Tag Archive for: Mount Vinson

Mount Vinson climbing expedition returns safely to base camp

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Mount Vinson climbing expedition. Today is January 19 and today we came from high camp down to Vinson base camp. We had a nice day, it was cloudy some light snow but not windy. Everyone did great coming down from high camp to low camp and all the way to base camp. Had a big meal hamburgers, pasta and a little champagne to toast our successful climb. Now we are just hanging out at base camp getting ready to go to sleep and waiting for a flight back to Union Glacier hopefully tomorrow. Then onward back to Chile and home. We have had a wonderful expedition we are down safe to base camp just waiting for a airplane to fly back to union glacier camp then a jet back to Chile. We will check in soon. Thanks.

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Mount Vinson climbing expedition

Mount Vinson climbing expedition

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SUMMIT: Mount Vinson expedition team reaches 4,892m / 16,050ft

Hello, this is Garrett Madison with the Mount Vinson expedition. Today is January 17th and we are at the summit of Mount Vinson! Beautiful day up here, got the summit all to ourselves. We are the only team up here on the mountain on high camp. And we are going to savor the top here for 45 minutes, take a few photos and then head on down to high camp and spend the night. Everyone did great today worked hard, and just a glorious day up here blue skies. Views of the Sentinel range, Ellsworth mountains, Tyree, Shinn and just a spectacular day up here, we will check in soon. Thanks.

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Mount Vinson expedition

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Mount Vinson climbing team on summit ascent!

Hey this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Mount Vinson climbing team. We had a great rest day today at high camp. Our plan is to go for the summit tomorrow. We are going to depart high camp by around 8am and hopefully reach the summit sometime in the afternoon and make it back to camp in about 12 hours time. Beautiful weather up here, hardly any wind today, suns been out all day and no high clouds. Really lucky hoping this good weather holds for us tomorrow. Then we will be down the following day to Vinson basecamp. Fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow and a fantastic summit. We will check in soon.

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Mount Vinson reaches high camp in Antarctica

Hello, it is the Mount Vinson team here in Antarctica. This is Garrett calling in today with a big day here for us, it is actually early 2am on January 16th and we are just getting ready to go to bed after a huge day climbing from low camp up to high camp. We made it up here a couple hours ago, took a while to have dinner and heat up our water bottles and get ready to bed. Everyone is doing well. We are up here at high camp the weather forecast looks good, we are going to take a rest day tomorrow. Hopefully summit the next day, the 17th of January if all goes according to plan. Beautiful views up here, 24 hours of daylight as usual in Antarctica this time of the year. Bright blue skies above us, all is well here in Antarctica, we will check in tomorrow. Thanks.

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Follow along with our friends at Polar Explorers for exciting news and photos as our team climbs Mt. Vinson! Stay tuned!!

 

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Mount Vinson team begins ascent after flight from Union Glacier

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Antarctica, Mt. Vinson team. Today is Sunday, January 15th and today we flew from Union Glacier Camp to Mt. Vinson base camp. And then began our climb up Mt. Vinson to low camp, which is at 10,000ft. We had a great day, very lucky to fly out of Union Glacier Camp arrived at Vinson base camp mid-day and then roped up and carried our packs and sleds up to low camp. Took us about six hours to get here. Had beautiful conditions, sunny skies and a few clouds to keep us cool. Everyone is doing really well up here and we just had a big dinner and are tucking into bed. Looking forward to a great day tomorrow we are going to try to climb up to high camp tomorrow as long as the weather holds. All is well here on Vinson, we are doing well and we will check in tomorrow.

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Follow along with our friends at Polar Explorers for exciting news and photos as our team climbs Mt. Vinson! Stay tuned!!

