Click here to go to the “Base Camp -> Low Camp” photo album

Visibility started poor the next morning, but steadily grew better and we were in the air by afternoon. I was forewarned about the flight over, but it was bar none the most breathtaking flight I’ve ever been on. Hundreds of peaks, all untouched – never set foot on by mankind. It was a surreal experience you don’t often have in this highly-populated world anymore. This must be what explorers of old must have felt during their expeditions. The fact that we’re in the same lands as Shackleton, Amundsen and Scott just makes it even more fantastical.

Then we were on the ground at Vinson Base Camp, rigging our sleds and harnessing up – time to climb. Mike said it’d be a nice & easy hike to cache some gear before our move to Camp One, but that turned into  a 13 hour slog culminating with dinner back at camp at 4 AM. I didn’t find the hike to be too bad, slopes were moderate and we were fresh, but I hadn’t planned for such a long trip so I was sorely lacking snacks by the end. That stuff’s the fuel that keeps you going, and it isn’t very fun climbing on empty.

It turned out caching high was a good call because weather conditions deteriorated over the next couple of days and we were stuck idling at camp. Luckily Mike and the first team over had dug out our kitchen tent already, so I got to reap the benefits of their hard work.

A couple of days later and another sled haul got us to our cache, where we piled on a portion of what we’d left there, and headed up to Low Camp – another couple of hours of slight incline. Once there it was breaking through feet of ice to set up our cook tent again. We dig several feet down and cut out ice benches and a hole so the guides can stand while cooking us delicious meals. We’re truly spoiled!

The next day had more bad weather in store – winds & cold. You could see the snow blowing off the steep 50 degree inclines we’d be tackling on our way to High Camp. So most of the team set about making ice walls, while Brad Jones, Jeremiah, Ryan and myself headed back down to our cache. We hightailed it downhill, and got there in 30 minutes. The way back took another two hours, but it made for a nice workout. The winds died just ten minutes from camp, so it made for a wonderful day. In fact that was probably the most pleasurable hike of the whole trip! Wind really kills you out here.

Continue to Low Camp -> High Camp