Climbing Vinson Massif

Antarctica - Vinson Massif December 17, 1993 - January 10, 1994

I visited Antarctica in order to summit the highest mountain, Vinson Massif. Before we embarked on this expedition we had summited, Mt. McKinley, Mt. Elbrus, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kosciusko. There is only one company that flies climbers onto the continent and that is Adventure Network International. Many other companies will advertise Mt. Vinson as their climb but they all go through ANI. We chose to go with Hall and Ball, Adventure Consultants out of New Zealand. Rob Hall had given us a call and gave us lots of information about the climb and his operation. Rob has climbed the seven summits in seven months and has also been to Mt. Everest 5 times and summited 3 times. We felt we were going to learn a few things on the trip. Rob promised to fill us in and work on techniques that would benefit us for the Everest climb. All the trips no matter which outfitter still cost the outrageous fee of $25,000 each from Punta Arenas, Chile. We signed up and were ready to go on our December 17th departure.

To prepare ourselves for the trip we did our usual running, NordicTrack, bicycling and pushup/sit-up routine. I was very busy at my job as a skydiving instructor so running was the exercise of choice since I could get it out of the way before jumping. Stan works out when he can since he is usually busy in the emergency room as a staff physician in Quincy, Illinois. I will write in a diary like form since Im using my climbing journal as a reference.

________________________________________ December 17th 1993 - Friday - Quincy, Chicago, Miami, enroute Santiago We got up at 4 A.M. for a scheduled flight out of Quincy at 5:30. We were at the airport by 5. The lady checked us in all the way to Santiago, Chile, which I always think never can be possible all the way from little Quincy. There was only us and another guy on the flight to Chicago. When it was time for the security check, the lady grabs the microphone and makes a big announcement that it was time to proceed to the x-ray machine. The women was standing right in front of us not 5 feet away. It was really just like the TV show "Wings" and the women look just like the lady on the show that works the counter. I didnt dare look at Stan for fear of totally bursting out laughing. I mean it was so loud it echoed in the empty terminal. We jumped on the small plane which was just like our own private jet with only 3 of us in there. The flight to Chicago was short and in no time we were standing in line for boarding our flight to Miami. No leg room on this flight and the damn "Free Willy" movie is on again. Got in Miami around 11:30 and our next flight is not until 11 tonight. Time to explore Miami, i.e. the most dangerous thing were doing on this trip! We took a bus downtown and explored the waterfront shops and restaurants. The Bayside area is really nice and we walked everywhere. Hardly anyone speaks English here. Good practice for South America, I guess. Soon the time flies and were back in the terminal waiting for the flight to Santiago to board. The plane is very full. We had lots of trouble getting tickets. Everybody is bringing on way too much stuff. I hate that. On the way, more food, movies etc and much needed sleep.

________________________________________ December 18, 1993- Saturday - Santiago, Chile Slept all night and soon we landed in Santiago at around 9 A.M.. Got through immigration OK and only had a slight altercation with some guy over possession of a luggage cart. I grabbed it and said it was mine but he wanted it. The guy was very large but I asked if he wanted to fight and he backed right off. We finally got our bags and cared them through customs. Four huge duffels are never easy to wheel through airports but we made it. Outside I visited the tourist place and they gave us a map of Santiago and told us where we could store luggage overnight. We have to stay one night here because there were no flights out to Punta Arenas. We stored the bags at a place right across the street and easy to get to. It costs around $1.50/per bag/per day. There are many ways to get into town and we took the least expense way, the bus. The busses here are very nice and cost only around $1.75 for a 30 minute ride downtown. The guy selling tickets told us about a couple hotels across the street from the downtown terminal so thats where we headed to. We checked in this interesting hotel. Well, interesting because Ive never seen hand rails on stairs shag carpeted. At least we wouldnt get splinters! Outside the window on the second floor is a water spigot. We took off walking around to see a little of Santiago. Not as quaint as Mendoza but a nice place. We ate at McDonalds for lunch. (We really get into experiencing the culture) Afterwards a quick ride on the subway took us to the foot of Cerro San Cristobal. There is a "funicular" which is a tram car that will take you to the top but of course we walked. Its a nice walk and at the top is an open air church a 100 foot statue of the Virgin Mary. The view is spectacular of the city below. There is also a sky ride type tram called a telesferico which goes via Tupalue to near the Valdivia metro station. After the walk down we stopped for some beers at a sidewalk cafe. South America has some of the best beer in the world and we really enjoyed the atmosphere of the little cafe. Dinner was much later at the customary time of after 9. Tons of people out walking a window shopping. We settled on Pizza Hut followed by ice cream. The ice cream is great in South American and they have a very large selection of flavors.

