December 11, 2009

Phil called in with some promising news for his Vinson Team… It’s looking good for flights off the ice today. A Russian IL-76 (pictured below) is scheduled to land at 5:00pm this afternoon and Phil and Co. will board the plane around 7:00pm for the 4 hour flight to Punta Arenas, Chile.

The Chilean Immigration Office is nice enough to keep the doors open for everybody which will make things a lot easier upon arrival. They’ll begin working on flights home on Saturday morning which should put most everybody home Sunday afternoon-ish.

Next up: George Dunn and his team will head down Vinson a day after un-wrapping their Christmas Presents. We’ll post updates on this climb as well.

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

December 10, 2009

After a successful summit the Vinson team made it back to Patriot Hills yesterday and is taking a well-deserved break to celebrate their summit… They just hope the break isn’t too long and visibility improves so flights off the ice resume to take them back to Punta Arenas, Chile and onto their homes for the holidays…

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

December 7, 2009

Phil called in this afternoon with great news – 100% on top of  Vinson Massif (16,067ft)! The weather finally cooperated and gave them a “great summit day”.

They’ll pull back into Vinson Base Camp tomorrow where they’ll catch a flight back to Patriot Hills and hopefully connect soon thereafter to Punta Arenas, Chile.

All is well in Antarctica… Great job everybody!

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

More on Vinson Massif.

December 7, 2009

Phill called in yesterday to tell us that the team is dug in at High Camp (13,000ft) waiting out the cold, the clouds and the wind. It looks like the weather is going to turn and give them a chance at the summit today…Everybody is feeling strong and ready to stretch the legs.

If they do summit today they’ll head on down to Vinson Base Camp tomorrow.

Think warm thoughts…

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

December 3, 2009

Phil called in a bit ago and said that all is well on the ice. They carried to High Camp yesterday and are enjoying a day off today. They’ll head up to HC tomorrow and spend the night and if all goes as planned they’ll touch the top on Saturday. Everybody is doing great so we’ll wait for the call from Phil over the weekend…

Stay tuned…

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

December 2, 2009

Phil called in this morning to report that the team successfully carried to C1 yesterday in good form. It was about a 6 hour day in clear conditions – everybody is doing well. After a cold night last night they planned to carry to High Camp today and weather permitting they’ll take tomorrow as a rest day and head up to High Camp on Friday. All is well from C1 on Vinson!

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

December 1, 2009

Phil called in to report that his Vinson Team landed on the ice on the 28th an quickly made it to Vinson Base Camp. They spent the 29th organizing their gear then made a carry to C1 on the 30th in some great weather.

The plan is to move to C1 today weather permitting…

Stay tuned!

Tye Chapman
Operations Manager

November 29, 2009

Phil Ershler called in at 9am Saturday the 28th, Punta Arenas time.

They just got the call, and the weather is a go, so they will be heading to the airport in one hour. The members are all excited and looking forward to a grand adventure.

The team was lucky to be delayed only one day by weather in Punta, which is way above the norm. All is well with the team.

-George Dunn