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Posts for Vinson Massif from 12/2012

Vinson Massif: Team Refreshes on the Basics and Caches Supplies Uphill

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 18, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

Clouds and murk rule the Ellsworth Mountains for the moment.  But even so, the weather isn’t all that bad down here on the Branscomb Glacier.  We did a normal mid-morning wake-up at Vinson Base (earlier than that one risks discomfort from cold shadows and down glacier breezes).  A leisurely breakfast was followed by a brief review of the basic mountaineering techniques we’ll employ for travel on the lower mountain.  In mid-afternoon we set out to carry loads up the long gentle hills between base and the big ninety degree turn of the glacier at the foot of Vinson’s massive Western escarpment.  This carry wasn’t performed so much out of a great need to get supplies up the hill, but more out of a desire to test systems and our legs and lungs.  All good.  We cached the load at around 8,700 ft and walked easily back to our 7,000 ft Basecamp.  We even got a few grand views of the endless ice to the west.  These had to suffice for scenery since the clouds closed in while we were eating dinner and put us in a world of gauze and grey.  The sun will come out tomorrow.  Possibly. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif:  Team #2 Arrives in Antarctica

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 17, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

Union Glacier camp was a busy place this morning.  There were snowcat sledge trains and big-wheeled vans and tracked vehicles and snow machines of every sort and size zipping from A to B, plowing things flat, and simply hauling freight and people.  Fuel drums were being fed to the Twin Otters and names were being written on luggage tags.  The ALE staff were in overdrive and sixty outbound climbers and Antarctic enthusiasts were pleased, mellow and smiling.  It was “Ilyushin Day”.... Out with the old and in with the new on a grand scale. 
My successful climbing team packed their bags and knocked their tents down in about five minutes… Ready to go home but also a little sad to be leaving this cold paradise.  Around 1:30 PM, the big four engine Russian jet touched down with a great roar of reversed thrust out on the ice runway.  My old gang got in one big offroad van with Seth Waterfall and headed for the plane and Punta.  I’d shaken their hands and advised them to have a heck of a victory feast in town.  They’d earned it.  I stood for a while watching all the action and before long another big offroad van pulled up with my new climbing team. 
Nicole, Brian, Joe and Bart were snapping pictures in all directions and smiling broadly.  We got acquainted and oriented, waited a bit and then hurried up for a flight to Mount Vinson.  By then it was dinner time and the Union folk felt bad about kicking us out of camp without a big feed, but clouds were closing in and we needed to get to the mountain.  Mission accomplished (with a big pan full of hot pigs-in-a-blanket for inflight food) despite the encroaching storm, there were still a few thousand peaks to be seen out the windows of our ski plane.  We landed at Vinson Basecamp around 8 PM and built our tents in our new home.  My climbers haven’t yet seen their mountain as it is cloaked in mist and light falling snow, but they will see plenty of the big hill, soon enough. 
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Team Winds Down at Union Glacier Basecamp

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | December 16, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

An easy and slightly surreal day for the team, after so much walking and dealing with discomfort… to be thoroughly inactive, waited upon and flat out comfortable in the luxurious dining tent at Union Glacier. 

The team wasn’t visibly anxious to be missing out on exercise, nor did anyone seem worried over whether the Ilyushin airplane would fly on time.  We sat, we ate, we concurred.  Life is good.  There was a persistent and slight breeze blowing all day long at the Union Glacier camp, but the air temperature is so warm (compared to anywhere on Vinson) that we routinely walked from tent to tent without gloves or jackets, crunching along on well-packed snow. 

If all goes well, the plane will fly from Punta Arenas tomorrow and the RMI Vinson team will head back to South America and a victory feast with Seth Waterfall.  I’ll stay in to greet the next RMI Vinson team and get started on a new adventure.  Many thanks to those who have followed our trip for the past two weeks.  Your comments were passed on to us (we don’t surf the web, but we exchange email with RMI headquarters) and produced many smiles on twelve sunburned faces.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Team Ready, Bags Loaded, Hoping for Flight Tomorrow

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 16, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif

Hi RMI,

We gathered with about 30 other climbers this morning for our pre-trip briefing with ALE. Mike Sharp, one of the owners, gave a very detailed presentation about what is going to happen over the next few days. As you might imagine, logistics for getting to the “bottom of the world” are complex. Even though we have already traveled thousands of miles to get to Punta Arenas, we have about 2,000 more miles to fly and two different airplane types to go before we get to Vinson Basecamp. Covering everything from flight plans to arial maps of Union Glacier and the climbing route to ways for dealing with the extreme cold, it is critical information to know before we fly out of here and land in the middle of Antarctica.

