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Calling the C-130
Tuesday, December 21, 1999

Collins

The Team's Call from Antarctica
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Hello MountainZone, this is Dirk Collins with the 1999 Ski and Snowboard Expedition. Let's see, it's the longest day of the year here, the summer solstice, which probably isn't any longer than yesterday since it's light 24 hours a day. At any rate, the wind has finally died down here after an 11-day stint waiting for storms to clear through. We passed through that big blizzard with 100mph, and then the last four days the wind has blown a steady 50 knots so we haven't been able to fly. Today the wind has finally come back down to a reasonable level and they've called in the C-130 Hercules, which is the plane that lands on the blue ice runway, so we can get back to civilization. So we're pretty excited. Looks like we should make it home for Christmas barring any unforseen problems. All right. Merry Christmas! Thanks, and later.

— Dirk Collins, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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