________________________________________ December 19,1993 - Sunday Santiago - Punta Arenas No problem catching the bus to the airport. We picked up the luggage at the storage place and found out the fee is per calendar day not 24 hours so we owed more. Ladeco airlines checked us in and we were herded into the waiting area. There is absolutely nothing there. We make two stops on this flight. The first was Puerto Montt. The airport control tower says" El Tepual Elevation 296 Pies." Pies!? What do they do, stack them up to measure? Pie in Spanish means foot. So I guess its 296 feet. Go figure! Later we landed at the Balmaceda aeropurto. This town isnt on my map so I dont know how far we have to go. The plane is full now and of course I have some rotten kid kicking the back of the seat. I already glared once and told him to stop it. During the lunch we past Torres del Paine. It was a spectacular sight with the unseasonably clear weather. The area was beautiful. They just rise up above everything around them. The surrounding glaciers and lakes are spectacular. We got a sight of the Straits of Magellan that Punta Arenas sits on. As we landed I noticed a Lockheed Hercules C-130 transport plane with SAFAIR on the tail and Adventure Network on the side. Im hoping were going to go in that. Stan said the DC-6 probably crashed and they got another plane. We picked up the bags and Rob and his wife Jan picked us up along with two other climbers, Robert and Dave. The drive in town was nice and the area is rather void of trees. The team meeting is scheduled at our hotel at 5 PM and a gear inspection following that. We went to the meeting and there was the SAFAIR C-130 pilots. Yahoo! thats the plane were going in. I must explain why Im so attached to C-130s. In Quincy during August of 1986, an event called the World Skydiving Convention was held. The organizer arraigned for SAFAIR to bring a C-130 from South Africa to Quincy for the skydivers to use to set a world record 120-person formation. During the Convention I made my first skydive (Tandem) out of the plane. Im rather partial to C-130s now. OK on with the meeting. The reason they are here is that the DC-6 did indeed crash while transporting equipment for the Vaughn expedition. Col. Norman Vaughn is 88 years old today and we all celebrated with cake and coffee at the meeting. He was supposed to dog-sled into the mountain range where the mountain named from him by Admiral Byrd is located. His goal is to climb "his" mountain. The DC-6 was carrying some dogs, equipment and snowmobiles for the expedition. There was a fuel leak out of the snowmobile and it filled the cabin with fumes prompting the pilot to turn off the heat. This in turn caused the windscreen to ice up. They were saving the alcohol windscreen fluid for just before landing but they didnt get a chance to use it. About 5 miles out they hit the ice landing much sooner than expecting. Same dogs got loose and lost and one man was seriously injured but thankfully no one was killed. The plane miraculously didnt catch on fire. Some of the folks involved with the expedition have been here since October. Whoa! After a brief meeting with the ANI folks I went to talk to the pilots and introduced myself as a skydiver. The pilots told me this was the exact plane that was in Quincy in 1986. Wow, my first jump plane! Im getting an autographed hat from the crew to take up to the top of Vinson. Were defiantly going to make it now.

________________________________________ December 20, 1993 Monday Flying to Antarctica Slight delay getting off by a couple hours because of weather but we got out at around 1 PM. There is around 18 seats in the plane toward the cockpit area. The rest is flat pallets for cargo. The plane is just like I remember. It feels strange being back in it. The crew signed my hat with there names and the words, "Welcome back on ZS-JIZ." Those are the call numbers for the plane. The ride is around 5 to 6 hours depending on the winds. The DC-6 took 8. They bring the temperature down before landing so we can get used to Antarctica. Its currently a heat wave there at -8 with calm winds. I still cant figure out who is in our group but that will soon become evident.

Patriot Hills, Antarctica Bright sun and vast whiteness everywhere and its midnight. The landing was not too bad considering we landed on ice. Its the only place on the continent that wheels are used. Everywhere else skis are used. One of the camp managers came aboard after landing in a T-shirt and shorts. This was the nicest day theyve had here so far. The blue ice runway is extremely slick and you have to be very careful not to fall. The camp is very nice with a big cook tent and radio tent. There is a Twin Otter and Cessna sitting near the ski runway. The food for supper was very good and we enjoyed our first "night" on "ice". Our new sleeping bags are very warm and were comfortable. I sense good luck.

________________________________________ December 21, 1993 Tuesday Patriot Hill - Base Camp The Longest Day of the Year (Again!) Got up at around 8 AM and packed. Breakfast was great. We waited for the weather report and soon the Otter took off with a group. We were manifested for the second Cessna load. Each flight takes about an hour to get to the mountain with around a half hour to unload and an hour back. The weather was moving in but our plane got off OK. The flight in was fantastic! The incredible vastness is overwhelming. Nothing but white. A spectacular mountain and wonderful landing area near the base camp. We touched down feather soft. We piled out and started to set up camp. The tent was up quickly and we soon had lunch. The weather was closing in at Patriot Hills but was great here. Stan and I went for a hike up hill to look at some ice falls. We need the exercise after sitting around. The planes are stuck here for now with three climbers still back in Patriot Hills. I think I have the groups figured out now. Our group with Rob Hall and his wife Jan also includes Stan, me, David Keaton and Dolly Lafever. Jan summited Everest last spring and is a physician in New Zealand. David is from California and climbed with Rob on Carstensz Pyramid and will be going with Rob to Everest. Dolly recently summited Everest and was to be part of the Vaughn expedition. The ANI groups leader is Alejo. The have 4 team members which include two Japanese climbers and two Americans, Robert and Bob. The Cessna pilot, Max and the cook, Hilda will also be climbing with the ANI group. The German group has three members and they will climb Vinson then Shinn. The final group is Jo and Jay Smith who will be establishing new routes on Vinson.

