|
      |
|
The Stunning White Continent
Monday, December 13, 1999
 Prittie | |
 Hear Willi's Call from Antarctica |
| LISTEN:
[RealPlayer] [Windows Media] |
| Requires FREE media player. |
Hello, this is Willi Prittie calling from the Alpine Ascents International Expedition to Antarctica to Mount Vinson. Just for a quick update and just wanted to let everybody know that after about a four-day delay or so in Punta Arenas, we actually were able to fly out so the delay was nothing like what everyone experienced last year in trying to get down here.
We had beautiful flying weather to Patriot Hills. Spent one night in Patriot Hills and flew out to Vinson Base Camp early yesterday afternoon — this is the 12th of December. We passed a beautiful night. It's an incredibly gorgeous location here. It was about, approximately, -30°Celsius last night. All of the team members are doing fine. We have Dana Isherwood from Orinda, California; we have Hugh Morton from Fairburn, Georgia; we have Houck Reed from Naperville, Illinois; Willi Prittie from Olympia, Washington and Michele Santilhano from Cape Town, South Africa; and, last but certainly not least, John Van Dyke from Seattle, Washington — both John and Dana were two of our veterans that spent a lot of time down here last year. So, we figure it's only due to their paying their dues that we actually got down here so quick this year.
Anyway, it's a whole hello to everybody on the Mountain Zone from everybody on the expedition. In particular, Hugh Morton would particularly like to send his greetings for a happy 29th wedding anniversary to his wife Ellen in Georgia and we're all excited for him on that.
Today we have beautiful, sunny weather; it's now warming up quite nicely outside after the 30-below Celsius temperatures we've experienced. We're doing our final organizations here and local time —we're on Punta Arenas time in this part of Antarctica right now — it's just after noon. And probably within two hours or so, we'll be getting everything packed up and actually beginning the trip up Mount Vinson, planning to head on up to Camp I, at about 9100ft, today.
I'll call in as we're able to do so over the next several days. We're hoping to be able to summit in, somewhere in six-to-seven days or so, of Mount Vinson. And if the weather stays how it is now, we're going to have a wonderful time, without problems. But cèst la vie on that, we'll find out what happens. Everybody is in excellent spirits and excellent health. And we're all really looking forward to this. It's a great team and we're having fun. So, we'll talk to you later Mountain Zone. Bye-bye.
—Willi Prittie, MountainZone.com Correspondent
| EXPEDITION DISPATCHES | |
   |