Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team fly to Union Glacier, Continue to Vinson Base Camp
Wednesday, November 26, 2025 - 6:14 pm PT
We’re counting ourselves as being extremely fortunate. Not only did we fly from South America to Antarctica on the morning we were scheduled to…. We then flew from Union Glacier right out to Vinson Basecamp on this same lucky day. It doesn’t always work this way, but it is pretty sweet to avoid glitches and weather delays.
It was a somewhat typical adventure travel day in that there was a lot of hurry up and wait. But it wasn’t unpleasant waiting. It was about 12:30 PM before we clunked up the airplane stairs in our big mountaineering boots to leave Punta. There were about 80 of us in the entire plane, so Tim and I both helped ourselves to window seats. This paid off about three and a half hours into the flight when we were treated to unobstructed views of Vinson and the Ellsworth Mountains.
The landing of a big jet on a blue ice runway was thrilling, although it was also flawless. We were certainly dressed for extreme cold when we got out, but to be honest, the weather at Union Glacier wasn’t all that unpleasant. A little cool but not face freezing cool.
We had just a short tour of Union Glacier Camp before climbing aboard the ski equipped Twin Otter for the 45 minute flight to Vinson. It was another perfect landing at 7,000' on the Branscomb Glacier and then we were hugging old friends and meeting new ones. Although we are the first climbing teams of the season, the ALE guides have already been in for some time getting things set up. Tim and I met Jon Gupta, who we’ll be working with. Jon was just on Vinson summit two days ago and reported excellent conditions.
We won’t climb the mountain tomorrow. It will be the perfect day to acclimatize and get gear sorted for the climb.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
