Hola everyone!

Welcome to first of our four Mountain Trip Mount Vinson Expeditions for the 2014-15 climbing season!

I’ve been in Punta Arenas, Chile for the last few days preparing for a season guiding the highest peak in Antarctica, Mount Vinson.

The first team has arrived with all of their bags and we are all in high spirits.  Today I reviewed everybody’s gear, because it’s important to have the right kit when headed to Antarctica.  We spent the evening getting to know each other over a great dinner with a wonderful variety of food on our table.  We had everything from two inch thick steak, Milanesas (tender, breaded steak), local seafood and crab.  Of course, we felt it appropriate to wash it all down with a nice bottle of Chilean red wine!

Chris, Jacob and the Malik twins at their first dinner in Punta Arenas.

Over the next few days, we are going sight-seeing and plan to check out one of the local penguin colonies here in Punta Arenas.  We also have a few meetings to attend prior to departing for the southern continent and we will buy our last-minute fresh food for the expedition.  Weather permitting, we will fly to Union Glacier this Sunday, the 7th of December, and then hop over to Vinson base camp.

I’ll be checking in daily along with the team members to let all of you at home know how our expedition is going.  We’ll take turns calling in audio posts from Antarctica, so please continue to follow our progress.  Although we won’t be able to see your comments until we get back to “civilization,” please leave them and…

Think warm thoughts for us!

-Jacob Schmitz, Punta Arenas, Patagonia, Chile