We attended the mandatory ALE (Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions) debriefing this morning at 9:00 AM. ALE operates the camps in Antarctica and handles all the logistics. The meeting lasted about 1.5 hours and we were told to have our bags packed and ready by 2:00 PM so they can be weighed, picked up, transported and […]
The first adventure of 2013 is the most exciting yet as it takes me to the highest, coldest and most remote place on Earth: the continent of Antarctica! I will be climbing the continent’s highest peak Mount Vinson Massif and then ski the last degree to the South Pole. I arrived earlier this afternoon in […]
We got up at 9:30 AM after our long summit day, packed up camp and descended the other side of the mountain from our Colera Camp at 6000 m (19,800 ft) to the main Base Camp at Plaza de Mulas at 4300 m (14,100 ft). The whole scree descent was very steep and with plenty […]
In what has become a refrain, today was supposed to be a rest day at high camp, but around 10:15 AM when we noticed the wind has slowed down from the crazy 65-75 mph. Despite the lack of rest and two previous tough days carrying and moving to Camp 4, we made a quick decision […]
Today we moved to our High Camp Colera at 6000 m (19,800 ft) to get in position for our summit bid. The climb was much more difficult than two days ago when we were carrying heavier loads. We faced a strong gale force wind blowing at an estimated 65 mph throughout the climb and almost […]
Finally some rest. Today was a rest day and thankfully so because I didn’t get much sleep last night. The wind was gusting at 70-75 mph rattling and almost leveling the tent off the ground, not to mention the temperature inside my tent reached a cool -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). I took my […]
We slept in this morning and woke up leisurely around 8:30 AM for breakfast. We concocted some scrambled eggs and pancakes. After all, today was supposed to be a rest day. But again, after reviewing the weather report for the next few days, we decided to radically change our plan and itinerary. Since high winds […]
Today was supposed to be a rest day at Camp 1 but since it was a decent day with relatively low wind around 35-40 MPH, we decided to make a big move up the mountain. The change of plan involved going up to Ameghino Col/Camp 2 where we cached our load yesterday, pick it up and […]
Today was a really tough day carrying a load from Camp 1 to Camp 2 at Ameghino Col, but despite the harsh wind conditions and difficult terrain, we made the round trip in an amazing 4 hours an 15 minutes. We started the day with a quick breakfast of coffee and oatmeal in our tent and left […]
Today was our last day at Plaza Argentina Base Camp. We got up to the usual breakfast of scrambled eggs with queso, toast, jam and coffee. We shared the dining tent with Alpine Ascents Team 2. After breakfast we returned to our tent to start packing for our move to Camp 1. A few minutes later, […]