________________________________________ December 22, 1993 Wednesday Base Camp - 8,000 feet Most boring day so far. Very poor visibility so the planes cant leave and pick up the other three. It has been snowing lightly all day and there is no wind. We didnt do too much all day except eat, sleep and read. The normal mountain routine.

________________________________________ December 23, 1993 Thursday Base Camp Boring! Still here in base camp. Nothing changes here, not even the light of day. got to bed around 12 or so. Finished a book and started designing more skydives for this summer. The leader of the German group has summited Everest and was very helpful about information about the climb. There making a video of their climb and are really great guys. Dolly has tried both sides of Everest and gave us some insight on the Messner Couloir. The sun finally came out at around 3 but the weather wasnt good in Patriot Hills until around 11. Dinner was great including the white wine slush. The temperature really warmed up and I got sunburned again. The Germans made a carry to camp one. It took 4 1/2 hours and said its a lot further than it looks. Isnt it always! We practiced roping up and different tie off knots. Rob uses some interesting knots that we will start using for our other climbs. Our group looks very prepared for our climb. The other group is different. Bob has the body harness that looks absurd. Im not sure how functional it will be. He doesnt seem to be in very good shape at all. The Japanese havent said anything and keep to themselves. The Twin Otter flew out at around 1 AM and the Cessna finally got the remaining three climber in around 2 AM.

________________________________________ December 24, 1993 Friday Christmas Eve Camp 1 - 9,500 feet Got going at around 12:15 PM with full sleds and packs. I forgot how much I hate sleds! Not real steep but its around 6 miles up the glacier. Leisurely lunch at 2:30 and time to re-dress for the heat of the glacier and extreme sunlight. We headed up a steep section at a good pace. We got up to Camp 1 at around 4:30. Got the tents up quite and dug a very nice cook tent area. Took quite a while but we did a really nice job excavating and designing the interior. I took the ice saw and cut a nice block of ice. I carved a Christmas tree for the camp and trimmed it with an ornament my Mom gave me to take to the top. We were having tea and the other group showed up. Bob staggered in and dropped to his knees after getting to the camp. I hope he recuperates fast because I have a feeling its not going to get any easier. We got dinner going and they set up. We were going to drain the pasta water off when Max asked if he could drink it. The Japanese held out their metal cups for some also. They politely sucked it up out of those horrible lip burning metal cups. Later after everyone was fed the Germans came over and sang carols. They brought a tear to my eye listening to the German carols. Everyone started singing carols and Alejo surprised all of us by coming out of his tent in a penguin costume with Hilda handing out Christmas treats.

________________________________________ December 25th, 1993 Saturday Camp 1 Still here. Bummer, snowing all day.. We just about left but Jan isnt feeling well. She has a touch of altitude sickness. Were not really high but she says this is the usual altitude she gets it. Decided to do the usual; eat, sleep and read. Christmas dinner is going to be great. Chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and dressing. Yummy!

________________________________________ December 26th, 1993 Sunday Camp 2 11,000 feet Cold, cold, cold. It was around -30 last night or colder. Yikes, it snowed in the tent! We got up at 11 or so and that was way too early. We packed up and got out of there at around 2:45 or 3:00. We had a slow pace at the start but picked it up so we didnt start freezing. The trail was not too bad until the last when it got much steeper. It was hard up the final section and our calves and thighs hurt. There wasnt much room at the camp site so we cut out tent platforms and a cook tent area. Hard work but we could keep warm. We worked a couple of hours and then the other group split into sections. The Japanese were with Hilda and Robert. Max was alone and Alejo was with Bob. He was again very slow. I dont think he will make the big climb to camp 3 tomorrow. We ditch the sleds here (Yahoo) and go with packs. My cassette really helps me get through the tough parts. Everyone laughs at the "Kick Butt" title I gave the cassette but the music is really great and helps me get through the boring sections.

