Entries By Dave Hahn
Not so much to report today besides a good brunch and a fine dinner. Thick fog and cloud blanketed Vinson basecamp for much of the day. This made things predictably cool outside the tents and it was difficult to walk anywhere without feeling a touch of vertigo in the all-encompassing white-out. No news about the availability of aircraft either. Obviously not an urgent matter with the clouds glued into the Branscomb Glacier. Still, Vlado, TA, Mindy and I all enjoyed the day and will always remember where we were for the South Pole centennial.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The fog and low cloud came and went periodically at Vinson basecamp today. Most of the afternoon was sunny and pleasant and flyable... if one had an airplane. Ours have gone South. ALE has both Twin Otter ski planes down at the South Pole for the big celebration. Today -Dec. 14, 2011 (it is after midnight) marks one hundred years since Amundson reached the South Pole. A noble accomplishment, by any standard -and worth commemorating, but if given the choice I'd wager that Amundson would have tried to climb Vinson instead. Much more fun to be had out here in the big hills.
My team didn't fret a bit over the lack of aircraft. We were quite happy to sleep in and then sit for a two hour breakfast -bacon and eggs with lots of coffee and cocoa. Then there was time for siestas and snow-carving before a sumptuous dinner (same as last night -we liked it so much we did it again).
We'll likely be here a couple more days, which isn't a bad thing.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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This morning at high camp it was still sunny, but there was a persistent breeze which was on its way to becoming wind. Packing up was surprisingly difficult in this wind, we had to keep rewarming hands while breaking down tents, strapping on crampons, and threading climbing harnesses. We got out of there around 12:15 PM and made good time down to the fixed ropes. As expected, there was less wind on the steep mountainside but our descent was difficult for all of the normal reasons. Big packs, slippery snow and steep angles for long distances.
Life got a whole lot easier once we reached low camp, but by then we could see wind whipped cloud caps on all the summits again. It appeared as though we'd just used up all of the decent climbing weather and that we'd ducked down in the nick of time. We did a big shuffle of gear at low camp to switch over to sled-hauling once again. We then got going toward basecamp. The last of our big views were enjoyed at the big 90 degree westward turn of the Branscomb, then we plunged into cold and dense fog. We hit base camp at 6:30 PM and built another camp since it was obvious that airplanes wouldn't come fetch us in the current conditions. The first of what may be several victory dinners was held in our POSH tent. Quesadillas and cheese burgers, cooked to perfection, made life in the cloud just a little bit warmer and more hospitable.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Conditions today can only be described as having been perfect for a summit climb. It is tough to recall that we ate breakfast and geared up in cloud at high camp. But when we roped up and got going at 9:45, it only took us fifteen minutes to climb out of the cloud and into a world of bright snow, brighter sunshine and a big and brilliant blue sky. In our ten and a half hour round trip to the top, we barely noticed anything that could actually be described as a breeze. And so it is possible that the summit temps were the forecasted -38C but we sure didn't notice or mind the cold with the sun's super strong radiation at 16,067 ft above sea level. There did seem to be plenty of cloud down low -we couldn't see basecamp and a few hundred odd peaks were obscured. But a few thousand others were not. TA, Vlado, Mindy and myself all considered that we'd gotten extremely lucky... And so we made good use of the day in tagging Vinson's summit. We were back for a relatively early and relaxed dinner, and got to enjoy diving into the sleeping bags with plenty of good sun left on the tent walls.
Tomorrow we'll head for basecamp on the Branscomb.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Well done. You are one in a krillion!
Posted by: the swarm on 12/12/2011 at 3:46 am
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling in from the summit of Mount Vinson 16,067 feet above sea level. And I'm up here. It's 5:25 in the evening. I'm with three wonderful climbers: T.A., Mindy and Vlado, and we picked a beautiful day to be up here. It's calm, it's sunny, it's wonderful. This is my 29th time on top- likely a record of some sort and what an enjoyable day. What an enjoyable week's its been. Here's T.A.: Hey, this is T.A. calling from the summit of Mt. Vinson and the view is absolutely... absolutely awesome! Special hello to everyone in Newfoundland and another special hello to Rain and Zander up there in Edmonton. Take care everybody. [Mindy] The view is... I've never dreamed about it. Without Dave and the team I couldn't dream I could make it. Dave you are a lasting reward. I made a good choice with RMI. Without the team I couldn't have made it. Total team work. This is Vlado from Slovakia calling from the highest point in Antarctica. Beautiful time, we are having a great time. Alright, well that's us from the top of the Vinson Massif, highest point in Antarctica. We have gotten very lucky. Very lucky and we appreciate all the help people have given us a long the way. Thanks a lot and we'll keep you informed. I'll send out a dispatch from our high camp tonight because we are going to get down nice and safe. We are all doing strong and well. It's going to be a nice day, a day to remember.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Dave Hahn and Team Members from the Vinson Summit
On The Map
congratulations Mindy! So proud of your big achievement! You are great. Bill
Posted by: Bill Liu on 12/19/2011 at 1:17 pm
I hope soon I will be able to do what you have done, congratulations on your climb
Posted by: grover rose on 12/15/2011 at 4:13 pm
A long and easy day at high camp, preparing for the summit. There wasn't a breath of wind, which we are hoping will be the situation tomorrow as well. Still plenty of cloud about, although we seem to be near the top of it all. I spoke on the radio with Vinson basecamp and they seem to be down in the soup. Clouds shouldn't present any great problem for us though, as long as the predictions hold true and the calm continues. The forecast calls for -38 C tomorrow on top. It was far more comfortable than that in our tents today though. We napped, we drank water, we napped, we ate food, and we napped. Tomorrow we climb.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
thinking of with every step, Vlado. enjoy the vistas at the top!
