In Antarctica!

Bill just called to report that the team is all in Antarctica.

They awoke at 2 am and flew from the Punta Arenas airport at 5 am. It is hard to express how exciting it is to make your way through the airport in your mountain clothes, passing through customs (go ahead- pat my parka down TSA!), and finally stepping out onto the tarmac, gazing up at the gangway leading up to the belly of the Ilyushin IL-76 cargo jet. It feels a bit surreal to walk up the ramp and settle into your jumpseat, looking across the cargo area at climbers similarly strapped in. On their particular flight, some of this view was obstructed by a huge Ford E-350, 16 passenger van, with bulbous tundra tires.

The flight takes about 4.5 hours and they landed on the huge Union Glacier. After everyone unloaded onto the blue ice, the big van came out to join another such van, this one on four tracks (like a 4x4 snow machine). The vans ferried the climbers 8km to the site of the large, highly supported camp at the glacier.

The team is currently on a weather hold, hoping that they can fly to Vinson Base Camp today. This season, the flight service company has a ski-equipped Twin Otter and a ski-equipped DC-3. They are in a bit of a learning curve as to how to best utilize these aircraft, as the DC-3 is almost too big to land at Vinson Base Camp. We'll see how the climber shuttling works out...

The crew is nestled in a large, comfortable dining tent, replete with heaters, so they are not suffering in the 10 degree F outside temperature. They had not yet set up their tents, optimistically hoping to do so at Vinson BC this evening.

We'll keep you posted as events progress.