All's Well That Ends Well!

After a couple of anxious days on our end, I received the following email from our Guide David Marchi. I'm going to publish it because it illustrates the inherent nuttiness of climbing in Indonesia

Hey Dad-
The last time you heard from me, I was waiting and gaining some benefits of
acclimatization at Base Camp before the big push to the summit. Actually that same
morning me and my fellow guide (who happens to be the most successful high altitude
guide in the world!) took the crew to the base of the climb and he and I went to do
some much needed replacement and repair of the fixed lines on the route. When we
started to climb we both felt great and ran up to the summit in a couple of hours,
and replace what rope we needed.

The next day we laid low as the rain pounded all day long. We were hoping that the who evaporation of the rain would take place the next day leaving us with considerably better weather for our summit attempt. When we made the 1:30 am wake up call we woke to a starry night which is very rare. As we climbed into the sunlight, everything looked great for a summit bid. Climbing up the fixed lines to the summit ridge the sun was out and actually was
forced to wear some sunscreen. From there we could see the majority of the mine and
quite possibly the ocean out in the distance.

My ladies made pretty good progress with the exceptions of the steeper climbing sections, and we made it to the summit in Fog at 11:00 am. Once cresting the summit the fog gave way to grappel which meant alot of electricity in the air. A metal plague which signified the first
ascent was buzzing with crackling electrical sounds. We snapped some quick photos
and headed down. Once we were off the summit ridge, I felt alot better, but that is
when it started to rain,.....and I mean rain.

We were practically down climbing in a waterfall and to top it all off, once we got completely soaked, the temperatures dropped, the clients slowed, the wind increased and it began to snow. Knowing that getting back to camp would take at least another 4 hours, I began to worry about the health of my clients and my ability to stay warm considering I didn't have much in
my kit. Anyway, with our bodies shivering we got back to camp by dark 6:00 pm. It
was the quickest time of the climb among all of Mountain Trip's attempts, which made
me feel pretty good.

The adventure was nearly over. When we all woke up in the morning, the sun was
shining and we got warm enough temperatures to dry out the majority of our gear,
except for boots. After trying to reach our trip organizer Franky a number of
times Guy and I decided to take our chances and move from Base Camp back to Zebra
Wall and expose ourself to security at the mine. However, when we reached this
decision, the clouds began to form and it started to sprinkle....Great!?

We ran down to Zebra Wall, which is where the helicopter dropped us off and
instantly I went with an Indonesian Guide to suss our the situation up over the
tailings pile. I got the rest of the group together and we decided it would be
better to tromp through the area as a rat pack instead of smaller groups as this
would better our chances of getting something done. We got to an impass in the mine
which was basically a slurry of mud and tailings which was knee deep and decided to
hold the group at a dry "island" where we could wait for security to investigate our
actions.

It wasn't long before a land cruiser came up asked us what we were doing and our
planes. We stretched the truth and said that were out of food, cold (which was
true) and had no other options of escaping without going through the mine (which was
completely true). Every security officer that we encountered was scared of losing
their job and didn't let us go the security office, to make some phone calls.
However, with the help of my boss, Todd, I was able to get ahold of the name the peron who was head of Security. When I threw around his name to these security officers their eyes opened a bit more, and continue to talk in their native tongue. Finally we got in contact with an executive officer, who gave head honcho's number and I was able to speak with him personally and asked for his permission for exiting the mine.

He was a bit pissed that he had gotten this phone call again but found it kind of humorous considering we were Americans and he was actually a mountain guide in Alaska at one time. I thanked him a number of times and reiterated to him that this should not reflect upon our company, Mountain Trip but on Manado Adventures, the company that we were running the trip through.

Anyway, after being cold and wet for a number of hours, we got into a car in the
dark and headed to the security office deep into the mine. From what I saw through
the fog covered windows, there were massive dump trucks and dinosaur like vehicles carting
away tailings and rock. These dump trucks were carrying 275 tons a load!

Once we got to security, our helper got us all some dinner and warm drinks and told
us to wait there to figure out an exit plan. We stayed there for over an hour, the
ladies slept and the guys got together talking about the necessary precautions of
climbing mountains like Vinson and Everest. After an hour, we were escorted by gun
toting army officials into vehicles and headed through the mine.

We stopped at a Doppelmyer tram that took us down into a city of crushers, apartments and thousand people working. Mind you, this was at midnight! I did what I could to document
the tram ride and then proceeded down a steep hill to the buses that would get us
out the mine. As we were walking down, a shift change was occurring, and hundreds
of workers were walking up this steep hill like zombies, I could imagine how
difficult their work was.

Anyway, we got into a bus and stopped off another army check post where we were held
up for another hour. There we watched CNN news and found out about the earthquake
and the floods in NH. After sleeping in this smoky room, we boarded a four wheel
drive school bus, which belongs in Silverton, and took a two hour ride down to a
town called Timika. Basically this place has all the amenities of an American City
with a fancy Sheraton where we stayed. Apparently, it is not possible to visit
this city unless you have some sort of connection at the mine, so we stood out like
sore thumbs with our grimy clothes and soaked backpacks.

The next morning we got together with our coordinator Franky, and the other group flew back to Manado. Rox, Robyn and I decided to stay another day which was a relief because all I did
was hang out by the pool and sipped margaritas while the ladies went shopping.
Anyway, yesterday I had another marathon day in which I took five flights "direct"
to Manado. I dropped off the ladies in Jayapura where they will continue to take a
trek into the Baliem Valley to see the native cultures and "stone age" communities.
I was ready to chill for a while and headed back to Manado.

Today I am just emailing and setting things up for a short trip to Bali. I am hoping to get my
diving certification and learn to surf in less than 7 days. I am actually ready to
be back home, as guiding in a foreign country can be very challenging. On a
mountain like Denali, you know what the objectives and hazards are, but when you are
traveling through many countries and not knowing the details, it is much more
exhausting.

Anyway, it looks like I will be back by the 20th, but let Mom know that I have a
ride back to Mt. Shasta with a friend from Telluride. I hope you enjoyed this
letter and don't work too hard.
Talk to you soon,
David