Posted by: Maria on 12/11/2011 at 10:13 am
Good luck on making it up to the summit tomorrow!
Posted by: TRACY OWENS on 12/10/2011 at 10:36 pm
Half past one in the morning and the sun is blazing away at high camp on Mt. Vinson. We made the move up today. It was a murky day from the start, with lazy clouds and light snowfall keeping the views pretty limited as we cranked on up the steep fixed rope section. We made the trip in about 6.5 hours, coming in to camp just after 9 PM. By midnight we'd gotten a good hot dinner and the team was turning in while the clouds began to drop away. We'll likely take a rest day tomorrow and go for the top on December 11th if weather permits.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
You guys are amazing!! While we are sitting in our warm places you are weathering the incredible cold hights..Wishing you great weather all the way to the summit!! Go, Vlado go!
Lumir, Maria and Patrick
Posted by: maria popek on 12/9/2011 at 10:38 pm
It is a quarter after one in the morning in the Ellsworth Mountains of Antarctica. We made our carry of summit supplies to Vinson high camp today. It all went quite well. We made it up there in under six hours, arriving just before 8 PM. Two-and-a-half hours later we were back down the fixed ropes and thirty-five hundred feet lower in camp one. These are late days, but we are simply trying to use the best sun of the day. In such cold temperatures it doesn't make sense to do otherwise. Our storm is gone, but there is still a lot of high cloud in the area. We were warm enough going up the fixed ropes but met with a nagging four mile per hour breeze on the less steep slopes before high camp and that allowed us to fully appreciate the ambient temperature (forecast to be -24 C today with about -35 C at the summit) It was all good training for the bigger and harder days which will follow. Climbing out of the Branscomb valley, the team got to look out upon the endless world of ice to our west today. It is a stunning and magnificent view, and virtually impossible to tell where ice ends and sky begins.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Fantastic Li! You’re getting closer & closer! Love Dean
Posted by: Dean on 12/9/2011 at 6:11 am
Winds stayed mercifully calm throughout last night, but just as we got hoping for the morning sunshine (it takes until 11:30 AM for the sun to get around the mountain and into our camp) the storm came in again good and strong for several hours. There was not any question of going ahead with our carry to high camp. Instead, we rested, which turned out to be quite pleasant when the cloud caps blew off the peaks and the winds quit. Just a lazy day in the sun, trying to drink plenty of water and get organized for going higher. This evening's dinner was relaxed and leisurely, the total opposite of our battle with the elements 24 hours before. Things don't seem totally stable yet, but there isn't much doubt now that we are headed for better days.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hi Mindy we are thinking of you. Stay warm!
Posted by: Chris on 12/8/2011 at 8:19 am
Another day of storm, as predicted and expected. But it seemed as though things were improving gradually and so we thought we might sneak up into position at Low Camp so as to be ready for the good weather. This plan worked well, at first. We packed up and got rolling from basecamp at 1:30 PM. At the big right-angle turn of the Branscomb Glacier we picked up our cache from yesterday and marched on. Travel was actually easier than it had been for the first Vinson team since much of the soft snow blew away. With a good path and calm and even occasionally sunny conditions, the miles flew by. We hit low camp at 9,300 ft right on five hours, at 6:30. That also happened to be the moment that the first big cold and random wave of wind played through. Sure enough, the storm had a sting in its tail. We got hammered by gusts as we carefully built our tents and lit stoves. It all certainly lent drama to our situation, but the team remained in good humor and coped well. Meals were served up in the sleeping tents instead of in the POSH, but that worked out just fine. By 10 PM the wind was behaving much better and it pretty much quit by midnight (although it can still be heard howling through high camp, 3,500 ft directly above us). Obviously we want our share of good and stable weather to begin tomorrow, but if necessary, we can wait right here for whenever the fine stuff shows up.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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Following you closly Vlado, thanks to Dave’s exelent reporting. Amazing,amazing, father is watching over you and we all are very proud of your achievments.
Stay safe for the rest of the expedition.
Cheers Maria, Lumir a Patrick
Posted by: Maria on 12/15/2011 at 10:34 am
So proud of you Mindy. thinking about you everyday and your achievement. Can’t wait to see all the glorious pictures. You stay safe and know you are in our thoughts. Missing you - but happy you are enjoying the challenge and sights. Love, Suz xoxo
Posted by: suzanne de maio on 12/15/2011 at 5:59 am
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