The Break!?

Finally a "break"! I say break, loosely because at this point I am looking
more for an ending rather than a pause. The weather has finally began a
trend of significant improvement. This morning we woke to the clearest and
calmest skies we have had in ten days. We immediately put in a call to
Patriot Hills requesting that the twin otters be launched. Unfortunately
Patriots doesn't seem as motivated as we are here at Vinson base. They were
partying hard last night and our call was the call that got the ants moving,
sad really. Hopefully the pilots kept their heads and didn't get so "shit
faced" they can't fly? With our call we also may have rallied the movement
of the IL76 to think about getting off deck in Chile. With any luck tonight
I will be eating bad Chilean food at "Santino's" and repacking to get on a
LAN flight to Santiago the following morning.

As any of you have read and could have imagined this delay has been hard on
me. We have had clients stuck here with us as well, so there has been work
to do. Cooking, entertaining, trying to sound positive and optimistic, even
though we all were frustrated and antsy. The crew has been amazing. Only
some of us are leaving, the majority of guide shifting happen on the last
round of flights, so many of the guides here now, just arrived in the scheme
of the season. They have been patient with my impatience. They however
feel the stress of this delay in that all of their clients will come on to
the mountain ten days delayed. They will all feel stressed about making the
flight at the end of their trip, will be soon. They will feel the need to
rush their climb and pressure their guides to move on a faster pace than
normal so they may make their return flights. To top that off we have two
Korean clients, one deaf, and one with NO fingers. I guess you could say NO
hands, but he has palms, just no digits on either of them. So he comes with
an interpreter who "doubles" as a pair of hands. Don't even ask me how that
trip is going to go down, let's just say I am thankful I am not the guide.
We also had the Lord Major of Prague on this next trip, but cancelled due to
all the delays. So the new guides will have their work cut out for them.

I was thinking about everyone yesterday and I hope everyone had a wonderful
holiday! Hopefully I will get to see you guys before New Years. Thanks
again for reading and those that have written, thanks for keeping in touch!
Hopefully this will be my one of the last dispatches of the Antarctic 08/09
season, but as previous ramblings have explain the only thing out here that
is constant is "change". Love you guys.

Chris

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
vinson.base@antarctic-logistics.com

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Merry Christmas Gang

Hey there family, just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!! Hope
everyone is having a great one and getting loads of good family time in. I
was hoping I was going to get to be with some of you in the next couple of
days, but that isn't going to happen unfortunately. Weather is keeping me
here at Vinson base camp for the next few days at least. I am hoping to be
on a flight, either to Patriot Hills, MAYBE even Punta Arenas on Christmas
day, but as for now things are in lock down mode. At the moment it is -25
and gusting 40 knots. Mostly tent bound. We had to put wands out just so
you can find your way to the toilet, the visibility gets so bad. It's all
good though, just wish I was home with you guys right now. Although I have
to say if one was craving a winter wonderland, this would be it!! Love you
guys, Merry Christmas! Hope to see you guys before New Years!!

Love
Chris

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
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The Storm

The Storm

The storm coming from the Weddle Sea is upon us. Last night a large
multilayer altostratus/altocumulus system with cirrus layers hovering around
the mountain fell upon us. This morning we awoke to abnormally high winds
here at VBC, blowing snow, and zero visibility. Patriot Hills is reporting
much if the same. They also radioed in with snowfall and low visibility.
The forecast is calling for this low to last for two more days. So if the
weather continues on this pattern, our first chance to fly out (out meaning
to Patriots, then to Punta Arenas) will most likely be on Christmas eve. So
my hope of being home for Christmas is all but gone. With any luck? I
might? be home for New years? I am still keeping my fingers crossed for
around the 26th of December. But as you may have gathered, who knows? So
movement around the mountain is nil, everyone is battening down the hatches,
digging in, and waiting it out. Dave Wuchner gave me a book "Hocus Pocus"
by Kurt Vonnegut, which I am now taking the time to read. Thanks Dave. So
reading, journaling, and rocking out to music in my little yellow North Face
world, head buried in my -40 degree sleeping bag, which is pink and very
cheery. So for now, much like a week ago, we wait. Waiting for good
weather. So all of you out there kicking back, feet up on the coffee table,
looking at that beautifully lit Christmas tree, watching TV...have a beer,
glass of wine, or in Michael's case a big glass of chocolate milk, none of
which we have here at the moment, for me. Thinking of you guys, ready to
see everyone, getting tired of the ice, as if you couldn't already tell.
Lots of love!

