Our 2020 Mount Vinson expedition has arrived onto the southernmost continent! Jacob Schmitz called in from the Union Glacier camp, after the team flew from Punta Arenas, Chile to Antarctica.
The flight took about 4.5 hours, crossing over the Drake Passage and continuing down the Antarctic Peninsula. The Russian made Ilushyn IL-76 transport plane landed on the blue ice of the Union Glacier wheels down, which is a wild thing to behold – landing on what is essentially a HUGE ice rink!
The team will fly to the Branscomb Glacier aboard a ski-equipped fixed wing aircraft as soon as weather permits. They are on a brief weather hold today, so they worked on glacier skills, such as crevasse rescue and roped glacier travel. The plan is to launch for Base Camp tomorrow afternoon, if the weather continues trending favorably.
Here’s Jacob!