After the meeting, we weighed our bags and sent them off to the airplane so they can be loaded and ready for our flight.

Weather permitting, we are planning for an early flight tomorrow, with the airport transfer scheduled for 7:00 am. Next dispatch will hopefully be from Union Glacier.

All the best,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin

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Vinson Massif:  A Quick Descent

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | December 15, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

There was a wind blowing in the night at high camp.  It was just a few miles per hour, but it was steady and we’d been exceedingly lucky in not having any wind for four days up high, so it was a worry.  But a needless worry, since by morning it was gone.  We ate, we packed and by ten in the morning we were walking downhill with great big packs.  Everybody was thinking about getting those big packs down the steep fixed ropes… the last real obstacle to our safety, but we caught those ropes and slopes in perfect condition.  They were still in shadow and the tracks of teams that had descended several days earlier were still in perfect condition and useful as stairs.  We made it to our old digs at low camp in just a few hours, packed and repacked there and then plodded down the Branscomb Glacier toward Basecamp.  Cresting the final hill, we saw two Twin Otter airplanes sitting patiently and waiting to take us away.  This was a pleasant surprise as we hadn’t really discussed an exit strategy yet with ALE, our logistics company.  At Basecamp by four in the afternoon, we shuffled duffels and boarded the planes.  Some of us were treated to a magnificent scenic flight as the pilot performed a mountain reconnaissance for future climbs on our way back to Union Glacier.  The Twin spiraled around one Matterhorn after another and dove through tight v-shaped passes.  A smooth landing at Union got us in just in time for dinner.  A wonderful dinner, whilst sitting in chairs, with backs.  True luxury.  We caught up with fellow climbers from the mountain (who we hadn’t seen for days) and with the wonderful staff at ALE.  Life is considerably warmer and easier at Union Glacier, and the team is excited about being a step closer to home, but we’re all still buzzing over the mountain that we lived on for the last nine days.  And climbed.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson:  Team #2 Readies in Punta Arenas, Chile

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 15, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif

Our second Vinson trip of the season has officially started. After some fairly long flights and a few delays, we all arrived in Punta Arenas yesterday. Fortunately all our gear has also arrived.
With all the excitement of a new adventure starting and the fact that it does not get dark here until almost 11:00 pm, it was well after midnight before we decided to call it a day.
Since there was not a whole lot on the agenda today, we took full advantage of this by sleeping in and having a late breakfast.
We finished up the last of our equipment needs by checking out a few of the local gear shops and a stop at the grocery store to buy some additional snack food. At the same time we able to explore a little bit of this neat little town.
With our bags more or less packed up, we headed out for a nice dinner at La Marmita. The food is incredible here and it is no wonder why it sits at the top of the restaurant list for Punta Arenas.
Tomorrow we will have our briefing with ALE (Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions), to go over the details of our flight to Vinson and the rules of climbing in such a remote and pristine environment.
Will check-in tomorrow.
All the best,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin

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Vinson Massif:  100% of Team Reaches Summit!

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | December 14, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 16,067'

Back to perfect weather.  We made the summit of Mt. Vinson one more time today.  Just a small rope team to get the final climber -who rested yesterday- up to see the sights.  And there were unlimited sights to be seen.  The entire Ellsworth chain was visible from end to end and beyond, at least two hundred miles of jagged peaks and endless ice.  There wasn’t any wind at all on the summit today, so it was the most comfortable -30 C one is ever likely to see.  We made the top in 6 hours and 45 minutes, spent a half hour up there saying “wow” over and over, and descended to high camp in two hours.  Seth Waterfall and the rest of the team took things easy at high camp throughout a nice long sunny day, snacking and catching up on hydration.  Tomorrow we’ll all drop back down the mountain and begin the journey home.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Hahn, Waterfall & Team Summit!

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | December 13, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 16,067'

If at first you don’t succeed…  The forecast really wasn’t all that good for today, but when Seth Waterfall and I looked out of the tent at 7:30 AM, we couldn’t find too much wrong with the day.  We started stoves, woke the team and geared up once again for a summit bid.  We got out of camp at around 10 AM and made steady progress in bright sunshine.  Eventually the sky clouded up (as we’d been told it might) but we kept a careful watch out for wind on the heights… and didn’t see any.  The team moved well, with many commenting that they actually felt stronger today than they had in yesterday’s bid.  We reached the old high point and then seemed to be getting above the clouds as we worked our way onto Vinson’s summit ridge.  We all thought it was going to be cold and windy on the final ridge but instead it was delightfully calm, sunny and even warm (it certainly didn’t feel like the forecasted -28 C…although it might have with any wind whatsoever).  The team loved the big blocky rocks and delicate traverses of the summit ridge.  We got on top at 5:00 PM and stayed there for thirty minutes, shooting pictures and shaking hands.  The clouds took a way a good chunk of the view possibilities, but we had glimpses enough through the mist to know we were way up in the air over Antarctica.  The descent took a mere 2.5 hours and we were back in camp by 8:00 PM.  Tired and happy.  Our plan is for the majority of the team to rest at high camp tomorrow while I make one more try at the top with a climber who sat out today’s bid. 
Weather permitting. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

[Transcribed audio]  Hey this is Seth checking from the summit of Vinson Massif, highest point in Antarctica. Had a great day of climbing. Started out in sun, ended up in the clouds, but we were on top in almost zero wind and light snow flurries.  We are up pretty high.  We are going to take a couple of photos and head on back to high camp and we’ll check in then.

RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

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Vinson Massif: Team Almost Summits But There’s Still Time

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | December 12, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,400'

Hard day of mountain climbing.  We got up at five minutes to six this morning, excited that the sun was shining and the wind wasn’t blowing.  As we ate breakfast, we could see cloud moving in from the Northeast, but our hope was that we could climb before anything serious moved in.  We set out from high camp at 8:15 and made good and steady progress.  It was a tough day to dress for as everyone continually cycled from too hot to too cold and rarely spent any time being just right.  We watched cloud caps forming and dissipating on the peaks as we gained altitude, but eventually the clouds just kept building on Vinson.  We’d reached 15,340’  with 700’ to go… roughly two more hours to the top.  But we couldn’t do it.  The winds had picked up and snow was flying and people were tired, so it was a lousy combination for tackling the exposed summit ridge in cold conditions.  Down we went and into a cold headwind.  As expected, life was a lot easier when we got out from under the cloud cap, and by the time we’d reached high camp we were back in blue skies and sunshine.  Hard to come so close and come away without the summit… But we’ll keep trying.  We have more food, more fuel, more muscles and more ambition.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Team Reaches High Camp

Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall | December 11, 2012
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,400'

The clouds fled Low Camp around 1:30 this morning and we woke to sparkling skies about ten hours later.  Moving day!  Breakfast got us set for a flurry of gearing up, knocking tents down, and roping up for the big climb to high camp.  We are old hands at climbing the steep fixed rope sections now, but most were startled at the scenery (which eluded us on our cloudy climb the other day).  We had unimpaired views of hundreds of square miles of the Antarctic interior today, including the big jagged, crazy peaks just north of Vinson (Shinn and Epperly).  As we worked our way higher, our “Low” Camp began to seem low indeed, reduced to a collection of specks on the big Branscomb Glacier.  We pulled into high camp six hours after setting out, at a quarter to Eight PM.  As usual, it was a fair amount of work getting tents up and stoves burning and snow melting for dinner, but the entire team is well practiced now at such chores and it went quickly.  One by one our climbers wandered over to the edge of camp to peer out over the edge of the world.  At least the big drop-off back down to the Branscomb seems that way now.  Precipitous to the tune of more than three thousand vertical feet.  A physical cliff, as it were.  Tell congress we’ve found it.
Tomorrow, relatively bright and early, we’ll get up and see if the weather will work for a summit day.  It is forecast to be -28 degrees Celsius on top tomorrow.  Which is normal.  By the way, that converts to minus brrrrrrrr degrees Fahrenheit.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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