January 11th, 2018
Twin Otter at Union Glacier (Greg Vernovage)
Let’s get caught up with the team on Vinson. Everyone understands that flying to the interior of Antarctica can be problematic, at best. 2000 miles (more or less), land on hard ice in an IL 76, then fly another hour in a ski-equipped Twin Otter to Vinson base camp. What could possibly go wrong? In the case of our current team —— NOTHING. Took off exactly on schedule from Punta Arenas, Chile and 6 HOURS LATER were putting up their tents at Vinson base camp. No way we can do better than that!
Team carried to C1, near 10,000 ft yesterday. Weather is still good, so they made their move up to C1 today. Forecast remains favorable. Doesn’t get much better, currently, than this.
Phil Ershler