Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Greetings from Punta Arenas,
Our second Vinson trip of the season is officially underway. Our small but adventurous group arrived yesterday in the beautiful port city of Punta Arenas. This small southern Chilean town sits right on the Straight of Magellan and is the jumping off point for our flight to Antarctica.
Today, we had our pre-trip briefing with our outfitter ALE to go over all the details about our flight and to review some of the protocols for visiting Antarctica. "Vast, large, and remote" is how Peter McDowell, one of the owners of ALE and the person giving today's orientation, described it. He then showed a slide with the US (the lower 48) overlaid on top of Antarctica. Even with the US, there was still a whole lot of land mass showing.
After the team meeting we began to unpack and then re-pack everything for the flight to Union Glacier. With the final equipment check complete, the bags were weighed and transported to the airport to be loaded on the plane. It is now a waiting game. The forecast is showing an improving trend and with any luck, the team will be able to fly out tomorrow as planned and meet RMI Guide Dave Hahn who is waiting for them at Union Glacier.
Today is beautiful here and we are now off to do a little exploring and then on to dinner. We'll check in tomorrow to let you know about the flight status.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Hola from Ecuador. We started our day with another bountiful and colorful breakfast this morning. The main dishes varied from yesterday's breakfast. Eggs, sausages, and mini breakfast burritos were the main attractions. Rounding out our breakfast of yogurt, papaya, mini pastries and once again fine Ecuadorian coffee. After breakfast we loaded the taxis and shuttled over to the teleferico ( or the gondola ). Which was a short 10 minute drive from our hotel through the bustling streets of Quito.
The hearty breakfast was put to good use today as we had our first day of beginning our acclimatization with some physical activity. We rode the teleferico to about 13,500 ft. We then began our 3.5 hour hike up Rucu Pichincha. The weather and temperature for our hike could not have been more pleasant. We had some clouds in the area which helped to keep the temperature moderate. We all agreed that it felt splendid to stretch our legs and most importantly work our lungs, breathing hard as we hiked to nearly 15,500 ft. Conversation throughout the hike was animated, as we hiked through varied terrain of lush vegetation and some fun rocky terrain. The view of Quito throughout the day gave us an appreciation of how big this city of 2.2 million people is.
We returned to our hotel in the afternoon for a few hours of free time to relax, explore local culture and prepare for our departure from Quito tomorrow morning. Dinner tonight was filled with laughs and great conversation. We are all back at the hotel this evening preparing for a good nights rest feeling satisfied with the day, looking forward to tomorrows adventures.
RMI Guide Jason Thompson
Hello Everyone and welcome to RMI's Ecuador Expedition 2011.
The entire team safely arrived last night and headed straight to our nice hotel, Hotel Mercure Alameda, to get a little rest after the long flights. We started today with a huge Ecuadorian buffet breakfast full of delicious breads, pastries, fruit, juices and washed it all down with plenty of coffee. After filling our stomachs we sat down for a round of meet and greet that included an orientation and overview of the program ahead.
Just after 10 a.m. we headed out the door on our city tour of Quito, starting off with a visit to the colonial old town. We were lead by our local guide Jorge though the narrow roads with stops at the Basilica, church of La Campania (built in 1605), the monastery of San Francisco (built in 1535) and a visit to Independence Square to see the President's Place. Next up was a quick stop atop the Panacilla which is a small hill overlooking Quito with a 200' statue of the Virgin of Quito. The views where wonderful of this 2 million-plus city. We finished the tour by heading a little to the north to stop and visit both hemispheres at the Equator from where Ecuador gets its name. It was fascinating to see the Coriolis effect in both hemispheres with different results in just a few feet. It made believers out of most, but I hear there are still a few skeptics among us.
We headed back to our hotel for a quick gear review and a little shopping before dinner and have now returned to catch a little shut eye before tomorrow's adventure.
All is well and everyone is excited to be here.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
It took all night, but finally the victorious Vinsonites evacuated the continent. At two in the morning we all clambered into a giant open sledge being dragged by a Tucker snow machine. Thus began a surreal hay ride across the endless Union Glacier to the blue ice runway in some of the coldest and windiest conditions of our entire trip. We got to watch the massive Illyusion 76 scream in for a landing, but it was then still a few hours wait to get the big aircraft unloaded. Luckily ALE had a convenient (and spartan) warming hut staged close to the aircraft. I said my congratulations and goodbyes to the gang and watched them jet off the ice at 5:30 AM. In particular, I made sure that Seth Waterfall and Billy Nugent knew the extent of my gratitude for their help and friendship these past weeks. Of course I was a little sorry to miss out on what I'm certain will be a fun victory dinner in South America, but my season on the Ice isn't finished just yet. I'll pass a few days now at Union Glacier waiting for the next RMI Vinson climb (space on the Illyushin is limited and pricey so the best plan is for me to stay put). ALE is hosting a marathon for about 30 runners tomorrow and I have volunteered to assist in conducting the event... It should be interesting.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Posted by: Dave Hahn
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
This is Dave Hahn calling from Union Glacier, we got in this morning about 4 AM. Twin Otter brought us from Vinson Base Camp and we waited a good part of the today with the hope of flying back to South America with the team. But the Illuyshin flight didn't come about for today and now we're putting our hopes on tomorrow. The weather is gone down a little bit here but waiting is pretty easy here at Union. It's considerably more comfortable, easier living than back out at Vinson, but everybody is doing well, and hoping to be moving around soon, bye.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn and team at Union Glacier awaiting weather and flight back to South America.
