All Antarctica expedition dispatches
Quick update on our third Mount Vinson expedition team:
On Friday (Jan 14th) made an attempt at the summit but were unfortunately forced to turn around due to wind and cold. Some other teams turned around as well. Yesterday (Jan 15th) was another stormy day, so the team hung tight at High Camp. Conditions are expected to improve on Monday, so they are hoping for another shot then.
Everyone is doing good and all’s well at Mount Vinson High Camp.
The team is in place at Mount Vinson High Camp and preparing to head for the summit tomorrow. Guide Terray Sylvester checks in with the details:
Hello, this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition. It’s the third climb of the season. Today’s January 14th.
We moved from Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft) to High Camp (3536m/11,600m) today. Now everyone’s tucked into bed and we’ll head for the summit tomorrow because tomorrow looks like the best weather – it may get a little windy after that.
So, we’ll be in touch tomorrow!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
Mount Vinson Team Three spent an active rest day at Low Camp today as they prepare to move up tomorrow. Guide Terray Sylvester provides the details of the day:
Hello, this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition. Today is January 12th and this is a third climb of the season.
We all spent the day at Low Camp. We spent part of the day refreshing the skills we will need higher on the mountain and then we also hiked to col near camp which is located on the original route up that was used on the mountain back in the ’60s. There were some great views from that col of both the Antarctica landscape and the Mount Epperly.
Tomorrow we’ll move to High Camp, if the weather permits. So we’re looking forward to that.
We’ll be in touch!!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
Our already speedy Mount Vinson Team Three flew from Union Glacier Camp to the base camp for Mount Vinson and immediately headed up the hill to Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft)! Guide Terray Sylvester checks in from there with today’s expedition dispatch:
Hello, this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition. We’re on our third climb of the season. It’s January 12th.
Today we flew from Union Glacier Camp to Vinson Base Camp – a beautiful sunny day. Then we moved directly to Low Camp (2774m/9,100ft). We just enjoyed a good dinner of hamburgers and tortellini with red sauce and sauted pumpkin. Now everyone’s heading to sleep.
Tomorrow we’ll take a rest day and then hopefully move on up to High Camp (3536m/11,600ft).
All is well! We’ll be in touch!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
Moving day! At long last our triumphant Mount Vinson climbers have returned to Punta Arenas, Chile and our third and final team of the season with guest guide Ed Viesturs have arrived in Union Glacier Camp. Terray Sylvester has today’s expedition dispatch via sat phone from Antarctica:
Hello, this is Terray calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition. It’s Monday, January 10th.
Our second Mount Vinson summit team flew back to Punta Arenas today and our third team of the season arrived here at Union Glacier. We had a nice dinner and settled into camp. Now it’s a beautiful sunny evening and we are just going to bed. We are looking for continuing on to Vinson Base Camp as soon as possible.
So, we’ll be in touch!
2022.01.05 Vinson team dinner in Punta Arenas
2022.01.05 Vinson team obligatory Punta Arenas photo
Ed Viesturs and climber Steve M. studying the Mount Vinson route
Climber Kristin B. doing the required daily COVID-19 testing in Punta Arenas (2022.01.05 Vinson)
Ed Viesturs and Quazi R. on the bus to the Punta Arenas airport (2022.01.05 Vinson)
Climber Eva Z. has her boarding pass and is ready to finally get to Antarctica! (2022.01.05 Vinson)
Climber Quazi R. boarding the Boeing 757 to Union Glacier, Antarctica (2022.01.05 Vinson)
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
An extra day at Union Glacier Camp for our Mount Vinson Team Two. Inadequate landing weather at Union Glacier forced the delay of the flight between Punta Arenas and Union Glacier until at least tomorrow. Guide Terray Sylvester lets us know how they have been staying busy:
Hello, this is Terray calling in the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 9th.
Today we woke up to light snowfall and low lying clouds, so the flight from Punta Arenas was unable to make into the ice, but tomorrow’s weather look better, so our fingers are crossed that our next team of climbers will be able to arrive and this team of climbers will be able to fly back North.
To keep ourselves busy today there were two talks: one on penguins in Antarctica and another on Roald Amundsen’s historic trip to the South Pole. We also got some exercise in on the 10k walking, biking, running loop here at camp.
We’ll be in touch tomorrow!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
Our adventures in Antarctica continue! We are in the in-between days separating the second Mount Vinson expedition and the long-awaited third Mount Vinson expedition with special guest guide Ed Viesturs. Guide Terray Sylvester checks in with the description of some of the fun things the team has been doing in and around Union Glacier Camp while they await their return flight to Chile and the guides Terray and Madison await the arrival of Ed and the third team of climbers:
Hello, this is Terray calling in the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 8th.
For the last few days we’ve been here at Union Glacier Camp waiting for this team to fly back to Chile and our next team to arrive here on the ice from Punta Arenas.
So we’ve been seeing some of the sites here around Union Glacier. A couple of days ago we went to a marble buttress known as The Elephant’s Head. It’s an interesting location. It’s at the head of a valley that’s scowered free of snow, one of the few snow-free landscapes here in Antarctica.
We were also able to see tracks of an ancent tirlobite in a rock there. Those tracks were probably left many, many years ago when that rock was at the bottom of the sea floor. We’ve also been enjoying talks on Antarctic history and exploration and nightly entertainment of documentaries and scrabble games.
So, with any luck this team will be flying back to Chile tomorrow, it just depends on the weather. And our next group will be arriving here in Antarctica with Ed Viesturs. We are looking forward to seeing them and getting the next climb started!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
Yet another satellite phone transmission that is incomplete from our team at Union Glacier Camp, but expert guide Terray Sylvester is able to squeeze out a little bit of detail today:
Hello! This is Terray calling in for the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 7th.
For the last couple of days we’ve been in Union Glacier Camp as we wait for this team’s flight home on the 9th – the flight back to Chile – and our next team to arrive. So there’s plenty of … [garbled and transmision cuts out] …
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
Our team is still checking in for Union Glacier Camp and doing well but the satellite phone transmission was pretty broken up this time! We’ll try again tomorrow, stay tuned!!
Hello, this is Terray calling in for the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition of the season. It’s January 5th.
Since our travel to Antarctica with this team and… [garbbled] …Union Glacier Camp… [garbbled and cuts out]
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram:
Another relaxing rest day at Union Glacier Camp in between Mount Vinson climbs. The climbers from the second team are waiting to catch their flight back to Punta Arenas and the third team is ready to fly into Union Glacier. Guide, Terray Sylvester, phones in today’s expedition dispatch from Union Glacier Camp, Antarctica:
Hello, this is Terray calling in for the second Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expediton. It’s Wednesday, January 5th.
Today we woke up to a bit of stormy, cloudy weather. So, we hunkered down, took hot showers, enjoyed some great meals, and attended a history lecture on the famous polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. And then in the evening, we watched a movie and stepped outside to see that the skies had cleared. Antartica has some of the clearest, cleanest air on the planet and of course it is sunny 24 hours a day here. So we stepped out into bright blue skies with mountains that surround us on both sides and the massive glaciers that pour down between them as well as the flat expansive ice that extends out towards the Weddell Sea to the northeast of us.
Tomorrow we will have a rest day while this group of guests waits for their flights and with luck we will go explore the Drake Icefall, which is a several hundred meter tall icefall just to the west of us.
So, we will be in touch!
In addition to these expedition dispatches, you can also follow our teams as they make their attempts on the world’s most formidable mountains on:
– Amazon Alexa devices with the Madison Mountaineering Flash Briefing skill:
– Instagram: