Well its nice to hear from someone on this website who has actualy summited a mountain! Despite all their talk, Trunl and Bhudda dont even have boots yet and Daisy and MoT fell short on Aconcagua.
Ouch! Yet another begrudger on the forum - what a surprise! Imagine not summiting a mountain - if it were easy, where would the challenge be, dude? I fell short on one other big mountain too - i should hang my head in shame... Actually, now i think of it, i think i turned around once on a 700m mountain near home too when a storm blew in - oh the ignominy! The peaks in the Alps, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland and the ones i used to acclimatise around Aconcagua don't really count though. I should only dwell on the big ones I guess. And my gosh don't they look BIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGG from the comfort of your armchair?
Also travel with people you know. Big groups clash too many personalities and force people to move outside their comfortable pace in order to keep up. Thats bad news for everyone.
This can happen in small groups too unfortunately - i guess we didn't know Miko as well as we thought in our group!
Hey MoT!
glad you are back in one piece as well. Damn your bad luck 
)
At least you did not have eggs this time..
Reading your story, I think you made a good call turning back; the mountain will be there much longer than your feet...
Amazing but oh so recocnizable to read about your sick teammate not wanting to descend. Because of the little technical ability needed many people do not see the real danger of this mountain. He is very lucky to be alive...
So maybe I can take you two Irish dudes/dudettes to the summit someday? 
Corsair! Have fun and be safe. Do not underestimate this 'easy' mountain. Even when acclimatized she can be nasty and cold... Return safe!
Yip, no eggs this time - was nice to reach the mountain this year for my first attempt! Set a new personal height record and organised a successful expedition nonetheless!
Maybe me & Daisy can take YOU to the summit someday?
The peak can certainly be cold! And the storms aint pretty (well actually they are from below). When I get my photos scanned I'll either post some here or write up some kind of diary.
WOW!
I am interested to know at what level of fitness and experience Daisy and MoT would consider themselves. What type of training regime did you guys adopt prior to climbing this mountain? I know that stamina training (marathons etc) and strength training (carrying weight up stairs) are important, but was wondering if you had any other tips from a fitness perspective.
Or were the difficulties that you encountered nothing whatsoever to do with fitness levels?
If you plan to return, what would you do differently?
Best training you can do is to get out in the mountains as often as possible - mine consisted mainly of hillwalking (although work got in the way more often than not) so cycling and running took a big part too. When in the hills, many people put ropes or weights in their bags. One nice trick is to carry bottles of water in a rucksack - 1 litre water = 1 kilo. If you find you have too much or are tired or need to beat a hasty retreat you can either 1) drink the water or 2) dump it without worrying about litter/damage to the environment!
Regarding experience levels - have climbed Kilimanjaro. I also stopped 80 vertical metres short on Elbrus due to a blizzard/danger etc. Have climbed PD+ level in the Alps. Winter climbing in Scotland and Iceland up to Grade 6 (seconding) and Grade 3-4 with some leading (though not a lot). (Actually got my name on a few first ascents in Iceland in November, climbing with Ivar Finnbogason) After that it's mainly hillwalking and scrambling in Ireland. Have rock climbed up to VS but haven't rockclimbed in several months.
Difficulties i encountered were nothing to do with fitness/ability as it happened. First summit attempt was thwarted by the Viento Blanca (a lenticular cloud with high winds) and by a teammate with altitude sickness who was putting us all in a difficult position by developing summit fever. Second was thwarted by being desperately in need of a crap while it was minus 20! Would've exploded if i hadn't gone so I got too cold. Third attempt - got frostnip on a foot due to moisture building up in my boot. I had no problems with the altitude and was feeling absolutely great on summit day (surprisingly).
As regards what I'd do differently - that will take a while to post! I'll put in a separate post of my thoughts on a lot of stuff i noticed on this climb... but at a later date once i've read back through my journal
