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Amped and Poised for Summit
Monday, December 06, 1999: Daily Stats

Stoup

The Team's Call from Antarctica
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Hello Mountain Zone. This is Doug Stoup with the Antarctica Ski and Snowboard Expedition dispatch for 12-6-99. The storm of the century has subsided. There's still a few high cirrus clouds, but we have moved to Camp III, at the Shinn-Vinson Saddle, almost 13,000ft.

Last evening, Dirk, Coombs, and Newc made a ski tour back to Base Camp, to regroup with food and fuel, around a 12-mile round trip. Meanwhile, the alpenglow was irresistible and Stephen, myself and Wade wanted to shoot. Stephen and I climbed near the camp and did a few runs and the team, Coombs, Newc and Dirk, witnessed our 3am photo session of snowboarding back to Camp II. We retired around 4:30am.

The team is now in striking distance of the summit, roughly 3,000 feet away. We are all amped and poised. The horizon is clearing. We will assess weather at 8am and leave by 10am tomorrow. I hope our next update will be from the summit of the Vinson Massif.

The team condition is excellent and I want to say hello to my son Angelo. Thank you and have a great day.

— Doug Stoup, MountainZone.com Correspondent

EXPEDITION DISPATCHES