8:00 Sunrise in Frey, and I can't sleep. Sunburn on my shoulders and my general stench, combine with the whipping wind outside to bring me crawling out of the tent. Yesterday was good. I tested out the hand on a couple of pitches and we topped out on El Piramidal tower. Hand held up OK. Spent the rest of the day jugging pitches (ascending a fixed rope via mechanical means) and shooting Scott and Blake. Challenging lighting conditions, but hopefully salvageable. I should have made more time to prepare for the trip, but Japan and holidays back in NC made it difficult.

12:00 Today Blake and Scott will climb two of the tougher routes on Torre Principal (No Te Olvidarmos and Sinestro Total). Ambitious to say the least. I have opted spend the day shooting lifestyle shots - or in other words, hanging around the Refugio drinking matte, swimming in the lake, napping and stuffing my face. In no particular order.

17:00 Folks sit in a scattered circle around tables with route maps, while a guitar, harmonica and drum are passed around - occasionally accompanied by voices singing in French, Spanish, Portuguese, German or English. Every once in awhile a particularly interesting show will come on the "Frey TV" (the tower some hundred yards from camp) eliciting yells of encouragement (or cat calls) as a climber wrestles with a crux on one of the half dozen routes that spackle the tower's face.

22:00 I was thinking to myself just this morning that I wished I was more experienced with climbing in general, and the gear I'm using in particular. I've only just started shooting and climbing seriously a couple months ago. Well, tomorrow's the test. In the morning I will get up early to meet my new friend Julian, Lucia and their crew of Argentine climbers to try and nail a couple shots on the Aguja Frey...