Mount Vinson Massif Expedition — January 1998
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Finally, Antarctica
Landing in Patriot Hills, Brad Washburn's Hat, and It's a Small World
Expedition leader Wally Berg reports that the Antarctic climbing team reached the continent Sunday and immediately set off in a smaller aircraft for the Vinson Massif. The Alpine Ascents International Vinson Massif climbing team arrived safely at Patriot Hills base, Antarctica (the main Antarctic base for Adventure Network International) on Sunday afternoon local time, and wasted no time in catching a Twin Otter flight to Mount Vinson itself. "Wally would like to relay that he did in fact step out of the plane wearing Brad Washburn's legendary Muskrat Belly hat..."Adventure Network International weather forecasts spotted a 10 hour window of flyable weather developing Sunday with days of bad weather to follow. In most circumstances, such a narrow window would not be enough to launch the expensive Hercules aircraft from Chile toward the icy continent, because if the weather had closed in during the flight the aircraft would have had to turn around and return to Punta Arenas without landing at Patriot Hills. But given the five-day wait already endured by the expedition in Punta Arenas, the ANI crew decided to go for it and alerted the team to make haste to the airport. The gamble was successful; the Hercules landed safely on the ice runway at Patriot Hills, and the smaller Twin Otter immediately ferried the expedition members and its gear to the Mount Vinson base camp. Calling from the communications tent at 80° South in Patriot Hills, Wally told us that weather looked excellent and that Captain Kevin Rogers reported no wind and a temperature of 2° above zero. Weather at Mount Vinson looks "pleasant and mild."
Wally also reports that after landing in Patriot Hills, they immediately ran into two Polish friends of his from the Everest '89 expedition. "Around the world in different places," laughs Wally. Not too surprised at running into these old pals in the middle of nowhere though, he says "the eastern European climbing contingency is a dominant force in mountaineering." Stay tuned to The Mountain Zone for further updates.
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