________________________________________ December 27, 1993 Monday Camp 3 13,000 feet Took around 4 hours and 15 minutes to get up here. Actually we had a long lunch stop and we could have cut off 45 minutes. Bob and Alejo started early by about an hour or an hour and a half. We took off at 3:15 and caught them within 20 minutes. Bob decided to give it up and Aleyo led him back to Camp 2 for the night. Stan led and had a good pace up the hill. My pack was heavy even though we left lots of stuff back. The climbing was spectacular. At the top of the hill there was a fantastic ice fall. The view is almost indescribable. Huge seracs at the top and looking down the hill there is a peak in the shape of a perfect pyramid. Further on is vast whiteness with a smattering of dark peaks that look like islands in the clouds. Beautiful. We got to the lunch spot before the seracs and rested. The Germans were coming down from making a carry and we all ate together. Finally we were off and into the ice fall. Of course, I fell in a crevasse. I tried stepping across and must have caught the lip. When I brought my other leg across it gave way. I only fell in up to my waist but it was scary. I crawled out while Jan tugged on the rope. Slowly we made our way up to the col. The wind picked up and I was chilling fast but I could see the camp so I didnt stop to put stuff on. By the time I got to camp I was really cold. Rob helped me get out of my crampons and ropes and into my down clothes. I got warm right away and helped set up camp. Really cold here and its not going to be a fun camp site. No cook tent so we dug out a cook area. Hopefully we will summit tomorrow so we dont have to stay here too long. The soup warmed us up and dinner will be soon. Too cold to stand around the kitchen area. The sun is blocked by the hill to our left. The sun in the Antarctic really just goes around the sky in a small circle. Its very strong and when its blocked by the surrounding mountains the temperature drop is profound.

________________________________________ December 28, 1993 Tuesday Camp 3 Summit Attempt Wake up was at around 8 AM. Slowly we got dressed. I put on everything I had except the down stuff and my pile jacket. We were cold outside getting breakfast and came right back for the tent to eat. Roping up we were ready to climb at around 10:45. The trail is steep at first then a gradual climb. It was around 10 to 25 below but with everything on it felt fine. My feet and hands tried to get cold but I wiggled and wiggled my toes and fingers. We took a couple breaks for clothing re-arrangements and snacks. The mountain looked great for a while then started getting cloudy and looked very windy. It was around 2 PM and 14,870 feet when we decided to turn around. About 2,000 feet of climbing in 3 hours 15 minutes. Thats a decent pace, I think. At 500 feet an hour we would be on the summit in 6 hours and down in 4. I think it took about an hour to get back to camp. Our team was really psyched to make it and felt good. My hands started getting cold and I used 2 chemical heaters. Now I only have 2 more left for tomorrows attempt. Im going to bring a ton of these on Everest. I find if my hands are warm my entire body is warm. Aleyo bounded up from Camp 2 to bring some fuel and other supplies. He made it in under 2 hours and got down in 20 minutes. He is going to guide Bob down to Base Camp and wait for us there.

________________________________________ December 29, 1993 Wednesday Camp 3 2nd Summit Attempt Very cold last night and Rob woke us up at 8 from a sound sleep. After a little tea and breakfast we were on our way at 10:20. I was lead on our rope and we took a fairly quick pace. It was warmer than yesterday once we climbed the steep section right out of camp and got onto the "football field" section. I had on Patagonia light weight underwear top and bottom, Pat. cool weather top and bibs, Pat. expedition weight underwear top and bottom, Marmot pile bottoms, Moonstone Gore-Tex bibs, North Face Gore-Tex Mountain jacket, Pat. expedition weight glove liners, Early Winters "heater gloves", REI pile hat, Pat. balaclava, Hind polar 100 stretch hat and sunglasses. In my pack I had my Lowe pile jacket, Marmot 8000 meter down pants, Feathered Friends Rock and Ice down parka, OR expedition mittens, and extra liner gloves. I had a few things for the summit that were given to me also packed in my down jacket. Skydive Chicago gave me a T-shirt, South African Air a baseball cap, my Mom gave me "Vinnie" the kayaking penguin ornament, and I always bring a Quincy College pennant. Other necessities include an insulated water bottle, goggles, extra sun glasses, film and an ice axe.

We made great time and stopped a couple times to eat and drink. Felt strong mentally and physically. My legs never got tired and the pack didnt dig in. Everyone on our team was really doing fantastic and we past our high point from yesterday cutting off almost 1 1/2 hours. There is a steep section past the "football field" which Rob said was around 35 degrees. It felt like 45 to me. We headed up to a little outcropping we called the "birds nest and dumped our ski poles. The Germans filmed us coming up. I said the usual "Hi, Mom" and cranked up. I was so surprised I wasnt out of breath. The next section was even more killer. We unroped because it was so steep. Jan and I took off up the steeper section instead of making a traverse to come up some rocks. I like the direct access to get it over with quicker and faster. It took a bit to get up but Jan, Stan and I got up in good time. From on top of this ridge you could see Base Camp. Aleyo signaled us with his mirror and we all waved. He must have been watching all afternoon for us. It was amazing how the mirror catches your eye. It started to get really cold from the wind blowing on the ridge so we put on our down parkas and ditched the packs in the rocks. The climb to the summit isnt really far and didnt take long. The last part is fairly steep but one of the Germans kicked in good footholds as he went to the summit. Stan popped over the ridge and then me. We walked hand in hand to the summit. The view was magnificent and the weather was perfect. I took almost a roll of film just on the summit. Dave, Stan and me had a photo of us with the High Pointers Club flag. Theyll love that. There was a Sierra Club metal tube with a summit register inside. Not too many names in there! I think we are around 150 or so. On top with us was, Dolly, Ekka (one of the Germans), Dave, and the two Japanese. Hilda had trouble up the steep stuff and the two Germans, Rolf and Lutz went back and helped her up. That was really nice of them Rob had Robert on a rope and was moving slowly with him. Today there will be 14 more climbers including 5 women summiting. It was windy but we stayed almost 45 minutes. Thats the longest Ive ever stayed at any summit. We were going to wait for the others but my feet started getting cold so we started down. Everyone else was coming over the ridge now while Rob belayed Robert over. He had a tough time coming up. The steep sections really took it out of him but Im glad he stuck it out and made it. We started down to the saddle. I put on more clothes and packed my stuff up for descent. I hate going down! Dave in his modified Sorels had a really tough time going down the steeps. How he kept those crampons on is a miracle. He said it was really hard and his feet were freezing. My hands were frozen at the "Birds Nest" and Dolly warmed them up in her arm pits. It worked well and we continued on to the lunch spot. Nothing spectacular on descent just slogging away for hours. The fast descenders, Dolly, Jan and Max, left first in order to get supper cooking. Hilda, Dave, Stan and me were on a rope and Hilda threatened us with mortal injury if we went too fast. We started the "Batan Death march" back to Camp 3 at the pace of a snail and got back at around 10:15 PM. A nice hot cup of soup was waiting for us that tasted great. Later we had Ramen and peas. It felt good to get back!

