Entries By Dave Hahn
Hard day of mountain climbing. We got up at five minutes to six this morning, excited that the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing. As we ate breakfast, we could see cloud moving in from the Northeast, but our hope was that we could climb before anything serious moved in. We set out from
high camp at 8:15 and made good and steady progress. It was a tough day to dress for as everyone continually cycled from too hot to too cold and rarely spent any time being just right. We watched cloud caps forming and dissipating on the peaks as we gained altitude, but eventually the clouds just kept building on
Vinson. We'd reached 15,340' with 700' to go... roughly two more hours to the top. But we couldn't do it. The winds had picked up and snow was flying and people were tired, so it was a lousy combination for tackling the exposed summit ridge in cold conditions. Down we went and into a cold headwind. As expected, life was a lot easier when we got out from under the cloud cap, and by the time we'd reached high camp we were back in blue skies and sunshine. Hard to come so close and come away without the summit... But we'll keep trying. We have more food, more fuel, more muscles and more ambition.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
The clouds fled Low Camp around 1:30 this morning and we woke to sparkling skies about ten hours later.
Moving day! Breakfast got us set for a flurry of gearing up, knocking tents down, and roping up for the big climb to high camp. We are old hands at climbing the steep fixed rope sections now, but most were startled at the scenery (which eluded us on our cloudy climb the other day). We had unimpaired views of hundreds of square miles of the Antarctic interior today, including the big jagged, crazy peaks just north of Vinson (Shinn and Epperly). As we worked our way higher, our "Low" Camp began to seem low indeed, reduced to a collection of specks on the big Branscomb Glacier. We pulled into high camp six hours after setting out, at a quarter to Eight PM. As usual, it was a fair amount of work getting tents up and stoves burning and snow melting for dinner, but the entire team is well practiced now at such chores and it went quickly. One by one our climbers wandered over to the edge of camp to peer out over the edge of the world. At least the big drop-off back down to the Branscomb seems that way now. Precipitous to the tune of more than three thousand vertical feet. A physical cliff, as it were. Tell congress we've found it.
Tomorrow, relatively bright and early, we'll get up and see if the weather will work for a summit day. It is forecast to be -28 degrees Celsius on top tomorrow. Which is normal. By the way, that converts to minus brrrrrrrr degrees Fahrenheit.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
A break in the action. As planned, this became our rest and recharge day at Low Camp on
Mount Vinson. The mountain itself seemed in a mood as no views whatsoever were granted all day long. Clouds sat just above us and blocked out the sun. Sitting in tents wasn't so uncomfortable, but hanging around outside wasn't terribly rewarding. So we ate a big breakfast and told each other a bunch of stories in the dining tent at midday and then did much the same thing in the evening. In between we napped, read, listened to music, snacked and drank water. The day was meant to prepare us for our move to
high camp and assault on the summit. We wanted to let our bodies catch up to the altitude and give tired backs and feet a break. The team is healthy and in good spirits all around. Our forecasts (transmitted via radio from Vinson Basecamp) don't call for major changes in the next few days and we see that as a good thing since high camp and the summit were above the clouds and not too windy today.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Morning at Low Camp is a tough, tough thing. The sun doesn't hit camp until about 11:15 AM and until then, things are mighty cold in the shadow of
Vinson. It isn't dark at night, since the sun doesn't go below the horizon, but when it goes behind the mountain we burrow pretty deeply into our down sleeping bags.
We rolled out this morning to find a lot more cloud than we expected. But there didn't seem to be any wind blowing on the high peaks and so we geared up to do our carry to
high camp. We set out bright and early at 1:45 PM. It started snowing lightly as we approached the fixed ropes, but it wasn't particularly cold. The rope sections were a workout, for sure. We climbed continuously steep snow slopes that averaged about 35 degrees for hour after hour. Leaving the ropes we still had a final hour and a half of glacier climbing to reach high camp. All in all it took us about 6 and a half hours to get there. Views weren't unlimited since the cloud and intermittent snows stayed with us, but we got glimpses of the giant mountains around us. We cached supplies at high camp (12,300 ft) and then skedaddled on down reaching our tents and some good strong sunshine at 10:30 PM. Dinner and hot drinks finished the day. A fine and hard day of climbing, we all agreed. Now we look forward to a rest day at low camp.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Moving up the mountain, bit by bit. We seemed to make pretty quick work of the move from
Vinson Base to Camp One today. It didn't hurt that we had another day of perfect, sunny and calm weather. The team seems to be getting into the swing of things now and the climbing seems easy and familiar... marching along low angled glacier carrying heavy packs and hauling sleds full of gear and supplies. But now, having established camp at 9,300 ft on the
Branscomb Glacier, the approach is over and tomorrow the climb begins. If all goes well we'll tackle the steep fixed rope section and try to make a carry to high camp.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hello from
Vinson Base camp where the winds are calm and the midnight sun is in full force. Today was our first full day of climbing! We carried food and fuel mostly and cached it at camp one.