Chris

Vinson Base Camp
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The Compass in my Hands

Sean Smith
BBC Timewatch

Mc Murdo Sound
McMurdo Sound is only accessible at the end of the Antarctic summer

A few weeks ago I was in a tiny aircraft, a Twin Otter ski-plane, flying
above the vastness of the Antarctic continent.

My destination was the historic shore of McMurdo Sound, the starting point
for the British attempts on the South Pole led by Shackleton and Scott,
during what is now called "The Heroic Age" of Polar exploration 100 years
ago.

I was with three men who were about to embark on one of the toughest
endurance tests on the planet - an unsupported 850 mile (1360km) trek to the
South Pole.

It is a journey that will take them across hundreds of miles of featureless
ice shelf, then up one of the largest and most treacherous glaciers in the
world, the Beardmore Glacier. This opens on to the immense polar plateau
itself - the coldest, windiest, most inhospitable place on earth.

The Shackleton Centenary Expedition is being used to launch the £10m
Shackleton Foundation to fund projects that embody the explorer's spirit of
adventure and "calculated risk".

If they reach their destination they will be part of a very select band -
fewer people have made this particular journey than have walked on the face
of the Moon!
The Antarctic continent
The team is retracing Shackleton's 1908 expedition

They are following in the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1908 Nimrod
expedition, which turned back just 97 miles (155km) short of the South Pole.

Although unsuccessful in reaching his goal, it was Shackleton who opened the
road to the pole for Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott a few years
later. And turning back when the pole was within his grasp is seen by many
as one of the most inspired leadership decisions in the history of
exploration, for to go on would have meant certain death.

Unfinished business

The three men on the expedition, Henry Worsley, Will Gow, and Henry Adams
are descendants respectively of Shackleton's captain (Frank Worsley),
brother-in-law (Herbert Dorman) and second in command (Jameson Boyd Adams).

This expedition is to complete "unfinished family business" and is the
culmination of five years' planning and training involving endurance races
in the Yukon and the Himalayas, and Arctic training courses in Norway and
Baffin Island.
Shakleton's hut
Shackleton's team spent the winter in a hut

The team has been learning the survival skills necessary to function day
after day and week after week in temperatures as low as -40C and to battle
the icy blizzards which could strike at any time.

They learnt how to recognise and treat frostbite and hypothermia.

And in the Alps and Greenland they learnt how to tackle the most deadly
threat they will face on the journey - crevasses, the huge, hidden cracks
formed when a glacier moves over an obstruction.

If one person falls down a "slot", as they're known in mountaineering
jargon, the others will have to rig up an improvised rescue system.

Sea ice

I joined the team as they flew from Chile to Antarctica and on via ski plane
towards McMurdo Sound - where we landed on the ice just a mile away from the
site of Shackleton's original 1908 hut.

It had felt like a long journey, but for Shackleton's men, it would have
seemed like the blink of an eye.

In 1908 the only way to get to the Antarctic was by sea, and the only time
you could reach Ross Island and McMurdo was at the end of the Antarctic
summer when the sea ice had melted.

Shackleton and his Nimrod crew began their voyage from the East India Docks
in July 1907.
shackletons hut interior
The interior of the hut is very much as it was left in 1908

The final leg from New Zealand to the Antarctic was an epic in itself,
battling violent storms and treacherous pack ice before the Nimrod anchored
in McMurdo Sound on Jan 28th 1908.

