Posted by: Dave Hahn | December 16, 2011

Elevation: 7,200′

The clouds around Vinson basecamp lifted some today, but didn’t go away. In particular they were stuck over the Nimitz Glacier and the approaches for an airplane trying to get into the Branscomb. There was some optimism this morning, what with blue sky over camp and Vinson’s summit visible again, but it never quite got good enough to tempt the Twin Otters in from Union. Eventually they gave up on us and flew back to the South Pole to pick up more centenerary celebrants. That being a long round trip, our next window of opportunity to fly from Vinson would be tomorrow afternoon. We passed the day easily and quietly. TA, Vlado, Mindy and I went for a glacier walk in the afternoon to stretch legs. In the evening the ALE crew generously hosted a dinner for the three climbing teams. The food was superb… And we were all just plain happy to sit in real chairs for a time.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Reposted from the Rainier Mountaineering Blog (http://www.rmiguides.com/blog/)

Many thanks to the Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union for their financial assistance in getting TA to Antarctica to climb Mount Vinson.