Before the trip

About 2 weeks before leaving for Aconcagua, my car was stolen. The theft was all the more serious for me because I happened to have my climbing pack in the trunk with every single piece of gear I was to bring to Argentina. I was going to do a practice climb that day and I wanted to carry my full gear. I had lost everything, I was leaving in two weeks and having spent so much for this trip already, I was very short on funds to re-equip myself. In a bit of a desperate move, I went to my regular climbing store in Montreal; KAYAKQUA, sat down with the owner and told him of my dilemma. After hearing my story, he got up, locked the doors (it was nearly closing time anyway), and we proceeded to walked trough the entire store over the next two hours replacing every piece of gear I had lost. He told me that we could work out the costs through a sponsorship program after my return. This gracious act helped me enormously and I am very thankful to Kayakqua. And as I write , I am pleased to announce that KAYAKQUA has agreed to become the official equipment sponsor for my 2001 Everest expedition.

The Approach