Xuxa and I fooling around testing out knot solidity.
After having a restful day yesterday (at least, physically, as we still absorbed a lot of information), today was more demanding. We left with our gear to the glacier that we had been self-arresting by the day before, but this time, roped up and attentive, we walked unto it.
It was a fairly short walk, the purpose being to find a suitable spot to practice getting ourselves and others out of crevasses. Maximo soon found it. Reading the colour and shape of the ice and snow, he found us a place large enough for practice and marked the perimeter that we could safely walk in. It was between two crevasses, one large enough in size to allow for practicing.
We un-roped, and learned the necessary steps to get the lead person out if they fall in, and how to get ourselves out as well. Three ropes were set up to do this, with another one for safety. This was in case somebody didn't react quickly enough and let us fall in too far (to stop the person from falling in, you have to throw yourself down on the snow with your ice pick to stop the fall; if you don't, you go in too). We're still learning, after all, and none of this comes automatically, we all have to stop and think. We took turns being the person to fall in (which, although we knew it was safe with the mechanism that Maximo and Nativo set up, is particularly impressive; one does not willingly look down into a crevasse and let oneself fall into it without some heart palpitations), being the person behind that person and doing what is necessary to get them out, and being the third person assisting the second.
Two groups rotated on these, then another rope was to get ourselves out alone, using an intricate combination of ropes to create a sort of ladder to climb out when using ice picks isn't possible (such as when you've lost it, or you are hanging in nothing, with no wall to climb up).
With Mauricio guiding me through the rescue part.
Brasilian Sergio being rescued.
We worked really hard. We now had the benefit of 3 guides, as Mauricio was also with us, so we got a lot of personal attention from him and Maximo, while Nativo was with us for the solo part.
He must have thought I was real dim-witted at one point, because, as tiredness started to take over, it seems my Portuguese got really bad, and when he told me to ¨puxar a corda¨(pull the rope, but puxar is pronounced pushar) I kept trying to push it instead of pulling it. Duh. I was never gonna get myself out of that crevasse due to a linguistic failure. He finally burst out laughing and somehow this set everything back in place and I finally understood. 
We spent the entire day at it, but it felt like only a couple of hours. We took no eating break. When I let myself fall into the crevasse, knowing I'd be hanging there for a good 15 minutes at least, I brought some food with me and ate while the circulation in my legs got caught off from the harness. I am definitely going to buy a comfortable, large harness for this kind of stuff. I left mine with Sophie because it won't fit over warm clothes, while hers is adjustable, but it is also not padded and I felt the difference.
The temperature was good. It was windy, especially high up, which created a great deal of temperature changes depending on whether the sun was covered or not. When it wasn't, I felt the heat blasting from the snow surface and trying to burn through my skin and eyes. I'd only brought my category 3 sunglasses, and they weren't enough; tomorrow, I wouldn't make that same mistake! But my category 4 glasses tinge everything yellow and I hate that. When the sun disappeared, we froze.
At the end of the day, sore, exhausted and terribly happy with our progress, we roped back up and trudged to the refugio. The guides let a roped team lead (ours, in this case, with Rodrigo leading the team) through the crevasses. Rodrigo spoke his decisions out loud, checking with Mauricio that his reasoning was safe.
I was soon settled in the refugio with another hot chocolate, but dinner beckoned, I was famished! That evening, everyone seemed to naturally proceed to the warmth of the refugio after eating, and we spent a good time talking and laughing. Tomorrow was another easy day, with review in the morning, then the afternoon off to get ready for our big day: the summit.
It was another perfect, starry night. I again sat on the rock outside, headlight off, to just stare into the sky and drink it in. The wind was just enough to be a reminder that this was a mountain, but if felt really soft against my face as I let the tiredness push me into the tent.
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