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Posted by: website promotion on 1/24/2012 at 12:38 pm
The stretch of fine weather held just long enough for us to pack up high camp and drop on down the fixed ropes. By mid-day as we neared low camp, we could see cloud caps forming on the mountain tops. We repacked for sled-hauling and set out for basecamp. Travel conditions were smooth and easy and our biggest concern became preventing sunburn. We made it into base at 5:30 PM and joined several other teams hoping to fly to Union Glacier. The ski-equipped twin otters have apparently been quite busy these last few days, but their intention was to make several trips to Vinson tonight. The first flight made it in about 45 minutes ago and it is now 11:40 PM We would be on the third flight if they choose to go on through the night. So perhaps around 4 AM we'll get a shot... But in the meantime, our tents are up and it is time for a nap.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello, this is hrishi from Hong Kong. Hearty Congratulations to you all for the successful expedition!
Posted by: Hrishikesh Kulkarni on 11/27/2011 at 9:34 pm
Hi Everybody,
This is Billy checking in for Dave and Seth and the rest of the crew.
We are back at our high camp safe and sound after a spectacular summit day.
We stood on top of Vinson Massif this afternoon and everyone is back in camp getting some rest after a nice big dinner.
We will give you a call and check in after we head out to base camp tomorrow.
Caio,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Seth Waterfall, Billy Nugent
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Elevation: 16,067'
_Vinson_(Zoom)_1.png)
Hey, this is Dave Hahn, and I'm on the summit of Vinson with a wonderful team. I'm with Billy Nugent, Seth Waterfall, and eight very strong climbers. We had a wonderful day. We got up on top at 4:45 in the afternoon. We headed out of camp this morning at 9:30, it all went really well and we lucked out on the weather. We've got blue sky and sunshine. On the top right now with gloves off and it's just a beautiful day. We're all feeling extremely lucky. We will give a call again from our high camp, when we get back there. I don't expect to have too many troubles getting back there as everybody's climbing really well. Everybody seems quite happy here on the highest point in Antarctica, 16,067 feet. There we are. Very good.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn from the Vinson Summit
Congratulations Everyone! Sounds awesome!
Posted by: cheryl on 11/27/2011 at 12:02 pm
Great job Billy and team. We’re so proud of your accomplishments.
Posted by: Jan Minorini on 11/27/2011 at 8:09 am
Another excellent day on ice. We enjoyed an absolutely calm and beautiful day today as we broke camp down low and moved up high. We got moving by 2:15 PM (as usual it was bitterly cold before the sun came around at 11:30 AM) and moved well and efficiently up the steep fixed ropes. Our training from the carry two days ago and our rest from yesterday seemed to be paying dividends as it took just six hours to reach high camp. The tents were pitched and dinner got cooked. Naturally we talked over our plans and hopes for tomorrow. It could be our shot at the top, but of course everybody must have a good night first, and we need continued luck with the weather.
Best regards from 13,000 ft,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
everest top of the world guides
Posted by: ali abrahim on 12/1/2011 at 8:37 am
We rolled out of the tents at 11:30 AM to find another perfect day. Calm, sunny and clear, just the way we like things. This was our well-earned rest day and we took full advantage. A leisurely breakfast primed the team for a mid-day nap, which was followed by the mid-afternoon nap and the early evening nap. The goal of it all was to prepare for a few tough days to come up high on the mountain. Everybody did their best to catch up on hydration and calories. Billy Nugent and Seth Waterfall rested by spinning on down to basecamp and returning with fuel and other supplies in a tight five hour round trip. Thanksgiving dinner was held under our festive blue and white POSH tent. Chicken and noodles with all the trimmings. We'll be even more thankful if this fine weather continues.
Best regards to all back at home.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team
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Charles,
Have a great time. I’m posting the blog!
Debbie Growe
Posted by: Debbie Growe on 12/5/2011 at 10:10 am
Spencer, looks like a great group of people. Have fun, be careful and make sure you don’t get too “hangry”.
Ti Amo.
Karen
Posted by: Karen Geiger on 12/2/2011 at 7:59 am
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