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Safe arrival into Union Glacier Camp

Garrett, Mike, Sam, Iñaki, and Todd are safely off Mt. Vinson and arrived in Union Glacier Camp after a quick ride on a Twin Otter today. It is located in the Heritage Range in the Ellsworth Mountains, on Union Glacier. Today they descended from Camp 2 to Vinson Base Camp after the weather conditions improved. After the flight to Union Glacier Camp the team enjoyed a nice warm dinner. The camp is positioned near Union Glacier Blue-Ice Runway that allows our flight out on a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft back to Chile. The team is doing really well and enjoyed an extra 4 nights on Mt. Vinson with 5o knot winds and -50 to -70 degree temperatures, but had a fun time staying warm with a complete success on the expedition.

Great job team!

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Audio Dispatch from Garrett Madison ~ Thursday December 10

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Center of Union Glacier Camp

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Rest day at High Camp due to strong winds

Today Garrett, Mike, Sam, Iñaki, and Todd took a rest day at high camp after their summit ascent yesterday. The team had a beautiful summit day with gorgeous views and no wind, allowing the whole team to make it to the top. Once Garrett and team arrived back at Camp 2 the winds picked up considerably and the team decided to enjoy a rest day instead of making the descent with high winds. Depending on tomorrow’s conditions the team will climb down to Mt. Vinson base camp, but could end up staying 2-3 additional days in order to make a safe descent. Our team has plenty of food and fuel and will be checking in tomorrow!

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Audio Dispatch from Garrett Madison ~ Monday, December 7

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Beautiful view of Antarctica yesterday!

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Summit of Antarctica reached!!

Today Garrett, Mike, Sam, Iñaki, and Todd reached the summit of Antarctica at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft). With clear skies our team enjoyed spectacular 360 degree views! A truly “magical” experience. Mount Vinson is more than 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the South Pole, making it the most remote of the Seven Summits. It was also the last discovered, last climbed, and last named of the Seven Summits. Mount Vinson is named for U.S. Representative Carl Vinson of Georgia, who served in Congress from 1935 to 1961 and was the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He was a influential lobbyist for government funding of American exploration in Antarctica. After an early morning summit push, Garrett and team were able to make it to the summit and enjoy the stabilized weather conditions which the team took advantage of. Now resting at Camp 2 with moderate winds, the team is preparing for tomorrows continued descent toward Union Glacier Camp.

Great job team!!

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Audio Dispatch from Garrett Madison ~ Sunday, December 6

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Garrett and team approaching the highest peak in Antarctica, at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft)!

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Summit of Mount Vinson!

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Summit of Antarctica reached!

Today Garrett, Mike, Sam, Iñaki, and Todd reached the summit of Antarctica at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft). With clear skies our team enjoyed spectacular 360 degree views! A truly “magical” experience. Mount Vinson is more than 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) from the South Pole, making it the most remote of the Seven Summits. It was also the last discovered, last climbed, and last named of the Seven Summits. Mount Vinson is named for U.S. Representative Carl Vinson of Georgia, who served in Congress from 1935 to 1961 and was the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. He was a influential lobbyist for government funding of American exploration in Antarctica. After an early morning summit push, Garrett and team were able to make it to the summit and enjoy the stabilized weather conditions which the team took advantage of. Now resting at Camp 2 with moderate winds, the team is preparing for tomorrows continued descent toward Union Glacier Camp.

Great job team!!

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Audio Dispatch from Garrett Madison ~ Sunday, December 6

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Garrett and team approaching the highest peak in Antarctica, at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft)!

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Summit of Mount Vinson!

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Climbing to the summit of Antarctica!

Garrett, Mike, Sam, Iñaki, and Todd are currently climbing to the summit of Antarctica! Mount Vinson is the highest peak in Antarctica, at 4,892 meters (16,050 ft). It lies in the north part of Vinson Massif’s summit plateau in the south portion of the main ridge of the Sentinel Range. Yesterday our climbing team set up Camp 2 as their staging point for the summit push. Waking up at 7am Garrett and team prepared to depart for the summit. Weather reports show terrific weather conditions and clear skies for our team. To the top!

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Audio Dispatch from Garrett Madison ~ Sunday, December 6

 

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