________________________________________ December 30, 1993 Thursday Camp 3 to Base Camp Got up around 8 AM then fell asleep again. Slow to get our butts out of bed. Got some cereal and started packing. Lots of stuff to carry down. Started around 2 PM(Where did the time go?!) and the clouds were in the lower valleys and kept moving down with us. We hit the icefall and took lots of photos. Spectacular! We wound our way through slowly. The sun was really nice and warm and made for nice pictures. Further down we saw that a huge ice section had avalanched off the face yesterday and slid over our trail. It was all ice chunks, some the size of cars. The blue ice was beautiful. Killer avalanche if it crossed our path while we were there. It wiped out around 20 to 30 minutes of our trail. We got to Camp 2 and re-packed and picked up our sleds. I was last on our rope so there wasnt anyone to take care of my sled. Adventure abound! Down we went with sleds all over the place. Jans kept "dancing" while mine was "biffing" me in the ankles and trying to "take me out." The clouds stayed put and it was colder now. Long walk to Camp 1. Probably 3 miles or so. Visibility wasnt too bad I this section and we continued on having sled problems. Finally we got to Camp 1. Joe and Jay were there. We all congratulated them on their summit route. Jay hasnt named it yet. They look great and are staying for another 3 weeks establishing new routes. We gather our stuff and continued down the next 6 miles to Base Camp. Killer hills for the sled. The hill is sloping down to the left while we traverse the hill going right. The damn thing just about pulled me off my feet a couple of times. Very slick and with the weight of the sled tugging it was hard to keep going. We got through the section but my left arm hurt from yanking on the sled. The visibility went to zero very soon. The guys on skies were way ahead and Robs rope team was ahead also. We kept having sled problems. Crevasses everywhere and we were quite alone. Stan did his best to follow the trail but it was difficult. Once in a while the fog would lift and I saw a huge icefall and cracks in the ice. Jan and I turned to each other and decided this was scary. When I looked back for a moment the crevasse appeared again. It was like a nightmare. I looked down and saw all the holes where everyone was falling through. Then I was thinking what would happen if one of us fell in. We kept trudging away continuing with the sled adventure. At one point Stans sled decided to go out of control and flipped. I started laughing hard and Stan turned around and his sled flipped again before he knew it was over. I almost wet my pants laughing so hard. He looked at Jan and I like we were mad women. His sled was named "Flipper" of course. I named mine "Willy" as in "Free Willy" and Jans was the "Blue Whale". They had there own personalities and we beat them frequently with ski poles in an effort to train them.

It seemed like it took forever to get to Base Camp but soon we saw the Cessna and were home again. Bob and Aleyo welcomed us back. We set the tent up quickly and then went in the cook tent for tea. Supper was great. Chicken, steak, rice and corn. Vino Tinto to the max. Great time had by all and lots of laughs and jokes until 3 in the morning.

________________________________________ December 31, 1993 Friday New Years Eve Base Camp to Patriot Hills Woke up rested and ready to go. Heard that the Cessna was taking off with Hilda, Bob and Jan. Waved at Max and off he went. We were going out on the Twin Otter later in the day. We packed up and Stan made me toast in the cook tent. Yummy! The Otter flew in and made a smooth landing that took about 100 feet to stop. We loaded it up and hopped in. Felt strange to be in an Otter with seats and no parachute on. Finally flew out at around 2:40 PM. Beautiful sun and sky. We took a trip around the mountain and took lots of pictures along the way. The mountains peeking out of the uniquely blue ice was a site. The pale blue ice surrounding the mountains looked like islands in the Pacific. Hundreds of unclimbed mountains everywhere. On the way in we saw the crashed DC-6. Looks like he bellied it in hard. The engines are all tore off and the wings almost off. We made a very smooth landing at Patriot Hills. The crew unloaded the plane and we walked over to get some tea and visit with the "South Pole People". It was windy here and felt colder. After tea, it was time to put the tents up. We dug out an area and then held down the tent. The wind was starting to get stronger but we got the tent secure. Took a mini-bath with "Wipies" and a thermos of hot water. Felt great to get "clean" again. Put on my expedition weight underwear and I was ready for the party. Dinner looked great. Bar-B-Qued meat, hamburger, baked potatoes, salad, corn and rolls. Cold beer and wine and later a cake in the shape of Mt. Vinson with all the camps marked out. Really a nice party. At close to midnight the crew handed out party favors and hats for the celebration. Chilled wine glasses and champagne followed for a New Years toast. It burned my lips so I only drank a little. We left at 12:15 with the sun shinning brightly in the sky and headed off for our tent. It was very windy with gusts up to 70 mph during the night. Slept good except for getting hot in the sleeping bag.

