Trip Reports
They are heading to the airport and flying to Antarctica in the next couple of hours! They’ve been waiting patiently, and are excited to be on their way. It typically takes a couple of hours to get everyone to the airport, and it is a 4 1/2 hour flight to the airstrip at the Union…
The team is on hold right now, waiting for weather to improve a bit in Antarctica before hopping on the plane. ALE has a pretty sophisticated weather forecast for the Union Glacier base area, with remote weather stations, and a full time meteorologist to help make the weather calls. It is usually winds that will…
The team dropped down from high camp to the bustling, city-like atmosphere of Plaza de Mulas today. They had a pretty easy time of it, although descending almost 6,000′ is rough on the knees by any account. They ate like kings in a comfortable dining tent and are nestled in their sleeping bags for the…
Our Vinson Team met today for their final gear checks and briefing before flying to Antarctica. It is always an exciting anxious time, each climber checking their lists one last time and guides going through every piece of gear to be certain everyone is prepared for the expedition. It was made a bit more challenging…
The team is back in high camp, ate some dinner and are settled in for the night after a successful effort today. They did great and are deservedly tired now. Tomorrow, after sleeping in a bit, they’ll descend to the Plaza de Mulas base camp where they’ll be back in the lap of luxury with…
David Bailey and Lawrence Cutler just called in from the summit of South America! The two climbers, with out guides Christian Kerrick and Fermin Avila are standing on top at this moment. They had a beautiful day to climb, following some incredibly high winds earlier in the week. The team was patient and deliberate, which…
The following two messages just came through from lead guide Chris Kerrick. Chris, Lawrence, David and Fermin are all at the base of the long, rocky gully known as the Canaleta, which leads right up to the summit, roughly 800′ above them. It sounds like they are doing really, really well, judging from Chris’s comments…
Welcome to the trip dispatches for the Mountain Trip Dec.13th Mount Vinson Expedition! Our team met today in Punta Arenas Chile to make the final preparations, and last gear checks before heading to Antarctica for this 2 week expedition to climb the highest peak on the coldest continent. We’ll be posting updates on their progress…
This report came in at about 5 am MST, about 2 hours ago. The team is headed for the summit of Aconcagua in beautiful conditions!! They called from an old hut, or rather the remains of an old hut, called Independencia, situated at about 21,000. They were still a good few hours from the summit,…
Lawrence called in this afternoon, but was cut off mid dispatch. We talked to the guys after that and they are all doing great after moving up to high camp on a beautiful warm day. It was a really amazing windless day up at over 19,000 ft on one of the windiest mountains around. Tomorrow…