While the ship's captain fretted about being trapped for the winter, the
crew and shore party hurried to unload the ship and build the hut that would
be the expedition's base and winter quarters. By mid-February all the stores
were ashore, and on 28 February the Nimrod set sail northwards.

The 15 men in the hut were now alone as the Antarctic winter set in.

With no means of communicating with the outside world, and no other human
beings within thousands of miles, this was the Edwardian equivalent of an
Apollo moon shot, but one that lasted years, not months.

Today Shackleton's hut is the focus of a conservation project run by the New
Zealand government.

But walking across the dark volcanic rocks with the snow cone of Mt Erebus
behind and the sound of penguins braying along the sea ice of the sound, it
is easy to imagine yourself transported back to the early years of the last
century, for this is a timeless landscape.

Going into the hut itself draws a gasp of amazement from everyone who
enters.

Here are preserved clothing, equipment, bedding and foodstuffs, all arranged
on the shelves as though the original occupants have just popped out for a
spot of sledging or a quick constitutional.
Shackleton's hut interior
The descendants of the original expedition team hope to reach the pole

For Henry Worsley, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, it is a particularly
poignant moment.

He has revered Ernest Shackleton for most of his adult life. He is an ardent
collector of Shackleton memorabilia and on this occasion he has brought
something truly special - Ernest Shackleton's original compass from the 1908
expedition that has been loaned to him by the explorer's great
grand-daughter, Alexandra.

She is hoping that the compass at least will finally make the journey that
Sir Ernest was unable to do.

As Lt Col Worsley gets the compass out in the hut and hands it round, the
expedition members go quiet.

It is an object with a peculiar power; a palpable link to the great explorer
who has inspired these men to take up the challenge of the Antarctic for
their own generation.

In the second of his articles, Sean Smith's brings us the latest information
on the progress of the expedition which is also being filmed for a BBC Two
Timewatch documentary in Spring 2009.

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
vinson.base@antarctic-logistics.com

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Stuck on the Ice

Still stuck on the ice at the moment. I was meant to be back in the states
by now, but as of this moment I am still at Vinson base camp. Weather has
been touch and go here, worse at Patriot Hills. The forecast is grim for
Patriots, and thoughts of flying the IL76 to get people to Punta Arenas is
looking more and more bleak. As of now both Norwegian and Belgian weather
forecasts are calling for three more days of bad weather. A frontal low
coming off the Weddle sea is causing problems and is unlikely to break for a
few days. So at the moment, making Christmas in the states is looking poor.

Every day I wake up with the hope that I will fly to Patriots, putting me
one flight closer to Chile, and every day after multiple weather skeds,
nothing happens. Weather here gets better, then it worsens, weather at
Patriots becomes flyable, then they become socked in. It is in fact much
like a standby from Hell. Imagine flying standby on a commercial airline in
the states. The waiting, not knowing when you are going to get on with your
plans, one moment you are good to go, then you are bumped, then you wait,
and repeat. Now imagine the same situation, played out every hour on the
hour. Having the knowledge that planes are waiting to take you, whenever
the weather becomes flyable. Watching the weather go from good, to
moderate, to poor in a matter of minutes. Flights take over an hour to get
from Patriots to Vinson and even when weather becomes good here, will it be
good by the time the plane arrives? What if they can't land and have to
turn around? That's a $10,000 flight, who will be responsible for that
error? Each time you go out to make a weather observation, and you record
wind speed, cloud type and height, points visible, barometric pressure,
tendency, contrast, and horizon, all of this knowing that pilots are
listening and basing some of their decisions off climbers, not
meteorologists. It's a tough job, and becomes very frustrating. Moments it
is sunny and hot here, -10, no down jacket, no wind, NO PLANE, weather in
Patriots is
F-ed. So we wait. Next weather sked in an hour. The hopes of flying soon
dwindling. I mine as well be on the moon.

