The First Vinson of the Season

We greeted an anxious and excited group of four clients on November 28th.
One client was from Spain, one from Luxemburg, one from Austria, and one
from the States. The group was very friendly and from the get go were all
happy to be with one another. They arrived very late on the evening of the
28th and after many cups of tea and coffee we sent them to bed. The
following day we spent most of the morning organizing gear and preparing
their technical equipment for the days ahead. Most all of them had
experience and the one that didn't was a quick study. Pachi and I split the
four into two pair and Namgya who was meant to be a ranger on V1 hitched a
ride on Pachi's rope team. Around 3pm we set off up the glacier on a
beautiful cloudless day. Although each person had different levels of
fitness the teams moved swiftly and efficiently, making it to low camp in
4.5 hours including rest breaks. My group arrived first and began erecting
tents. By the time Pachi and Namgya's rope team strolled into camp we had
two tents up. The evening was cold but calm. We cooked dinner in our new
posh tent (a tent designed for cooking, it looks like a circus tent) that
evening and after sent everyone to their tents. That evening the
temperature fell to -25. During the night my feet got very cold, which
isn't typical for low camp. Later I would find a small hole in the bottom
of my sleeping bag that had been slowly ejecting down feathers, leaving the
nylon limp, loftless, and frigged. Low camp is in shade from 2am-11am, so
we instructed the team to stay in their tents until the sun hit the tent
walls. Around 11.30 we assembled the group to discuss the day. Pachi and I
had decided to have the team take a rest day. Although the weather was good
enough to move we thought it best that they take it slow and acclimatize.
We did general chores around camp like building walls, fixing equipment, and
preparing for moving to high camp the following day. Later in the evening
Pachi took the group for a short walk to look at the old route to high camp
and to observe the start of the fixed lines. That evening was warmer and
everyone slept well. We all were up and moving at 11.30 the following
morning and to our advantage the teams were roped together and moving by 1
pm. Once on the fixed lines the team moved much slower and more deliberate.
One of my clients struggled to keep his breathing under control, but pushed
himself to each anchor before taking short breaks. It took us 4 hours to
ascend the 3,000' of line and an additional hour to get to high camp.
Pachi's team moved well and was only 30 minutes behind. When we arrived at
camp we were devastated by the fact that our cache had not only been covered
by 3 feet of snow, but the snow seemed to be impervious and hard pack.
There was one shovel handle exposed and after 30 minutes of chipping with my
ice axe I was able to free it from the glaciers strong grasp. With only one
shovel digging out our cache became an exercise in stamina. I felt like we
were in a prison camp being asked to do a manual task that seemed impossibly
challenging and appeared fruitless. Then a yellow tent bag was spotted. It
has started to snow and the cloud had enveloped camp hastening our efforts
and giving us all a sense of urgency. Once we pulled out the first tent
bag, a second and third were found, eventually giving way to a cave filled
with all the immensities we had left in the cache including food and fuel.
After melting snow for drinking water and rehydrating food for the group we
finally climbed into our sleeping bags around 2am. The night was restless
for many of us. Sleeping at altitude is never very pleasant. However the
night was warm which is also unusual for high camp. We arose to a mostly
clear day. One ominous fact kept us from trying to push towards the summit.
From the tops of the highest peaks in the range, white plumes of snow were
being blown leeward high into the ski. This meant it would be a windy
summit day, so we once again decided to have the group rest and mentally
prepare for the summit day ahead. In the morning we set off around 9 am
walking slowly cramponing the upper plateau of Vinson Massif. It took both
groups almost 6 hours to reach the base of the summit pyramid. Most
everyone was feeling the altitude causing the progress to be sluggish but
steady. As we wrapper around the base of the pyramid to gain the ridge
leading to summit the wind picked up. What had been a flawless day as far
as weather was concerned was beginning to cool off. With down jackets,
mittens, and goggles on we moved over the rocky terrain. This is the only
part of the route that feels exposed and alpine and I reveled in it.
Growing excited not about the summit, but about moving over stone, and
feeling the thrill of thousands of feet of air inches from each step. At
3pm we all stood atop the tallest peak in Antarctica. Everyone hugged and
expressed their happiness in various ways. Mine was a simple 30 second
phone call to Katie to let her know that I was safe and had gone as high as
possible! There was of course many summit photos to be had. Individual,
group, sponsorship photos, my fingers we numb and I really wanted to wait
for the second group to arrive. We waited on summit for 40 minutes, but
decided to move for fear of frostbite or worse. Just as we began to travel
back to the safety of the col, Pachi came cresting over a rock infested
mound. We hugged each of them as they past. Helmut the oldest, with the
last of the seven summits in his sights was already teary eyed and primed
for an emotional event. We congratulated everyone on their way to the
summit and continued quickly down. Once at the base of the summit block I
was able to relax a bit and enjoy the moment. The decent is always the more
tenuous portion of the journey for me. Although we had miles of crevassed
ice to cover before camp, I felt a release and smiled, ice cracking free
from my beard. It took us another 2.5 hours to get back to high camp. I
again congratulated them before firing up the MSR mountain stoves to melt
snow for water. Pachi arrived an hour later and we cheered them into camp.
Everyone basked in the moment, guides and clients alike. The evening was
calm and surprisingly warm. We made a plan to leave high camp early with
the intent on arriving all the way to base camp by 3pm. We had heard rumor
the a plane had come in and there was a prospect of flying them back to
Patriot Hills that evening. We all arose around 7.30am with tents still in
the shade and packed for a long descent. The fixed lines were in the shade
as well making the descent cold and slow, but the groups made good time,
arriving at low camp within only a few hours. The sun was just kissing camp
when we arrived. We stayed at low camp only a few minutes, picking up sleds
and full wag bags (the bags that each individual users to store his/her poop
in). We set off for VBC and within another 2 short hours we had covered
enough glacier to arrive at our destination. Our journey to climb Vinson
Massif had been a success and everyone was elated to be back. Darren made
the group a lovely soup and shortly after our arrival the Twin Otter arrived
to whisk the team away to the comforts of Patriot Hills. I was sad that our
time with them was short, but I was happy at or efficiency and pleased with
our results. Pachi, Darren, and I sat back and had a cold beer to celebrate
the success. Namgya unfortunately was requested to stay at high camp and
assist with another group moving up. He is still there today, waiting a
weather window to go back to summit with a different group. He is an
animal. The weather is currently very poor and I am again happy that we
were speedy enough to climb the mountain and return in good weather. As
always, if you have made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope all are
having a wonderful beginning to the month of December.

Cheers,
Chris

Vinson Base Camp
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions