We woke to a perfect day at Union Glacier and proceeded to make the most of it. By 10:15 AM we were getting airborne in a Canadian Twin Otter. There were no clouds to be seen, just mountain after mountain and glacier after glacier. Thirty something minutes into our flight, the mountains got enormous, which meant we were headed in the right direction. A few minutes more and we were circling the Branscomb Glacier and checking out the snow strip runway. After a flawless touchdown, the team got out, said "wow" a lot and began hauling gear toward a likely set of tent sites. We built camp, sorted gear, sat for a great briefing with ALE's Basecamp manager and by 5 PM were ready to go for a walk. The teams that had come in yesterday were already moving up the mountain, but we were content to simply do a carry up to "half camp" and then return to base for the night. Vinson base is at 7,000 ft and so to get used to the altitude and the rhythms of glacier travel we carried food and equipment for a little more than two hours, cached it and walked another hour back downhill. We were in camp again by 9 PM which left plenty of strong sunshine hours for dinner and prepping for bed.
It sure took us a while to get to the mountain, but now we are all pretty excited to have arrived.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Les deseamos mucha suerte en su ascenso.
Juan, amor. Recuerda siempre que te amamos y estamos siempre contigo. Estamos muy orgullosos de ti y te extrañamos muchÃsimo.
Ve por la cima y vuelve pronto, que aquà te estamos esperando.
Besos
A whole lot of airplanes got flown around Union Glacier today, but not ours. At first, the day looked like another storm day with low cloud and poor contrast, but by mid-morning, things began to shape up. About fifty mountains appeared from the mists and the sun came out to stay. Word was that clouds were persisting at Vinson Base, however. So we got out our ropes and toys and began reviewing crevasse rescue strategies. Meanwhile the planes began flying other folks to and fro around Antarctica. Camp emptied out as the weather got more and more pleasant. We trained, we ate, we waited. It wasn't until after dinner that conditions at Vinson improved enough for a try with the ski-equipped Twin Otter. But that plane was designated for others and ours was to be a second lap by the same plane... if time allowed. But it didn't allow. By the time the plane finally went, it was known that the pilots would reach the end of their "duty day" before a second lap. Ours will have to be tomorrow after breakfast... fresh pilots, fresh weather, fresh hope.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
So close yet so far away :( The good news is Ohio State beat Michigan (barely) and they are advancing to the National Championship! Yesterday, the Browns lost (no surprise). It would be nice if an avalanche would descend upon Cleveland Browns stadium so hey’d be forced to move the team. In other news, the hot guy from ‘Fast and Furious’ died in a car accident (Paul Walker). I’ll keep you posted on more pop culture updates as your trip progresses. Oh, I had a glass of wine on Thanksgiving! It was glorious :) Stay safe! Dixie
We got a chance to enjoy an Antarctic storm today. It wasn't one for the record books, no epic, not particularly special. Just a fair amount of cloud, snow, blowing snow and persistent wind. In other words, it was a "no fly" day. It sounded like Vinson Basecamp was reporting similarly bad weather at their end. At first we thought we might be able to spend the day reviewing climbing techniques, but then the wind picked up and it became an indoors day. So we passed time in the mess tent, getting to know some of the people who will try to visit Emperor Penguin colonies and speaking to those who will try to either bike, ski or walk to the South Pole. It was a day for reading and writing and resting. Perhaps tomorrow we'll get to fly out to Mount Vinson.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Good things come to those who wait. At 20 minutes to midnight yesterday, with the Southern Cross shining down on Punta Arenas, we left the continent. We were shoehorned into the cavernous cargo compartment of the Ilyushin 76 airplane, along with about fifty other passengers, a pickup truck and a mountain of gear and supplies. The flight took about four and a half hours and was almost completely lacking in any noticeable turbulence. We passed time by reading, listening to music and simply snoozing.
With about thirty minutes to go, everybody began layering up, tying boots, and pulling on hats and face masks. With perhaps 15 minutes to go, the flight crew turned on a new feature, a big screen TV with the outside view from the nose of the plane. It was absolutely spectacular, like a clip from "Frozen Planet" or "Planet Earth". Surreal beauty, until we felt the wheels under our seats touching the ice surface in the picture. Then it became real as the engines roared to slow the plane.
After the perfect landing, we marched out into the middle of Antarctica. After some photo-ops and handshakes, we shuffled over to a warming hut and then into a modified van for a ride across the glacier on giant tires.