The sun doesn't really go down here but when it goes behind the mountain it gets very cold. Due to that we have had to alter our days slightly to take advantage of the warmer times. It's a little bit of an adjustment but it seems to have suited the group just fine. Everyone did an awesome job today and if all goes well we'll be moving our camp up the mountain tomorrow.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
On The Map
Another important milestone, easily achieved. We woke at Union Glacier in perfect weather, ate our breakfast and boarded two ski equipped Twin Otter airplanes bound for
Vinson Basecamp. Our flight through the Ellsworth Mountains was memorable as we passed hundreds of sharp and dramatic glaciated peaks. A big right turn brought us into the valley of the Branscomb Glacier at the foot of Mount Vinson. We landed while flying up a hill at a little over 7000 ft elevation. The entire team set to work dragging duffels and building Basecamp. We spent this perfect weather day reviewing roped climbing techniques and getting settled in. An afternoon hike served to stretch legs and jog memories of mountaineering difficulties and pleasures. We ate dinner in our newly built dining tent under the blazing evening sun, forgetting that the air temperature was likely hovering around zero degrees Fahrenheit. We enjoyed seeing the climbers from the previous round on Vinson come into camp pleased with their summit of the mountain just yesterday and relieved to find airplanes waiting to take them away today.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Greetings from
Antarctica. Today went about ten times smoother and easier than any previous attempt at getting onto the "last" continent. Our logistics company (ALE) gave a call at the civilized hour of 6:30 AM and advised us to put on our boots and check out of our rooms. We ate breakfast, got on a bus, cruised to the airport, breezed through security and boarded our transport plane. The Ilyushin 76 went "wheels up" at 9:30 AM and we were on our way. Just ahead of the 2:15 PM landing we got busy putting on warm clothes and glacier glasses. The Russian crew brought the big plane in for the smoothest landing on an ice runway that the world has ever known. A few minutes later we were standing out on the Union Glacier in brilliant sunshine and a brisk breeze, marveling at the new world and at the amazing machine we'd just flown in.
We were chauffeured back to camp in deluxe 4 wheel drive vans with giant tires. A series of informative and essential briefings and feedings were attended over the following few hours. The ALE staff took excellent care of us and
Seth Waterfall and I felt we were attending a great reunion as we met all of the friends we've come to expect to see in the odd corners of the globe. Weather was perfect around camp as we set up our tents. There was the faintest of breezes and a big bright sun. The plan is for our team to get on a Twin Otter sometime tomorrow morning for a flight to
Vinson. The sun isn't setting tonight but the team will get tired anyway at some point, despite all the excitement at this new place and quiet conversations going on in a dozen different languages around camp. We do need rest. Tomorrow is another huge day.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Hello Everyone,
A last day of packing and prepping in
Punta. We got our gear weighed and carted off to go in the hold of the Ilyushin 76 transport plane that will soon take us to Antarctica. David Rootes, one of the directors of ALE -our logistics company- gave a great slideshow and briefing to get our team excited and informed for a trip to the Ice. We reviewed environmental concerns and procedures for minimizing our impact on the continent. And we heard that Vinson, the mountain we are bound for, is presently giving the first climbers of the season a very hard time with persistent and powerful winds. Far from being discouraged, we came away energized and determined. Determined to have one more great dinner out on the town.
Tomorrow we fly (if we are lucky)
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
This is Seth checking in from
Punta Arenas. The team has all arrived safe and sound. We have also managed to arrive with all of our luggage! Thank goodness.
We spent the day getting to know each other and prepping for the journey onto the ice. We will be getting our final briefing with ALE in the morning and hopefully flying to
Antarctica within the next few days. As for now we are enjoying the wonderful restaurants in Punta. We will update everyone tomorrow with the plan.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Sterling, Tough Luck! But then that’s what all that training was about. You could probably do this a few more times. Hopefully the second try will be successful.
Good Luck!
Posted by: Dave & Shirley on 12/13/2012 at 3:21 pm
Hi, Jules!
Good luck on summit bid #2 and Seven Summits #7! You rock!
Lily
Posted by: Lily Lo on 12/13/2012 at 3:00 pm
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