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VINSON MASSIF: Hahn & Team Arrive in Chile Today

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 19, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif

Our last day in Antarctica was pleasantly routine.  The team strolled into the dining tent at Union Glacier Basecamp to enjoy breakfast and the news that the Ilyushin 76 would be “on deck” by mid-afternoon.  We packed our gear and collapsed the tents one more time, then passed the time playing chess and chatting with other climbers.  Sure enough, the big plane touched down at 2:45 PM.  We were on board and lifting off by 5 PM.  Landing in Punta Arenas was smooth and easy 4.5 hours later.  We had to work quickly to get checked in, showered and out to dinner before closing, but all of that was quite enjoyable “work”.  The trip ended with an excellent midnight dinner in Patagonia. 

Thank You for following along.

Until next climb,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

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Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team Straight to Union

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 17, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif

Now we feel lucky.  It was another perfect day at Vinson.  We were out of the tents at high camp by 8 AM and out of camp itself by 10.  There wasn’t even a hint of wind to distract us from the hard work of descending the fixed ropes with heavy packs.  We made it down to low camp, took off the crampons and repacked for hauling sleds.  Snow conditions were ideal for walking and there were rumors of aircraft anxiously anticipating our basecamp arrival and so we didn’t waste too much time in transit.  Arriving at VBC at 3:20, we had to then hurry in yet another gear sorting extravaganza to be ready for flight.  The Twin Otter came in, we loaded up and took off into the cloudless sky.  Exiting the plane at Union Glacier then seemed like a walk in the park compared to life back in the big mountains.  True, it is still a snowy park, and we had to put up tents one more time, but we also got to sit at tables and eat excellent “real” food that we didn’t need to start stoves or melt snow to produce.  Life is easier at Union.  Before the evening was out, all the teams had caught their own flights and the dining tent filled up with happy and successful climbers and adventurers.  We are all right on schedule for tomorrow’s Ilyushin flight… Should the weather allow it.  At the moment, most are figuring it will happen, but most are still pretty excited to be in Antarctica. 

Best Regards ,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team Top Out!

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 16, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif

We are feeling quite lucky today.  It was extremely good weather for going to the top of Mount Vinson.  And there was no mystery about it.  From the time we got out of the tents at high camp this morning, it was obvious that conditions were stable and that we’d be able to simply concentrate on climbing well.  The team did exactly that.  We left camp at 9:35 and were on the top at 3:45 PM.  In fact, we passed most of the teams that had left before us, although that certainly wasn’t our goal.  We just wanted to move efficiently in this cold environment.  On a day when about 30 climbers were going for the top, it was also quite nice for us to have the summit to ourselves for a time.  Gary and Bob had the added significance to the occasion in that Vinson was the seventh continental summit for each.  We could see up and down nearly the full length of the 200-mile Ellsworth chain, but our eyes were drawn continually to the sharp and lofty summits just north of Vinson, to Shinn, Tyree, Gardner and Epperly.  We left the top at 4:20 and arrived back at high camp by 7 PM.  Dinner was a comfortable session in our POSH tent and then we headed to bed early.  Tomorrow will be another big day as we descend to Basecamp.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team Summit!

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 16, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 16,067'

Hey this is Dave Hahn calling from the summit of Mount Vinson, 16,067 feet above sea level, highest point in Antarctica. Our whole team is here! We got here at 3:45 local time and we’re still here at about about 10 minutes after 4:00. It is just beautiful, windless, sunny, clouds, but just a few of them. So we’re feeling very lucky. Beautiful day up here. We’ll be in touch from High Camp.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Congratulations to Gary Johnson & Bob Sullivan who have now reached the summit of each of the highest mountains on all seven continents. An impressive accomplishment! And congratulations to Dave Hahn on his 35th summit of the Vinson Massif.

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Vinson Massif:  Hahn & Team Move to High Camp

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 15, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 12,150'

A great day for climbing, at last.  We were out of the tents just after the sun broke the big freeze at Low Camp.  Conditions looked much better today, so we ate breakfast, tore down the tents and hit the trail.  Actually, we broke the trail, which wasn’t too big a deal.  The fixed ropes were under about two or three inches of hard wind blown snow.  It was a long time on a steep angle but most of the way, the surface was perfect for our crampons.  We worried that the wind might come up as we topped the ridge, but we cleared that area fast and escaped the big chill.  Five and a half hours of hard work brought us in to beautiful “High Camp” at 7 PM.  It was perfectly calm and sunny at 12,150 ft and we set to work building a comfortable and secure camp.  We like this one to be secure since we are right on the edge of a dramatic and profound drop-off.  One doesn’t have to go but 75 feet to be staring straight down the 3000 ft to low camp.  Looking out to the west is a shining sea of ice and low cloud stretching seemingly forever. 
We ate dinner and prepped our packs for tomorrow.  It just might be our summit day. 

