Our last day on the ice turned out to be all about flying. Flagging down an Ilyushin 76 is a big deal. This one set her wheels onto the ice runway around mid afternoon. By then we'd taken tents down and checked our bags at the first class counter (a table in the snow with a roll of stickers, some clipboards and friendly ALE staff who were not checking our ID's). Our Union Glacier hosts even gave us a deluxe final lunch in the dining tent. Once the plane landed, there wasn't any need for us to hurry. It takes a while to unload such a big and powerful jet transport. Eventually we caught a ride out to the ice runway in a comfy tricked out big wheeled van (with Utah plates) and then we were picking seats on the Ilyushin. The plane took off a little after 5 PM and the Russian crew cranked up the heat. 4 hours later we'd crossed the Drake Passage and were floating in over the Straits of Magellan. Punta Arenas lay waiting with flowers and Trees and grass in vibrant midsummer color. The sun set as the bus brought us in from the airport (we hadn't actually seen any sunsets while down on the ice). By 11 PM we'd checked into the hotel and showered and gotten together in the lobby for one last, pleasant, mandatory team function... The victory dinner!
Thanks for following the trip and for the friendly encouragement of the blog comments (which were relayed to us).
Best Regards and Happy New Year,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Brrrr. At least that was the theme of the first half of the day. Fortunately we had warm tents to rest in and after an acclimatization hike this afternoon, we are able to enjoy a little sun outdoors. Clouds have moved steadily over the Aconcagua summit today and it is our team's sincerest hope that they blow out and we are able to move higher tomorrow. Wish us luck, we are ready but prepared to be patient if conditions dictate.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Even the heavy packs of a full camp move could not dampen the team's spirits as we left Aconcagua Camp 1 for our new home at Camp 2 aka "Chopper Camp" aka "Guanocos 3." The team arrived in the grand style to which we have become accustomed, with plenty of gas in the tank and fashionably dressed. We are now starting to feel like all our hard work is paying off, only one more camp before our summit push. Tomorrow we'll have a rest day and then, weather permitting, initiate our launch sequence. Cross your fingers for a solid weather window for us amigos!
RMI Guide Jake Beren
We are back at Camp Uno after a spectacular carry to Camp 2. The weather was quite pleasant and the team chewed up the few thousand feet with a load to prepare ourselves to move higher tomorrow. Once at Camp 2, we enjoyed the new views as the northern side of Aconcagua came into view. You sure can see a long way from 18,000 feet on a clear day!
Wish us good luck on the weather front for the next few days, if these conditions persist we will be in great shape to keep moving higher.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Keep going #1. Thinking of you every day. Enjoy the views man.
Posted by: Jon on 12/30/2012 at 4:10 pm
Stay strong Josh. we love hearing all of the updates and are saying a few prayers that the weather continues to be favorable for the ascent to the summit
Posted by: Matt and Jazmin on 12/30/2012 at 5:34 am
This was a quiet and easy day at Union Glacier Camp. We slept well and ate well at low altitude. We sorted equipment, chatted with fellow climbers, wrote in our journals and every now and then stood outside the tents to see the mountains, the snowcats and airplanes and the Kansas-sized expanse of ice stretching to our Northeast.
Many spent the day browsing through the great Antarctic Exploration library in camp, learning of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen. For a change of pace in the evening, the climbing teams sat for a story session detailing the pioneering expeditions to Mount Everest.
Tomorrow we'll see if conditions allow for our "scheduled" exit flight.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
With the winds at an all time low and the sun shining strong, our rest day at Camp I is at full power. This morning while we waited for our camp side stream to return to liquid, the team collected their cache a few hundred feet below. The remaining morning and early afternoon was spent in maximum rest mode. In a few minutes we will embark on a short acclimating hike uphill to stir the oxygen tanks and activate the circulation pumps. Needless to say we are happy and enjoying the mountain air, or at least what is left at 16,400 feet. Tomorrow we plan to carry a load to Camp II and our team is primed to do so. Until mañana...
