Mount Vinson | South Pole: Ski The Last Degree Cybercasts: January 2014

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Alpine Ascents Mount Vinson Expedition Team Four Continents, that is with Hugo from the Netherlands, Ron from Australia, and Mirza and sister Samina from Pakistan.

Today we climbed from Low Camp to High Camp and we are currently at High Camp tucked in our tents. We had a long day, a very windy day getting up here. But we set up camp, and got some hot water going, and had dinner. And now we’re just resting and sleeping, and looking forward to tomorrow. We’re going to rest tomorrow and potentially summit the next day if the weather’s good.

So we’re happy to be up here. Everybody’s doing well. And we look forward to checking in again soon.

Hello there friends, family, and loved ones Team Climb For A Smile checking in. We’re in Low Camp now but we had a very active day.

Winds dropped minimally, still pretty ragey up on the ridge. But we were able to boost all of our food, fuel, and high-altitude equipment up to the top of the Fixed Lines (which is about 12,000 feet). So, productive day- a 3,000 foot gain with our equipment. Hopefully tomorrow the winds will abate even more so and then we’ll move up to High Camp. If not, we might just take another acclimatization day down here low.

But everybody’s in good spirits. Just had one of those wonderful dinners, that you know, how often do you get glacier trout, right? Okay, yum. Everybody’s happy with that and we’re heading for bed. Sweet dreams and stay tuned for the further adventures of Climb For A Smile.

Good evening friends, family, and loved ones, this is Team Climb For A Smile.

Here we are at Low Camp once again because it’s been very windy up the hill. So we’ve been acclimatizing and building lots of red blood cells, and generally telling all of our stories, and just basically resting up and hoping that the weather will improve up above, the winds will drop. They’re about 35 knots up at High Camp. So we’re going to lay low and not push against nature here and just be patient and wait for it to change.

So we’ve been having great times: eating food, reading books, telling stories, and eating panjiri. Yes, here at 2750 meters above sea level, we have panjiri. I’m sure you know about that. It’s a wonderful Indian dessert; it’s full of nutrition, builds strong bodies, and great if you’re having a baby.

So stay tuned for the further broadcasts of Team Climb For A Smile. Ta ta for now!

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Alpine Ascents Mount Vinson expedition. Today is Tuesday, January 14th and today the Team Four Continents is holding tight here at Low Camp.

We’ve got high winds above so we stayed in Camp today and did some additional training, and had a nice afternoon lunch, and just getting ready for dinner, and then we’re heading off to bed.

Sounds like the high winds might continue for a few more days, so we might have to stay here and wait until they drop down and make it safe for us to ascend up to High Camp.

But everyone’s doing well and in good spirits. We’re having fun here on Mount Vinson. We’ll check in soon.

Hello there friends, family, and loved ones, this is Team Climb For A Smile, Vern Tejas reporting for all the members.

It’s been a very glorious day. We went to rope school this morning. And then we actually divided out our loads and squirreled some of our loads all the way up to the toe of the headwall, right at the Fixed Lines, the base of the Fixed Lines. “Fixed” lines? I didn’t know they were broke.

Anyway, we’re ready for tomorrow. Hopefully the winds will die down. I keep looking outside and it’s starting to look like Antarctica out there (laughter in background). Anyway, people are in good spirits. Everybody’s happy and healthy, well fed, not complaining too much about my cooking. So we’re all in good spirits.

We’re at 9,000 feet. The winds have been blowing up glacier about ten knots; it’s approximately thirteen below Celsius and so you do the math, okay?! Anyway, in the meantime tomorrow we’re planning on trying to get a load up to High Camp.

So stay tuned for the further adventures of Climb For A Smile!

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for the Alpine Ascents Mount Vinson climb in Antarctica with Team Four Continents. Again that’s Hugo from the Netherlands, Ron from Australia, and Samina and Mirza from Pakistan, and myself of course, from the United States.

We had a wonderful day today resting at Low Camp and also going part way up the Fixed Ropes towards High Camp. We acclimatized a bit by climbing up the Fixed Ropes and also got to practice what it’s like climbing on Fixed Lines.

A nice day here in Low Camp; it started off very windy, but the winds did die down later on. And we delayed our move up to High Camp probably by a day or so. Winds are reported to be pretty strong up at High Camp and the summit right now, so we’re just biding our time down here at Low Camp, taking care of ourselves, relaxing and waiting for our move to High Camp with good weather.

Everyone’s doing well and we’re having fun here on Mount Vinson. And we look forward to checking in soon.

Hey there friends, family, and loved ones, this is Team Climb For A Smile reporting in from Low Camp. We’ve now moved up from Base Camp up a couple thousand feet. We’re about 9,000 feet above sea level right now on the Branscomb Glacier, just below the actual massif ridge wall which is right above us, jumping up to about 3,000 feet (another thousand meters) above us.

Temperature’s about 13 below, that’s Celsius. And it’s a calm evening, even though the reports have been for high winds, we’ve been very blessed. The winds seem to be up on the plateau above us and not so much down here.

So we made very good time coming up here. Everybody’s in good spirits and we’re settling in for the evening. We just had our big dinner and just counting our blessings. Everybody’s doing well and the weather’s looking good.

So stay tuned for the further adventures of Climb For A Smile!

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for Team Four Continents on Mount Vinson.

Today we are taking a rest day at Low Camp and we are doing some acclimatizing and training. We’re training for the Fixed Line section on the Branscomb Ridge, which we’re planning to climb tomorrow, weather permitting. And we’re also hiking around, exploring some of the edges of the valley that we’re camped out in, looking over the ridge lines, and just generally enjoying our day here at Low Camp. It’s a beautiful day, no wind, lots of sun, no clouds, so we’re happy to be here.

Everyone’s doing well and we’ll check in soon. Thanks.

Hi, this is Garrett Madison calling in for Team Four Continents. And our Team is comprised of Hugo from the Netherlands, Ron from Australia, and Mirza and Samina from Pakistan.

We had a great day today climbing from Base Camp to Low Camp. And currently we’re settled into Low Camp. We just had dinner and we’re off to bed. Beautiful weather today on Mount Vinson, no wind, no clouds, so perfect views and very pleasant conditions to climb in.

We’re planning to take a rest day at Low Camp tomorrow and do some training for the Fixed Lines and take a hike over to the edge of the valley.

All’s well here on Mount Vinson. We’ll check in soon.

Hello there friends, family, and loved ones, this is Team Climb For A Smile with Vernon Tejas. We’re at Base Camp.

We spent the whole day in beautiful weather practicing our glacier travel skills. These guys are really good with the knots. Ankur and Sangeeta were just leading the parade when it came to hitches. And Scott and Bill were bringing up the rear when it came to rigging the sleds. And we all are very well versed in travel now and ready to rock and roll come tomorrow.

Ten o’clock in the evening; the sun is still high in the sky after a beautiful balmy day of probably ten below in Fahrenheit, but hey we’re enjoying it anyway. So stay tuned for the further adventures, and you’ll hear Sangeeta say “Are we going to Camp 1 today?”. Ta ta for now!