Chris

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
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The waiting Game

The Waiting Game

I have been down off the mountain for a week now. I was meant to fly out
two days ago, but space on the twin otters was limited and I decided to stay
behind thinking that the next flight, scheduled for the 16th, would take me
back to Patriots. It is the 16th and there is no signs of movement of
aircraft any time soon. Weather has moved into the area and has closed in
Vinson and expected to last for a few days time. The same goes for Patriot
Hills, and with wind expected to increase flying back to Punta Arenas, even
if I was to get to Patriots, is unlikely for at least 3 days or more. My
flight was scheduled to leave from Chile to the states on Dec 20th, and
unless there is a dramatic improvement in the short term forecast, I do not
believe I will make that flight. Other than issues getting off the ice, all
is well. I am getting restless knowing that not only can I not fly soon,
but weather permits going far from camp. We are all trying to stay busy out
here, but we are running out of things to do, reading, knapping, writing,
drawing, making plans, reading some more, listening to music, eating, doing
pull-ups, and repeat. All parties are off the mountain, which is good,
considering that things up high would be considerably difficult given the
current conditions. We all wait together. There is a saying out here in
Antarctica... "Difficult to get onto the ice, difficult to get off the
ice." It is what it is. At least I am not like Shackleton's men who waited
a year, no knowing if they would survive, let alone get off the ice. I have
the peace of mind knowing that as soon as the weather breaks, planes will be
in the air. Plus we have plenty of beer, wine, and soy patty's to last at
least another week! So I wait for the clouds to lift, I wait for the wind
to die, and I wait to hear the sounds of twin turbines overhead.

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
vinson.base@antarctic-logistics.com

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On my way to Patriots? Maybe!?

Well, it is about that time. Time to head back to Patriot Hills. As I
write this multiple parties are descending the mountain in route for Vinson
Base Camp, and as they arrive, weather permitting we will begin to fly Twin
Otter aircraft to and from Patriot Hills. The intent is that Molly, Nick,
and Namgya fly out on the first flight with Russian guide Alex Abramov and
his clients. If that happens, we should all be in Patriot Hills awaiting an
IL76 back to Punta Arenas around the 16th. My intent is to try and fly on
this flight rather than the 18th flight, but whether that is an option I
still do not yet know. At the moment clients at Patriot Hills are waiting
to run the Antarctic Marathon put on by ALE, which will be taking place
either today or tomorrow. Again like everything in Antarctica, everything
is dependent on weather. But starting tomorrow with any luck, I will be in
Patriot Hills and no longer at Vinson Base Camp, so no emails until I get
back to Punta when I will have access to my normal Hotmail account again.
Can't wait to see everyone this winter, I am really excited to be home for a
bit! Thanks to those who have kept up with the blog and big thanks to those
who have emailed, it has made my time here go by quickly and surprisingly
warm! Thanks for all the support, and I hope to see everyone in a week or
so! Lots of love from the ice!

Chris

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
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Summit!

Yee haw!!! Just got back down from an exhausting rotation on the mountain.
We had fabulous weather and were able to get a lot accomplished in the last
five days. On the 3rd myself, Tim, Namgya, and Suz headed up to low camp.
We went heavy carrying supplies meant for high on the mountain. The main
objectives were to assemble the rescue cache at high camp, stage a rescue
cache just below the summit pyramid, and retrieve the 1000m of rescue rope
that had been airdropped about 3 km from high camp, and move it to the top
of the fixed lines.