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Just like that, we went from a high cold camp on Vinson to a low, warm (relatively) camp on the Union Glacier. It was hard work, as usual, knocking down tents, getting packed up, and getting in some breakfast this morning, but we did it. We started walking down the mountain at 10:30 AM. The fixed rope descent was a workout with the big packs, but it all went smoothly, as did repacking for sled travel at Low Camp. A few beautiful hours of glacier trudging brought us to Basecamp. We packed, repacked and enjoyed the sunshine and big views of Mount Vinson as we waited for our airplane. The Twin Otter swooped onto the strip and we loaded up. Our flight back to Union was even a little more spectacular than usual as our pilots wanted to check on a few climbers in a seldom visited cluster of steep mountains just south of the Vinson and Craddock Massifs. We landed at Union just in time for a delicious sit-down (in chairs, that is) meal in the grand dining tent. It was fun to see all of the other climbing teams again and to catch up with the ALE staff. Quite a change for my small team after these past few days of solitude. We are living in the lap of luxury now and are perfectly positioned to catch our flight north on Dec 29th, should conditions allow it.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Buenos Tardes from Campo Uno! Today the team did a fantastic job moving from Aconcagua's Basecamp in style and we rolled into camp under perfect conditions. Our carry served us well, providing a good acclimatization base for our move today. Tomorrow we will enjoy a little light activity, but mostly rest and celebrate Leon's cumpleanos.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Today we enjoyed the first break in the wind we've seen up here and made a very productive carry to Camp 1. This not only put some much needed supplies higher on the mountain, but gave us a chance to taste our thinnest air so far and work on our high altitude techniques for later on. Tomorrow we will move up to Camp 1 if weather permits and be one step closer to higher exploration.
Tonight after our climbing was complete, we had a great (hopefully) last meal for a while here at BC. It really fueled us for a big day tomorrow, but not nearly as much as reading all the blog responses from everyone back home. Thanks.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
PS. Happy Birthday to il Padrino.
Good things come to those who wait. We waited until 7 AM to start the stoves this morning. There were puffy clouds about, but no wind in the neighborhood. It seemed like we should go climbing.
We left highcamp at 9:20 AM, loaded for bear... or more correctly, covered in goose feathers. The clouds came and went during our march up valley. When they came it was too cold, when they went it was too hot. But eventually, we got high enough that it was just plain cold anyway. But the wind never really developed and so we didn't feel the cold as intensely as we might have. True to the forecast we'd received, the day got cloudier, but we were still surprised to get some stunning views of the sharp peaks to our north. And when we reached the beautiful and fun summit ridge, we were treated to endless views to the South and East, so that we could see a hundred miles worth of the Ellsworth Mountains in that direction. The final ridge was magical today. There was new snow sparkling on all the rock and not a breath of wind, so it was quiet, calm and inviting as we pulled onto the top of Vinson at 5 minutes after 4 PM. We took a million pictures of each other, made a few important phone and radio connections and smiled a lot. We left the top at 4:45 and made good time down to high camp in a cool and gradually thickening cloud. We were home by 7:05 PM and happily eating dinner in our POSH tent not very long afterward.
The day worked out well and we hope for one more good hard climbing day tomorrow, descending to Basecamp.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave HahnAudio Transcription:
Hey this is Dave Hahn calling from the summit of Vinson Massif, the highest point in Antarctica! I am up here with the whole crew - five of us on top today. It is a beautiful Day. We are in the strong sunshine. It is a little after 4:00 in the afternoon for us, and everybody is taking pictures on top and enjoying this place. We have a big view of the Ellsworth Mountains. It is a really enjoyable day up here, Boxing Day – the day after Christmas. Nicole, Bart, Brian, Joe and Dave all send you their best wishes from 16,067’.
Bye for now!
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn calling from the Summit of Vinson Massif
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Happy NY guys !!! I am enjoying reading your accomplishments to this point. Be safe
Posted by: Dean Bowen on 1/1/2013 at 9:10 am
Happy New Year!!! Hope the weather holds and you all summit soon.
Posted by: Ron Davis on 12/31/2012 at 2:21 pm
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