at 12.30am and I am enjoying a little civilisation and food today. It’s starting to sink in that I have 3 legs under my belt, a little relieved actually! Didn’t sleep well in a…
Hi Guys, We are back at Plaza de Mulas base camp after packing up from camp 2 Nido de Condores. It took us about 5 hours to get down from the summit meaning it was about a 17 hour day. We were all pretty shattered last night but the team is in good…
Richard Parks has successfully reached the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest summit in South America completing the 3rd leg of his world first 737 Challenge.
Hi Guys, more news. Things have changed. The weather is due to deteriorate over the next 5/6 days meaning we have a small weather window tomorrow to attempt the summit.
I had a long chat with our two team leaders; Gianni from Argentina and Tore from…
Hi Guys. I had phone issues yesterday, ran out of battery and it wouldn’t recharge but back up and running today! Climbed from camp 1 Canada Camp yesterday to camp 2 Nido de Condores, which means “condors nestâ€. Camp 2 is at 5480m. It took us…
Former Wales International and Barbarian flanker Richard Parks sent the Welsh rugby squad a special good luck message from the highest mountain in South America as he continues his 7-month race to cli
Hi Guys. We have moved up to Canada Camp (camp 1) today. Good feeling to be moving towards the summit. One of the group got medic evacuated this morning with chest problems. The rest of us are in good spirits. Pretty tough day carrying all our gear…
At base camp for a rest day. Conditions bad yesterday at camp 2, 50km winds and sub zero temperatures. Cached gear though (a cache is load deposit at a camp in order to split carrying all your gear at once). Have another compulsory medical tonight.…
At camp 1 of 3, called Canada Place. At 4970m, sleeping here tonight, camp 2 tomorrow. Passed compulsory medical yesterday. Load carrying gear day to day about 20 to 25 kilos. Feeling good.
Thursday we reached Confluencia. We arrived in Plaza de Mulas base camp yesterday and are currently at 4285m. Group meeting today to discuss summit strategy for me and Diego and just catching up with things. Conditions have been bad, not many people…
Short climb today. We are at Confluencia camp, 3390m. A pretty beautiful walk today, was nice. I passed Paul Donovan from Cardiff who I was meant to be climbing with before delays. He was on his way back. It’s a shame we won’t get to climb…
Hi guys. Had one of the best night’s sleep on the bus last night since leaving the ice and feeling pretty good today. I got woken up at 3am by lots of people shouting at me in Spanish to take my paperwork to immigration, which was a bit crazy but all…
What a brutal day, sat waiting in Santiago airport DHL for over 3 hours to collect my package from home which including my sleeping bag for Aconcagua, bottle and Rab shell jacket, all of which I left at home. Even chipped my tooth whilst biting my nails!…
After fuel strikes and a broken fuel line on the ALE's Ilyushin plane caused delays to Richard Parks’ 737 Challenge, Richard finally left Union Glacier Base Camp on Antarctica and arrived in Punta A