Best Regards
RMI Guides Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team Remain at Low Camp

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 14, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 9,100'

Despite our being very much ready to break camp and head higher, the upper mountain wasn’t ready for us.  When the sun finally hit at 11 AM, it was coming through streamers of wind blown snow driven from the ridge crest that -coincidentally- was to be our goal for the day.  We ate breakfast and eyeballed the clouds and winds, neither of which got better as we watched.  The forecast had called for light winds and light cloud cover.  We had to admit, that in every other location visible to us, that prediction seemed accurate… Except the one place we wanted to go.  We watched as gust after gust drove snow straight down the length of the fixed ropes.  In other parts of the world, we might have attempted to fight such a wind, but in this ultra cold environment, it wouldn’t have been a fair fight.  By mid-afternoon there was no letup and so a rest day was declared.  Five teams camped around us did exactly the same thing.  Two small teams already at high camp hunkered down and reported steady 25 knot winds with higher gusts.  For being a bad-weather day, it was sunny and calm where we sat, slept, read, played cards, ate and drank.  Tomorrow.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team Have A Lazy Day At Low Camp

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 13, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 9,100'

Today was an easy one for our Vinson climbing team.  We’d planned a rest day to help with our acclimatization and so, after tearing out of bed at the crack of 11:15 AM, we had a long, slow breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns and hot drinks.  We went for a short walk in the mid-afternoon to the base of the fixed ropes and climbed a couple of pitches to reacquaint ourselves with steep snow protocols and methods.  Then it was back to Low Camp to rest up and sort gear.  Weather wasn’t perfect today -there were high clouds being blown from the summits of the high peaks, but it was nice and calm where we were.  We’ll see what we get tomorrow and perhaps we can move to High Camp. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team Move to Low Camp

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 12, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 9,100'

It was great to be in Vinson Base last night… Quiet and peaceful (once the airplanes quit bringing climbers in, that is, sometime after 2 AM).  We got going this morning at the usual VBC civilized hour of 9 AM.  There was plenty to do in getting sorted, getting breakfast and getting some meeting time in with the other climbing guides and the ALE staff.  Eventually we got tents down, packs loaded, and our ropes tied for glacier travel.  We were first out of camp at 1:43 PM.  Conditions were excellent and we made great time, arriving at the 9,000 ft “Low” Camp at 6:30, having traveled 5.6 miles.  Sunburn was of more concern to us than frostbite today.  The views of Vinson’s giant and jagged northern neighbors- Shinn, Epperly and Gardner, were stupendous.  Our camp went up quick and easy.  Dinner went down without any hiccups and we were in bed by 11 PM.  All were warned that the brilliant sunshine would warm the tents only until 3 AM.  Then, although the sun won’t set, it will go behind our mountain for about eight hours and life will be cold in the shadows.  We’ll reemerge from the tents at 11 AM to see what sort of day we have.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif Expedition: Weather Clears to Allow Team to Fly Vinson Base

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 12, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif
Elevation: 7,200'

December 11, 2014 - 8:01 pm PT
A good chunk of this day was spent like the last three days… waiting and wondering when we’d get to fly.  But two thirds of the way through dinner, everything changed.  The weather at Vinson got good and we got up from the table and out to take down our tents. 
We’d spent the morning enjoying a fat-tire bike ride around the 10 kilometer course.  During afternoon, the wind got up at Union Glacier and we stayed inside the big dining tent, playing games, reading and talking.  Most had given up hope for getting to Vinson on this day by the time we got the call.  We loaded into the ski equipped Twin Otter and took off in a hurry.  Then we enjoyed the magical scenery as we flew up the middle of the Ellsworth Mountains.  Nothing but ice and rock -in a million different configurations- as far as the eye could see.  The mountains got enormous as we approached Vinson and the pilot dove down toward the Branscomb Glacier to set us, ever so smoothly, at Vinson Basecamp.  We hopped out into strong sunshine and calm air… Such a relief after the winds at Union today.  Up went our tents and we crawled in after staring slack-jawed at the unreal and gigantic ice cliffs and rock escarpments around us. 
Tomorrow, if all goes well, we just might go mountain climbing.

Best Regards
RMI Guides Dave Hahn

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Vinson Massif: Team Hangs in Union Glacier

Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 10, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Vinson Massif

The sun refused to shine today.  At least in the Union Glacier region of Antarctica.  Not so bright over at Vinson either, according to reports.  No flying today as a system of moisture is moving through -at least we hope it is moving through.  For all of that, it wasn’t a bad day here, just cloud, murk and light snow.  There wasn’t any of the wind which usually is the main ingredient for making a miserable day in these parts.  We got out this morning to review avalanche procedures and then went for a walk and talk on the 10 kilometer track which is groomed and marked out with flags on the immense flat surface of the glacier.  Afternoon was spent on reading, mingling, chocolate and chess. 
As usual, we are ready to fly out to Vinson for our climb. First thing tomorrow morning would be just fine, but the forecast is still calling for mank. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

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