The team awoke early this morning to find light winds, so they began their preparations to head for the summit.  Everything takes a lot more time at altitude, near the Antarctic Circle, and before they were ready to break out of their tents, the winds had increased to about 25 mph, which creates much too cold of a windchill factor to warrant making an attempt.  Using the new method of conversion, they would have faced a wind chill of about -60F!

The team sat tight and continued to monitor the wind, which did not start to lessen until about 10:00 am.  The weather is a bit too unsettled, and the team needed to start well before 10:00 to have a reasonable shot today, so they have decided to sit tight and see how the weather looks tomorrow.

One of the more challenging aspects of expedition climbing is having the discipline and patience to wait for suitable weather.  Teams who push the weather occasionally get lucky, but often do not, and the risk of frostbite in -60F windchill is high.  The team has plenty of time and will wait for a more suitable day to move to the top of Antarctica.

Stay tuned!!

A Mountain Trip team fortifying their camp during weather similar to what the team experienced this morning.