________________________________________ January 1, 1994 Saturday New Years Day Patriot Hills Its now around 4:30 PM. Time for soup/lunch. We got up at around noon and headed in for breakfast. Everyone is moving slowly from the partying last night. The weather is around 0 degrees with a wind chill of around minus 20 or 30. Boring around here. I cant imagine being out here for a week or two. There is nothing to do but read and eat. Really windy and not much to do. Im thinking of gong back to the tent and reading maybe.

Almost 6 PM and really nothing to do. Were in the tent now. Not really super cold but the wind is fierce. Should go for a hike around camp for something to do. Might get blown away though. Dinner is supposed to be around 7:30.

________________________________________ January 2, 1994 Sunday Patriot Hills Well, boring! Still here and it looks like we will be another night at least. The wind is still here and a storm has blown in. Actually I dont really care but it would be nice to keep the airline reservations weve mad. Slept good through the night. Windy but warm relatively speaking. The clouds are still rolling in so it looks very bad. Not even fun to be outside.

11:30 PM. Still nothing to do. Ate all day for excitement. We played Scrabble for a total of 8 hours. No C-130 yet. Weather is not stable enough.

________________________________________ January 3, 1994 Monday Patriot Hills 3:10 PM Went to bad at around 3 am. Blowing like crazy out. The winds would hit around 80 to 100 mph. The wind blew down from the top and pushed the tent down. We still slept good with all the noise. Getting up routinely at 11 to 12 noon. We played more scrabble again. Getting a little burnt on it now. The German/English guy named Harry is driving everyone bonkers. His boy, Robert is really a pretty nice kid. Very smart for 11 but his father is strange and irritating. Last year they both visited the North Pole so Robert could be the youngest to do that and now the South Pole. Im waiting for the 4 PM soup time. Then of course dinner is at 7:30. Nothing really changes around here. Way too windy to go outside. Its like being trapped. Have to go out to pee soon. Should be a real adventure. The "Wee" cave is all blown full of snow and you have to slide in like a seal to get in there. I shoveled it out in the horrendous wind but it blows shut really fast. There was a time frame last evening the C-130 could have come but no deal. They have to have it perfect to fly. I guess this is good training for Everest base camp. Must bring a portable Scrabble and dictionary.

Rob helped us put together our ascenders with 3/4" tape fitted to our arm length. We made a leash like thing with a biner on it to use on fixed rope. Very helpful suggestions especially with the figure 8 usage. The biner on a leash gets clipped on a jacket so its ready to go.

9 PM Just finished putting another fly over the tent. Ours ripped at the side and would have been gone by morning. Luckily their was another Eureka tent around. Blowing like mad and I guess its around 110 mph on some gusts. I got blown around big time. The shovel blew about 10 feet on the snow. The wind is the strongest Ive ever seen anywhere. I could lay on the wind and get into a tracking position for skydiving or sit back on the wind. Incredible.

12:25 AM Just came back from the "Wee" cave. Yow! Its blowing like crazy. I tried to dig out the underground bathroom and I really needed a belay! I shoveled out the entrance to the kitchen that was almost gone. The Korean lady was video taping the snow blowing. Robert taught me that "Tonto" means "Crazy".

________________________________________ January 4, 1994 Tuesday Patriot Hills 4:30 PM The weather is now great. Ten to fifteen knot cross-wind for the blue ice runway. I hope to hell they go today. It would work out perfect. But its up to the Herc. guys they say. they are working on the ski runway for Max to fly out for the Germans. I really shouldnt get my hopes up since its probably all for nothing. Last night the wind was strong and beat our heads in from the side. The snow is accumulating and the tents getting smaller. The Herc will be bringing in 26 people including the Vaughn expedition. I cant imagine being Col. Vaughn and waiting all this time. Theyve been here since late October. Thats a long time. The Germans will be flying in after dinner.

7:30 PM The weather isnt great. Clouds coming over the Patriot mountains so it looks bad for the C-130. Hopefully we will go out tomorrow but the flights are still all messed up now.