We pushed hard for low camp on the 3rd and despite heavy loads we were able
to ski quickly up glacier. The following day we moved up the fixed lines to
high camp. We each carried supplies for the rescue caches which were heavy,
things like bottles of oxygen, extra sled, ice tools, hardware, and more
rope. The day was long and hard, but we all made it up fine. We installed
high camp and moved in. The intent was to be up high for 3 days or more
dependent on weather. The first night was rough, no one slept well. We
awoke the next day and set off to retrieve the rescue rope. Tim had
organized an air drop a week earlier to save us the labor of carrying some
200lbs of rope up to high camp. The rope had been put into body bags, which
were needed up high anyway in case of a fatality. The two body bags weren't
terribly far from camp, however the loads were heavy. Tim and I split the
weight of one body bag, about 120lbs, while Namgya and Suz split the weight
of the second body bag. Moving this amount of weight wouldn't normally be
heavy at sea level, but moving these loads at over 4,500 meters is a
struggle. We moved slowly and worked our way around crevasses and up snow
slopes back to high camp. Our next task was to sort and install the new
rescue cache at high camp. It included a large sled meant for hauling a
casualty down, 3 bottles of oxygen, and a barrel full of extra equipment.
We anchored it to some rocks, behind a scoop of hard snow to protect it from
the rough winter ahead. We ate early and climbed in our bags and readied
ourselves for another rough night of sleep. Around midnight a Russian team
arrived at high camp carrying a load up for their clients. They were load
and proceeded to speak loudly in Russian in elevating tone for almost an
hour before I had to stick my head out of the tent and reprimand their
inconsideration.

Around 7am we arose wearily and prepared for a long summit day. The weather
was clear and cold. We carried another fiberglass sled, oxygen, hardware,
and clothing for installation below the summit in the event of a rescue
situation. We arrived at its intended destination about 5 hours later. We
had all slept badly, had blisters, and were tired from the days prior of man
hauling. We anchored the sled to some rocks and talk about what we were
going to do next. We had entertained the idea of climbing another peak in
close proximity to Vinson summit, a peak called Sublime peak which is only
30 meters shorter than Vinson and had only been climbed twice, but because
it sits on the massif is not considered a standalone peak. Just as we were
about to set off Tim spotted a thin ribbon of rock, ice, and snow located on
the Vinson buttress and led almost straight to the summit. We all looked at
each other with grins, and I started moving towards it. I led up this gully
of 65 degree snow and rock. Most of the climbing was 4th class and easy,
however a fall on any of our parts would have been fatal. Eventually the
line got steeper and ran out of snow and we worked our way through bands of
frozen rock and rotten ice. This too eventually ended and transitioned into
hard pack snow and ice up to 70 degrees that led directly to the summit I
topped out on the ridge using only one ice tool and my hand to grab the icy
ridge above. When I pulled over the top I involuntarily let out a primal
yell. This was one of my finest days down here. I looked left and only a
few meters away was the summit. Namgya was right behind me and as he topped
out we hugged and high-five. He was stoked! Suz crept up shortly after and
was greeted warmly by Namgya and myself. Due in part to bad blisters and
hard terrain Tim came up last, moving cautiously and deliberately over the
ridge. We all walked together to summit all feeling like we had
accomplished something this day. After a short time on the summit we
descended back to high camp. Eight hours round trip, such a good day in the
mountains.

The following morning, after actually sleeping for 3 solid hours and 6 hours
of tossing and turning we prepped high camp to leave. The last major task
was to haul the ropes down to the top of the fixed lines. The sleds were
heavy and would whip past, you had to do everything possible not to be swept
off your feet. I felt like a sled wrangler, constantly raining it in and
trying not to let it over take me. At the top of the fixed lines were
ditched the ropes meant for any high angle rescue that may need to take
place on the fixed lines, and descended. The ski down was hard because we
were all wrecked. Namgya wiped out many times. We saw several parties
heading up, they all congratulating us in various languages, Molly at base
camp had leaked out the news of our summit day. Back in base camp now we
are all resting and enjoying some down time. As soon as the rest of the
parties descend I will be flying back to Patriot Hills. It has been an
amazing season, and I feel like we were able to accomplish a great deal..
The amount of effort and energy put in by all the guides has been amazing
and inspiring. I feel lucky to be working with so many good guides from
such varied backgrounds. I am getting excited about coming home and thawing
out.

That's all for now. Hope to se everyone in a few weeks back home! I can't
wait to have some good Mexican food and go rock climbing!

