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Vinson Massif: Clouds…

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 17, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

The clouds and fog took over Vinson basecamp again today.  There was slight improvement by late afternoon, but not enough to get airplanes moving our way.  Our team hasn’t been particularly worked up or worried by the enforced downtime though.  Naps are popular, reading and mathematical puzzles pass the time.  We went for another glacier walk today.  Meals together never fail to entertain.  The forecast apparently calls for better weather tomorrow.  Fingers Crossed.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Not so much happening

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 16, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

The clouds around Vinson basecamp lifted some today, but didn’t go away.  In particular they were stuck over the Nimitz Glacier and the approaches for an airplane trying to get into the Branscomb.  There was some optimism this morning, what with blue sky over camp and Vinson’s summit visible again, but it never quite got good enough to tempt the Twin Otters in from Union.  Eventually they gave up on us and flew back to the South Pole to pick up more centenerary celebrants.  That being a long round trip, our next window of opportunity to fly from Vinson would be tomorrow afternoon.  We passed the day easily and quietly.  TA, Vlado, Mindy and I went for a glacier walk in the afternoon to stretch legs.  In the evening the ALE crew generously hosted a dinner for the three climbing teams.  The food was superb… And we were all just plain happy to sit in real chairs for a time.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Snow Sculpture Contest at VBC

Posted by: | December 16, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

Another day drifting in the Vinson Basecamp milk bottle, surrounded by whiteness.  Except it was fun.  The RMI team competed in a snow sculpture contest with the New Zealand team and the German Team today.  TA built a Canadian living room replica, complete with couch, fireplace, TV and maple leaf.  Then she joined Mindy and I in constructing a team of sled dogs pulling a sled and a towering and imposing Amundson, arriving at the Pole.  We’ll concede that he was so massive that his dog team appeared to be composed of puppies, rabbits and squirrels.  The German guide, Reigner, built an impressive titanic replica.  Vlado made snow angels inside his tent.  After dinner the ALE staff judged the artwork and found each and every climber to be deserving of a cold beverage.  Twenty of us, from 11 countries, sat in the basecamp headquarters tent for that beverage and a fine custard desert and received the good news that the ALE Twin Otters had just departed South Pole bound for Union Glacier.  If our weather shapes up by morning, things could start happening fast.  Or not.  We shall see.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Hanging Out at Basecamp

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 14, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

Not so much to report today besides a good brunch and a fine dinner.  Thick fog and cloud blanketed Vinson basecamp for much of the day.  This made things predictably cool outside the tents and it was difficult to walk anywhere without feeling a touch of vertigo in the all-encompassing white-out.  No news about the availability of aircraft either.  Obviously not an urgent matter with the clouds glued into the Branscomb Glacier.  Still, Vlado, TA, Mindy and I all enjoyed the day and will always remember where we were for the South Pole centennial.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Waiting for the Airplane

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 13, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

The fog and low cloud came and went periodically at Vinson basecamp today.  Most of the afternoon was sunny and pleasant and flyable… if one had an airplane.  Ours have gone South.  ALE has both Twin Otter ski planes down at the South Pole for the big celebration.  Today -Dec. 14, 2011 (it is after midnight) marks one hundred years since Amundson reached the South Pole.  A noble accomplishment, by any standard -and worth commemorating, but if given the choice I’d wager that Amundson would have tried to climb Vinson instead.  Much more fun to be had out here in the big hills.

My team didn’t fret a bit over the lack of aircraft.  We were quite happy to sleep in and then sit for a two hour breakfast -bacon and eggs with lots of coffee and cocoa.  Then there was time for siestas and snow-carving before a sumptuous dinner (same as last night -we liked it so much we did it again).

We’ll likely be here a couple more days, which isn’t a bad thing.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Team Descends to Base Camp

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 12, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

This morning at high camp it was still sunny, but there was a persistent breeze which was on its way to becoming wind.  Packing up was surprisingly difficult in this wind, we had to keep rewarming hands while breaking down tents, strapping on crampons, and threading climbing harnesses. We got out of there around 12:15 PM and made good time down to the fixed ropes.  As expected, there was less wind on the steep mountainside but our descent was difficult for all of the normal reasons.  Big packs, slippery snow and steep angles for long distances. 