________________________________________ January 5, 1995 Wednesday Patriot Hills, Punta Arenas, Chili No wind all night and slept good. Got up around 11:30 and got dressed. We heard that the Hercules took off around 11:30 from Punta and said it would be here around 6. I doubt that it should be around 4:30. We cleaned out the tent at around 2 and got stuff packed away. After the stuff was arraigned I decided to wash my hair. I filled up the black shower jug with hot water and carried it over to the shower tent. Tying it up to the tent frame I bent down to get my hair wet. Really hard to do but worth it. Shampoo went OK but I think I put hand lotion on my hair instead of crease rinse. Oh well, its cleaner than it was. Felt good to have warm water on my head. Dried off with a hand towel I found laying around. I pulled on my jacket and made my way back over to the cook tent. Combed my hair and Hilda yelled that the Herc was 25 minutes out. Scramble by everyone to get stuff prepared. Someone forgot to wake up Harry and his kid and they were still sleeping. Ekka was out skiing to the wreaked DC-6 so when the Herc flew over he skied like crazy to get back. Soon we were ready to get on the plane. I met Vern Tejas and a couple other guides for the Vaughn expedition. The Herc guys were really happy we made the summit and I promised to send a photo of the hat at the top. Soon we were strapped in a ready for take off. It was really rough but fun. Bouncing along the ice in this huge plane. Lift off and we were airborne over Antarctica. The flight will take about 5 1/2 to 6 hours so we should settle in. I think there is a load of tell tale black "poop" bags back there and maybe thats why they wont turn up the heat. Its freezing in here and we cant get to our packs. We saw our first sunset in a while. Pinkish cast on the clouds. There are a couple thermoses in the food stuff but there arent any cups. Stupid me, I used a wax cup to get some hot water. Well, it was hot but I had to drink hot wax while the cup melted. Yuck! Hot drinks would have been really nice right now.

12:15 AM Landed in Punta Arenas! We loaded up in a bus that was waiting for us and talked to Sol, the lady from ANI. We checked back into the country and got another white tourist paper. She had information about our flight changes. We were to have flown out on the 5th. Right now we are stand by on the 8th and ticketed on the 9th. She said she would work on it more tomorrow. We headed off for the hotel. At the Plaza hotel we got out with Dave and lucky for us Jan had a reservation that wasnt going to be used since she stayed in Patriot Hills with Rob. We grabbed it and had our room. Sol said she would have our bags delivered later. The bags were locked and she didnt have the right valuable packet with our keys and wallet. I made do and took and shower and washed my hair with Dial soap and put on the shirt I carried to the summit. I read a little then got to sleep around 3 AM

________________________________________ January 6, 1994 Thursday Punta Arenas I learned how to break into my duffel with a lock on it! Fished around in my day pack and came up with the keys and soon I had on clean clothes. Met David for breakfast and got the international dialing code for AT&T so I could call Dad. Got through right away but had to put up with the satellite echoing. Got the message to him that we were going to be late and didnt know our flight home yet. Called Sol later and she said we would be flying out on the 8th with the same schedule for most of the trip. Only the Punta to Santiago section is later. We headed out to get stamps and postcards then to another hotel to meet the group. Before we went out to see the penguin colonies, Dolly, Robert and David went out and bought picnic stuff. We all piled in the van and took off. Around an hour later we arrive at the penguin colonies. It was windy and cold but we saw the penguins in their burrows and around the Straits of Magellan. The picnic was great and we had lots of beer, bread, cheese and ham. It started rain so we headed back. More wine on the way back and lots of mountain stories. Later we decided to meet for dinner and at 9:30 we started walking around Punta. Finally we ended up at a Spanish place. Stan and I had a dish called Paelle. It was good but took 2 hours to get. We werent too hungry after eating all the bread they could bring us. Robert was telling tales of himself on the mountain. He now says the tea in the thermos caused him to breathe too hard and thats why he had trouble. I dont think so! The Germans are really a great group and have an expedition on Everest s South Col route next year. They asked us if we wanted to go but it depends of course on how this year goes.

________________________________________ January 7, 1994 Friday Punta Arenas We decided to visit the famed cemetery today. Really is a sight. Everybody is above ground and it some sections it looks like a mini-hotel. They store them in concrete stacks with these glass window panes that people put stuff in. Walked around here for over an hour looking at all the graves. Got some bread and sweets for lunch and walked back to the hotel. Dave is leaving today and we helped him bring his stuff down. Dolly wants to meet for dinner tonight at 8. Later in the day we walked up to ANI where Sol gave us some shirts and hats. We got directions for the pilots house and walked over. We wanted to pay them for the shirts but they werent there. We got some ice cream and walked more. Saw the old guys this morning from the "South Pole" group. The Dutch guy said he didnt have a flight out of Santiago until the end of the month. Im not thinking were got it made until were home. Anything can happen. At 8, we walked over to Dollys hotel but the lady told us she flew out to Santiago this afternoon. We headed over to the Golden Dragon anyway for dinner and had the 2 person special that was great. Dolly had stayed with the owners of this restaurant while waiting for the Vaughn expedition to get underway. She said they were really nice and let her camp out there. After dinner we went to our favorite cafe, the "Vomit" as Stan calls it. I think its called the "Nomit" really. They cook looks like John Belushi and I expected him at any moment to start yelling, "Cheebuuger, Cheebuuger, Petsee, Petsee," like the old Saturday Night Live skit. The espresso doble was good and strong and capped off a nice day.

