Pete Athans

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But what really concerned me the most, however, was on the far end of our trip in 1993, we were actually stuck down on the ice because we had an engine flame-out when the plane came down to pick us up. They were only about an hour, really, away from landing at Patriot Hills and picking up about 35 people who had been down there for up to 17 days. Unfortunately, they had to turn around without being able to land, which precipitated a... I'm not sure exactly who did, but they had to Federal Express a new engine for the DC-6, which was the plane of that time, and then sent that down to Punta Arenas, which obviously took some more time. And then obviously, installing it took even more. So by the time all was said and done, 18 days had kind of frittered away down there. So a brief wait of three to four days, or maybe even a little more, might be appropriate here.

The blue ice runway at Patriot Hills, Antarctica [click to zoom]

But there is definitely no lack of things to do here in Punta Arenas, it's a beautiful town, really. It's been characterized by some to be sort of a "young San Francisco by the sea" here. It's a nice time of the year to take some trips that are around to a local fort that's to the south, and also to the big Paine [Torres del Paine] area, which obviously is renowned for its rock towers and things of that nature.

So we're just on hold here, and hope to be out of town within a few days and to be able to send up some great messages to you all from Punta Arenas, itself, and then of course further south from Patriot Hills, where we'll land with the Hercules, the C-130. And then beyond — maybe even from the summit of Vinson. I hope we'll be able to call you from there.

So, take care and look forward to talking with you all soon. Bye now.

—Pete Athans, Mountain Guide

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