South America 3 Peaks Expedition report and update

Dear Friends, Sponsors and Supporters,

I am writing to you from Haiti, where I have been back on mission with the Canadian Red Cross since the South America 3 peaks Expedition finished at the end of February. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for support in helping make the South America 3 Peaks Expedition a success, and to give you an update on the expedition outputs.

MOUNTAINEERING:
As you may know, over the course of 35 days on expedition in the Puna de Atacama and High Andes, we attempted to climb 7 mountains in 4 phases. We succeeded in placing at least one team member on the summit of 6 of these peaks, including 2 of the 3 highest peaks in South America. I’ve attached to this email our expedition report, which includes a number of photos and a short description of each phase. The report is also available to view and download online here:
http://issuu.com/rickymunday/docs/sa3p_expedition_report

We reached the summit of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America at 6,962m, at 1 pm on 29th January 2014. You can watch my summit satphone call here: http://www.ipadio.com/broadcasts/RickyMunday/2014/2/1/Aconcagua-summit-6962m

SCIENCE:
We collected rock samples at sites above 5,300m for researchers at Biosphere-2 at the University of Arizona. This sample collection was the result of a partnership with ‘Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation’, whose primary initiative is to facilitate partnerships between adventure athletes and the researchers who need them to collect data all around the world. Microorganisms are unique colonizers of Earth’s boundaries, such as mountain top surfaces, where they are primary actors in the biogeochemical cycles of nutrients. Together with climatic forces they contribute substantially to the overall function of the mountain landscape, with effects far reaching in the wider biosphere. The rock and microbe samples we collected will help researchers to gain unique insights into the functioning of high mountain ecosystems and will help inform long-term conservation strategies

COMMUNITY:
One in three of us will get cancer and it’s the toughest thing most of us will ever face. If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, or a loved one has, you’ll want a team of people in your corner supporting you every step of the way. Macmillan Cancer Support provides practical, medical and financial support and push for better cancer care. My twin uncles Patrick Michael McGowan both tragically died of cancer at a relatively young age. Their passing was devastating for the family and they are still missed deeply. Their final weeks and months were eased by the incredible support provided by hard-working, compassionate and dedicated Macmillan nurses. The family will always be grateful for that support. By completing the South America 3 Peaks expedition, we were also raising funds for Macmillan.

To date, we have raised over £2,250 for Macmillan and we are still collecting donations. I’d be grateful if you could share details of our JustGiving page with your social networks.
http://www.justgiving.com/south-america3peaks

EXPEDITIONS 1996 - 2012:
I’ve recently edited together my best photos from all my expeditions from 1996 – 2012, during which time I was lucky enough to travel through the Karakorum, the Scottish Highlands, the Tien Shan, the Rwenzoris, the volcanoes of East Africa, the New Guinea Highlands, the Alaska Range, the Canadian Rockies and the volcanoes of Mexico. This is part 1 of a two-part photographic journey and you can see it here: http://youtu.be/Jp7WVIbszHI

I am busy editing together Part 2, which will include further adventures in the Scottish Highlands, the Guyana Highlands, the Caucasus, the Algonquin highlands, the Haiti highlands, and the Andes.

INJURY UPDATE:
After 3.5 months of enforced rest as a result of the foot injury that I suffered during the early stages of the expedition, I have recently had an MRI and was given the all-clear to resume training.

MY FUTURE:
After 5 years working in humanitarian aid in Kenya, Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Haiti, I have recently accepted a position as Head of Corporate Services & Financial Strategy with the British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, UK. I will relocate to Cambridge at the end of this month. It’s an amazing career opportunity and while I am sad to be leaving the Red Cross Movement, I will remain a member of the Canadian Red Cross Advance Delegation Team and could deploy following any future mega-disasters. I am looking forward to supporting the UK’s world-class polar research, and I hope to have the opportunity to visit Antarctica in the not-too-distant future. While my focus over the coming months will mainly be on my transition back to the UK, by the end of 2014 I hope to finalise my expedition plans for 2015. I will keep you updated. It’s likely that I’ll return to North America to attempt Denali again.

I’d like to offer my sincere thanks for all of your support in helping make my expeditions a success and helping my dreams become a reality.

Kind regards,

Ricky.

This article was originally posted on 3-Jun-2014, 13:45 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 3-Jun-2014, 13:46.