________________________________________ January 8, 1994 Saturday Punta Arenas - Santiago We walked up to the pilots house this morning and gave them the money. Denis was there and we chatted for a little bit before heading off. We walked back and waited until the Natural History Museum opened. What a crazy place! The over powering smell of moth balls hits you when you first got through the door. Lots of poorly stuffed animals with this white dust unevenly spread over them. Really a strange place. They have a two-faced sheep and a Siamese goat or dog. I couldnt really tell what the heck it was. Little rooms filled with junk. Rocks, plants, animals, birds. There was strange animals stuffed in fluid filled jars everywhere. I think much of the displays had to do with missionary work in Terra del Fuego. Walked back and read until Sol came to pick us up. The two older guys were with her also. The Dutch guy is trying to get a flight out of Santiago and figures it would be better to negotiate there. We got to the airport and checked in. The flight was scheduled 15 minutes later then we thought. Anyway it ended up taking off an hour late which puts the flight connection almost impossible to make. I sense the day will get more exciting as we miss our flight in Santiago.

We landed at around 10:30 PM, an hour late. We saw the United Airline plane sitting there and rushed off the plane trying to have them hold it. They radioed around and then we ran inside. I got to the ticket counter while Stan got the luggage. The guy at the counter said the flight was full and they were doing standby listing. I pleaded with him that we were confirmed this morning and have been waiting 4 days for the flight. He first offered $400 worth of travel vouchers each and a flight tomorrow. I said I would have to wait for Stan. A couple minutes later the guy, Carlos said there was no more standbys. Stan showed up and Carlos said they would put us up at the Sheraton and give us dinner, breakfast, and lunch. Also we would get transportation to and from the hotel and confirmation on tomorrows flight. We said OK and waited a little more for the paper work to be done. They ended up giving us both $400 worth of travel coupons also. Ill take that. So now everything is set including boarding passes for the flights. Yahoo. We picked up the van and headed off to the Sheraton. It is one of the finest hotels in Santiago and one of the top 28 in the world. I would imagine it costs around $250 to $300 to stay here a night. We checked in a stored the big bags then got dinner. We got to sleep around 3 AM.

________________________________________ January 9, 1994 Sunday Santiago - flight to Miami Slept until after 11 and then ordered room service. Decided to walk to the Parque Forest which is one of the nicest areas in Santiago. Really nice out with the temperature around 85 degrees. We walked around 5 or 6 miles through the park. Came back and turned on the TV and watched ESPN and football. Later at lunch by the pool and read. We got a call later in the room that they were here to pick us up an hour early. Got to the airport and we were surprised that it wasnt that busy...yet. The lady upgraded us to business class for the Santiago-Miami section and gave us the boarding passes for the Chicago-Quincy section. So far so good. Had a coke to spend our last 500 pesos and relaxed. When we came out the terminal was chaos. All the counters were packed. Got through passport control and security and waited in the infamous passenger lounge. Hopefully everything will go on schedule from now on. Even if it doesnt we will be in Miami and can handle that.

________________________________________ January 10, 1994 Monday Santiago - Miami - Chicago - Quincy No problems on the flight. Business class overnight was nice. The food was OK but nothing great. We left 45 minutes late out of Santiago but whos surprised. No problems in Miami through customs and passport control. We rechecked bags and headed up to check in again. Got a paper and caught up on news. Soon we were boarding for Chicago and were on the way.

Chicago is cold and snowy. We have a couple hours to wait for our flight. Weather was iffy in a section of our flight but we made it fine. Its really nice to be back home again.

________________________________________ Hall and Ball Adventure Consultants Limited, Blackheath, Suite 3, 7 Wordsworth Street P.O. Box 10-274, Christchurch, New Zealand Telephone:+64 3 365 3544 Fax: +64 3 365 3664 price $25,000 Rob Hall: Three summer seasons working in Antarctica as a guide and rescue team leader for the American & New Zealand Antarctic programs. Expeditions to Denali, Annapurna, K2, Everest, Lhotse and Vinson Massif. In 1993 he reached the summit of Everest for the third time out of 5 tries. Climbed the "Seven Summits" in seven months in 1990.

________________________________________ Adventure Network International 200-1676 Duranleau St. Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6H 355 Telephone: (604) 683-8033 U.S. Sales Agent: Quark Expeditions Inc 980 Post Road Darien, CT 06820 USA Telephone: (203) 655-4848 Fax: (203) 656-2423 Many other companies off the Vinson Massif climb but they all go through ANI. Here are a few that I contacted. All the prices are approximately around $25,000 or more. Many advertised the trip but only Hall and Ball and ANI group were the only ones on the mountain. It is possible to work out your own expedition through ANI self guided.

Mountain Travel Sobek

International Mountain Climbing (Germany)

Alpine Ascents International