It wasn't to be as far as getting straight out to Vinson Basecamp. Weather there wasn't suitable for a Twin-Otter flight, so after an early morning welcome meal, we built our tents and crashed for a few hours. The weather slowly deteriorated during the day, with cloud building up and light snow falling. That didn't stop us from spending a few hours out in late afternoon to review rope techniques. We rounded out the first day with an excellent dinner and an evening spent chatting with various adventurers on exotic missions on ice.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from Antarctica. We made our flight through the night. We left Punta Arenas around 11:40 p.m. and flew down through the dark, until reaching the daylight of Antarctica. We landed at about 4:15 this morning at Union Glacier. Beautiful landing and we are in Union Glacier Camp. We haven't gone out to Vinson, it's probably not gonna happen today. But we are keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow. We've got our tents up and we are sleeping in to recover from the night of flying. But all is well, and we'll get you a regular dispatch when possible.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn calls in after landing on Union Glacier.
It is looking like we will have much to give thanks for today. The flight to Union Glacier is on! We are on the bus leaving town for the airport now, all bundled in Antarctic clothing. I hope to send the next update from the ice.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Thinking of you and your team out there! I was in SD and Flo was complaining about the cold and I said just think of Kara and stop whining! Then I came back to Denver and its been between 7-11 today and supposed to be -1 tonight so now I have to think about you and wish you a warm and snuggly night! Sounds like the weather cleared for you guys a bit. I will keep my fingers crossed for a great climb! xoxox miss ya! Can’t wait for Park City!
Another day closer to the one we fly on... But not noticeably. The weather in Punta Arenas -which is not the problem for flying to Antarctica- was just slightly ridiculous today. Rain and snow showers alternated with sun and wind bursts, over and over again. We still got in some great walks, going south to the wreck of The Lord Lonsdale... a great hulking steel square rigger, beached and evocative of bygone eras. We sampled coffee shops and dining spots. We waited patiently. Conditions at Union Glacier are not yet good... But they will be soon enough and we will go climbing.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
There was some reason for hope today for getting the Antarctic flights rolling. But in the end the better weather didn't quite materialize. We didn't waste much time fretting over the situation though. The team rallied after leisurely breakfast coffees (extending well into the afternoon) and set off on an urban hike. At least it began as an urban hike, through the streets of Punta Arenas, accumulating stray dogs as we went along, but after about an hour of hard walking we worked our way into the countryside. The wind was howling and the clouds were covering sun and sky, but we persevered. Ultimately we found ourselves in park-like surroundings, climbing the ski area overlooking town. At the top we were two thousand feet higher and about 7.5 miles from our lodging. We still had one stray dog and about fifty miles per hour of wind, to go along with an unexpectedly grand view of Punta and the whitecaps of the Straits of Magellan.
We were back down to the waterfront and the friendly tourist restaurants by early evening, celebrating another fine summit together.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello team!
I’m grateful for your blog, so I know what is going on with my friend Kara! I’m sorry the weather has not cooperated so you can kick off your expedition, but you have a great attitude about it since its beyond your control. Safety first! Maybe you can have a proper Thanksgiving meal after all! I’ll stay tuned to read about your adventures. Fingers crossed for a break in the weather!
Take care, Dixie
We ended our pre-climb road trip today, cruising back to Punta Arenas from Puerto Natales. Things haven't progressed a great deal on the logistical front. We were invited around to a social gathering at the offices of ALE, where we met and mingled with the other passengers on our hoped-for flight. In addition to the climbing teams, there were several groups intent on going overland to the South Pole by various means. We were hosted by the friendly staff and directors of Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions. One of the directors, Mike Sharp, gave a brief talk and slideshow as to the weather outlook and the chances for flying in the next few days. There are possibilities.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Bad flying weather continues in Antarctica, so we focused on a more accessible continent. The day clearly called for an 18 km round-trip hike up to Mirrador del Torres in Torres del Paine National Park. The "Mirrador" in question was the glacial lake held under the iconic granite towers. In our journey up from Puerto Natales, we saw condors and gauchos, glaciers and mountains, guanacos and turquoise windswept lakes.
We walked through lush forests and up through jumbles of massive white boulders to reach the lake and an unparalleled view of the massive rock cliffs. We gained and lost in excess of 2,500 feet in six hours of hiking... The perfect tune up for Vinson.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Hola equipo:
Les deseamos mucha suerte en su ascenso.
Juan, amor. Recuerda siempre que te amamos y estamos siempre contigo. Estamos muy orgullosos de ti y te extrañamos muchÃsimo.
Ve por la cima y vuelve pronto, que aquà te estamos esperando.
Besos
Tu familia
Posted by: Eva Glenn on 12/3/2013 at 6:46 pm
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