Download a FREE media player The Perfect Christmas Gift Monday, December 27, 1999 "The best Christmas present for everybody, however, was the 11:30pm Christmas evening arrival of the C-130 Hercules from Punta Arenas. By 12:40, we're all airborne and we're flying towards home finally...." If the Weather Holds Saturday, December 25, 1999 "...expectation that the weather will continue to hold well and that there will in fact be a second flight, and that we will in fact all get out of here..." Merry Christmas Friday, December 24, 1999 "And on this Christmas Eve of 1999 we have the group all gathered together here and we all have a message for all the folks at MountainZone and all the folks checking in...." Second Successful Summit Wednesday, December 22, 1999 "...We are all back at Base Camp okay. We did succeed on our second summit bid. Two of us, Michelle Santilhano and I went back up to give her another shot at it..." Another Push for the Summit Wednesday, December 22, 1999 "...we're wishing Willi well, and he and Michele should be on the summit in a couple of hours, if the weather doesn't get any worse...." Expedition Waiting Game Tuesday, December 21, 1999 "We're enjoying beautiful weather at Base Camp, however the rest of Antarctica is not quite so fortunate. There's still no C-130 Hercules flying weather..." Team Members Summit Monday, December 20, 1999 "...we had a lot of gray-out conditions, occasional whiteout conditions with blowing snow, definitely a lot of clouds, sometimes there'd be some breaks and then we had some questions...." Going for Summit in Sunshine Saturday, December 18, 1999 "Today, a gorgeous day, we're climbing to the summit of Vinson and can see the...ice shelf and polar plateau in cloud..." So, This is Antarctica Wednesday, December 15, 1999 "They're still held up at Camp II, which is at 10,100ft on Vinson. The weather is improving slightly..." Storms and Blowing Snow Wednesday, December 15, 1999 "Providing the weather and snow conditions are good today, the 15th of December, and it is safe to do so, they'll make an ascent to Camp III from where then they'll go on to the summit..." The Stunning White Continent Monday, December 13, 1999 "We had beautiful flying weather to Patriot Hills. Spent one night in Patriot Hills and flew out to Vinson Base Camp early yesterday afternoon..." Headed for Patriot Hills Friday, December 10, 1999 "...we finally got the green light. They'll be by in about 45 minutes to pick us up and we fly to the ice cap today...." High Hopes Wednesday, December 8, 1999 "Once again we are very hopeful for tomorrow. It does appear there is an improving weather pattern..." Birthday Wishes Wednesday, December 8, 1999 "I had a fond hope that today, December 8th, my birthday actually, I could actually spend in Patriot Hills. We'll see whether or not that works or not...." On Hold in Punta Arenas Tuesday, December 7, 1999 "The problem is a bit of light snowfall, which worsened during the course of the day, and wind blowing snow, obscured horizon, and intermittent low clouds which kind of kept us on hold..." |