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
vinson.base@antarctic-logistics.com

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The Ice Stream

The Ice Stream

The is a route up Vinson Massif called the Slovenian Route, or the Ice
Stream. It is rarely done. In fact the last time a staff member of ALE/ANI
did it was when Conrad Anchor set the speed record on the mountain almost 10
years ago. Pachi, one of Chile's most accomplished female climbers and
myself were sent out to scout the route and see if it could be guided
safely. We just returned.

Yesterday we left base camp and set off to climb the ice stream. We
traveled light, no tent, no sleeping bags, only cloths, food, water, and
hardware. When we left Vinson base camp it was clear, but plumbs of snow
could be seen blowing off the summit pyramid. We were on route from base
camp in about an hour and a half, a quick time made possible by skis. We
skinned up to the base of the route. It was much steeper than I had
anticipated. The seracs (blocks of ice) that choked the middle of the
stream where enormous and the ice to the left appeared to go on forever.
The bergschrund (or large crevasse that separates the steepest part of the
ice headwall from the valley floor) was big and required a bit of
negotiating, but managed to make it across by swinging our tools onto the
other side off the mote and kicking steps underneath us. The route was much
steeper than we had originally thought, steeper than the fixed lines (which
we put in last season), and was very continuous. We climbed via the left
side. The snow quality ranged from bullet proof to wind slab. One minute
you would be cramponing hard ice, the next 4 inches of slab would break
loose underfoot, forcing you to bear down hard with your ice tool to avoid
losing ground. It was very cold and we traveled faster than most would, but
slower than I would have liked to.
About half way up we began to experience high winds and spin drift avalanche
coming from the ridge above. Our purpose was to scout the easiest ascent
line, but Pachi and I could resist at looking for a new route variation. We
were thinking that we might be able to climb a rock gully/chimney to the
left on the upper portion of the route that had been unclimbed. It looked
impossible from the ground, but once under it seemed do-able. Our eyes got
big as we imagined ticking off a new variation to the summit, but the
weather was deteriorating, and we both realized that if you went the more
difficult way there may be no easy way down if forced to retreat. So we
shifted gears, and just tried to get as high as we could. We continued to
move up into the bowl below a rock band, to the left of a finishing bulge of
blue ice. The route going up the blue ice, to the left of the hanging
glacier looked too steep for clients. The mixed section through the rock
band will go easier, much like the rock ridge on Mt. Shinn (the third
highest, which I was able to guide last season). About 300m from the top,
high winds and cold, attacked us furiously. We switched to down jackets,
goggles, and mittens. I stuck my ski pole into the snow to put on my
goggles and wind ripped it out and sent it 1,000 meters into the seracs. My
hands were so cold, and even though the head of my ice axes are insulated I
could feel the metal sucking the life from my hands.

I looked at Pachi and she looked as cold as I did. We had a quick moment to
check our pride, and decided it wasn't worth it, time to go down. We had a
lone way to go down, and we were already 9 hours into the climb. We
descended the route on foot, no rappels. It took us about 7.5 hours from
the valley to our high point at 4,300 m. Only 200m from the top and 700m
from the summit. The descent was slow and tenuous on foot. We didn't have
enough materials to rappel, so we down climbed the steep sections and walked
gingerly down the rest. It took us 11 hours round trip to base camp. If
the weather would have been nice I think we would have been able to top out
on the ice stream in about 8 hours. With a client, with heavy packs, it
could have taken in access of 10-12 hours just on the ice stream. If a
client were to come here with the intent of climbing the ice stream, they
would have to very strong, fit, and motivated. They would also have to be
incredibly reliable. It would take too long to the climb pitch by pitch,
but it was so steep protection would have to be placed, meaning the client
would have to be on their A-game. Although I was meant to guide it in the
next coming days, I have a hard time believing my client will be both fit
and technically capable enough to do a 2000m /6,000 ft ice flow to the
summit of Vinson Massif. So we will have to see when he arrives. If
nothing else we will make a rapid ascent of the mountain, assisted by skies.
Alpine style up and down in 3 days, that should get his heart racing.

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
vinson.base@antarctic-logistics.com

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Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.9.0/1778 - Release Date: 11/9/2008
2:14 PM