Tag Archive for: Mount Vinson

Team Two Getting Ready in Punta Arenas

Vinson team two team photo

Our second Mount Vinson expedition team has assembled in Punta Arenas.  And they are looking forward to kicking off 2019 in style!  They rang in the new year in Chile last night and now are completing the pre-flight expedition logistics.  Today and tomorrow they will be organizing gear and attending the Antarctica flight briefing.  Hopefully, the weather continues to cooperate and the team will fly to Antarctica as scheduled on Thursday, January 3rd.

We are stoked to start off this exciting year of climbing adventures with teams on the ice in Antarctica!

Did you know:  Since 2017, the city of Punta Arenas and its region have their own time zone: they use summer time during the whole year (UTC−3).

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Vinson Summit Attempt Coming Soon!

Happy New Year!!!  Via sat phone, Garrett Madison reports in on the progress of team one’s climb to the highest peak at Antarctica:

Hey!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition in Antarctica.  Today is December 31st and we climbed up to High Camp (3536 m / 11,600 ft) today and moved in.  We setup our camp and had dinner and now we are all tucked in and ready for bed.

 

We had a good day; it wasn’t too windy, clear skies for the most part and sunny.  We are happy to be up here at High Camp.  We are thinking about going for the summit tomorrow or the next day, depending on the weather.  We will check in soon.  Thanks!!

(photo: Madison Mountaineering archives (Vinson, Jan 2018))

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Team at camp 1 (aka Low Camp)

Expedition leader Garrett Madison phoned in this dispatch via satellite:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering Mount Vinson expedition!  Today we climbed up to camp 1, “Low Camp”, from base camp.  We settled in here a few hours ago.  We had a nice dinner, some hot drinks and now we are tucked into our tents getting ready for bed.

 

It was a nice day!  It started off warm and sunny and then the overcast clouds kept it cool for us as we made our way up towards Low Camp.  Tomorrow our plan is to take a rest day.  Everybody on the team here is doing really well and we are happy to be on Mount Vinson!  We will check in soon.

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering archives)

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Team 1 moving up to camp 1 tomorrow

From the base on Mount Vinson, expedition leader Garrett Madison provides this update via satellite phone:

Hello!  This is Garrett calling in for the Madison Mountaineering / Adventure Guides Vinson Expedition.  Today is Friday, December 28th.  We are at base camp.  We had a carry today.  We went up half way to camp 1 and deposited a load of equipment, food, and fuel and other items in a cache.  Now we are back at base camp, just having dinner.

 

It looks like good weather so we are planning to move up to camp 1 tomorrow.  So we are excited to be moving up the hill!  Everyone is doing well here on Mount Vinson and we’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

(photo:  Madison Mountaineering archives)

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Vinson Team 1 at Base Camp

Vinson Base Camp

Lead guide Garrett Madison called in via sat phone with the following update:

Hi!! This is Garrett calling in for the Mount Vinson expedition.  We are at Vinson base camp!  We were able to fly from Union Glacier camp this evening around 6:30 PM.  We got to Vinson base camp around 7:30 PM.  We’ve set up our camp and we’re cooking some dinner.  We are looking forward to a good night’s rest.  Tomorrow we are going to do a carry up to Low Camp on Vinson.  All is well here and we’ll check in soon.  Thanks!

(photo:  © Santiago Urrutia)

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Standing by for flight to Antarctica

Vinson climbing team!

Our first Mount Vinson expedition team is standing by in Punta Arenas, Chile, waiting for good weather to fly to Antarctica.

Currently, the winds on the Blue Ice Runway at Union Glacier camp are too strong for a safe landing.  So we have to wait until conditions improve before we can take off.  The climbers are all packed up and ready to go.

In the meantime, we are passing the time by enjoying the many nice Punta Arenas restaurants, museums and local experiences.  We hope to have a good weather window in the next 2 – 3 days for our flight to Antarctica.

Did you know: Mount Vinson is named for Georgia Congressman Carl Vinson, the former Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

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Polar Explorers Mount Vinson team at high camp

Garrett Madison checks in with the Polar Explorers Mount Vinson expedition team. Our team climbed up to high camp in a single push and had a nice dinner before bunkering down for the night. The weather is holding good and the team will probably take rest day tomorrow before their summit attempt the following day. The team is doing well and everyone is enjoying their time in magical Antarctica.

Madison Mountaineering is a partner with Polar Explorer’s for this expedition.

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Explorers Mount Vinson

 

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Second Vinson team departs to Vinson after skiing to South Pole

After completing a ski trip to the South Pole, our second Vinson team departed Union Glacier Camp for the Ellsworth Mountains. After arriving at Vinson the team quickly moved up to low camp. Tomorrow our team will enjoy a rest day while reviewing technical climbing skills for the upper mountain ascent. All is well on Vinson and fingers crossed for the beautiful weather to continue!

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Audio dispatch by Garrett Madison

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Second Vinson team

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Vinson team returns to Punta Arenas, Chile

After a quick Twin Otter flight back to Union Glacier Camp, the Mount Vinson team took off on the Russian Ilushyn 76 for Punta Arenas, Chile. Congratulations to our climbers for reaching the highest point in Antarctica at 4,892m / 16,050ft!

Garrett will remain at Union Glacier Camp until the following team arrives from a ski trip to the South Pole. All is well on the ice and we will check in soon!

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Audio dispatch from Garrett Madison

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punta arenas

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punta arenas

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Expedition team summited Mount Vinson!!

On January 7th at around 3pm our Antarctica expedition team summited Mount Vinson! Garrett reported clear skies, hardly any wind and nice temperatures. The whole team had the summit to themselves on this special summit day. Now our team will rest and recover at high camp before making the descent to base camp. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to their return flight back to Union Glacier Camp. Team photos and video will be shared soon!

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Audio dispatch from Garrett Madison

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Looking out over the Ellsworth Mountains 🙂

Team summited Mount Vinson

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