Life got a whole lot easier once we reached low camp, but by then we could see wind whipped cloud caps on all the summits again.  It appeared as though we’d just used up all of the decent climbing weather and that we’d ducked down in the nick of time.  We did a big shuffle of gear at low camp to switch over to sled-hauling once again.  We then got going toward basecamp.  The last of our big views were enjoyed at the big 90 degree westward turn of the Branscomb, then we plunged into cold and dense fog.  We hit base camp at 6:30 PM and built another camp since it was obvious that airplanes wouldn’t come fetch us in the current conditions.  The first of what may be several victory dinners was held in our POSH tent.  Quesadillas and cheese burgers, cooked to perfection, made life in the cloud just a little bit warmer and more hospitable.

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Dave & Team Back at Camp After Summit

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 11, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,400'

Conditions today can only be described as having been perfect for a summit climb.  It is tough to recall that we ate breakfast and geared up in cloud at high camp.  But when we roped up and got going at 9:45, it only took us fifteen minutes to climb out of the cloud and into a world of bright snow, brighter sunshine and a big and brilliant blue sky.  In our ten and a half hour round trip to the top, we barely noticed anything that could actually be described as a breeze.  And so it is possible that the summit temps were the forecasted -38C but we sure didn’t notice or mind the cold with the sun’s super strong radiation at 16,067 ft above sea level.  There did seem to be plenty of cloud down low -we couldn’t see basecamp and a few hundred odd peaks were obscured.  But a few thousand others were not.  TA, Vlado, Mindy and myself all considered that we’d gotten extremely lucky… And so we made good use of the day in tagging Vinson’s summit.  We were back for a relatively early and relaxed dinner, and got to enjoy diving into the sleeping bags with plenty of good sun left on the tent walls.

Tomorrow we’ll head for basecamp on the Branscomb.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Summit!

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 11, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 16,067'

Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling in from the summit of Mount Vinson 16,067 feet above sea level. And I’m up here. It’s 5:25 in the evening. I’m with three wonderful climbers: T.A., Mindy and Vlado, and we picked a beautiful day to be up here. It’s calm, it’s sunny, it’s wonderful. This is my 29th time on top- likely a record of some sort and what an enjoyable day. What an enjoyable week’s its been. Here’s T.A.: Hey, this is T.A. calling from the summit of Mt. Vinson and the view is absolutely… absolutely awesome! Special hello to everyone in Newfoundland and another special hello to Rain and Zander up there in Edmonton. Take care everybody. [Mindy] The view is… I’ve never dreamed about it. Without Dave and the team I couldn’t dream I could make it. Dave you are a lasting reward. I made a good choice with RMI. Without the team I couldn’t have made it. Total team work. This is Vlado from Slovakia calling from the highest point in Antarctica. Beautiful time, we are having a great time. Alright, well that’s us from the top of the Vinson Massif, highest point in Antarctica. We have gotten very lucky. Very lucky and we appreciate all the help people have given us a long the way. Thanks a lot and we’ll keep you informed. I’ll send out a dispatch from our high camp tonight because we are going to get down nice and safe. We are all doing strong and well. It’s going to be a nice day, a day to remember.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

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Vinson Massif: Teams Rests at High Camp and Readies for Summit Bid

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 10, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,400'

A long and easy day at high camp, preparing for the summit.  There wasn’t a breath of wind, which we are hoping will be the situation tomorrow as well.  Still plenty of cloud about, although we seem to be near the top of it all.  I spoke on the radio with Vinson basecamp and they seem to be down in the soup.  Clouds shouldn’t present any great problem for us though, as long as the predictions hold true and the calm continues.  The forecast calls for -38 C tomorrow on top.  It was far more comfortable than that in our tents today though.  We napped, we drank water, we napped, we ate food, and we napped.  Tomorrow we climb.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

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Vinson Massif: Move to High Camp

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 09, 2011
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,400'

Half past one in the morning and the sun is blazing away at high camp on Mt. Vinson.  We made the move up today.  It was a murky day from the start, with lazy clouds and light snowfall keeping the views pretty limited as we cranked on up the steep fixed rope section.  We made the trip in about 6.5 hours, coming in to camp just after 9 PM.  By midnight we’d gotten a good hot dinner and the team was turning in while the clouds began to drop away.  We’ll likely take a rest day tomorrow and go for the top on December 11th if weather permits.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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