Vinson Expedition Dispatch
December 2, 2010 – Acclimatization Day and Lamb Stew
It is 12:30 in the afternoon on Thursday Dec 02, and this is Wally calling you from Camp I.
As you know from yesterday’s report this is early morning for us. We don’t even stir out of our tents until the sun hits them, this morning it was 11:40 am.
Ice and snow block walls for sheltering our tents
from the wind
Yesterday was our acclimatization day at Camp I. Wondering what you do on an acclimatization day on Vinson? Well one thing we did was cut snow blocks with snow saws to build walls around our tent for better protection when the wind comes up. We also spent a great deal of time practicing moving on fixed lines. Above us there are hundreds of meters of fixed rope line that we will attach mechanical ascenders to. This will allow us to climb safely up the steeper portion of the route to our high camp.
Later in the afternoon we took a walk up to a col which was the route where the first ascent team of Vinson came up in 1966. We looked out across the vast expanses of Antarctica and marveled at the beauty. It was really awe inspiring.
The weather has been amazing. It got up to -15°C, about +5°F, in the shade yesterday. Truth is, we are having the mildest conditions I have ever seen here in my nine trips. It is absolutely still, no wind. I remember in past seasons, some of the really hard, harsh, and demanding weather that some of our previous Berg Adventures members experienced at this very camp.
The pyramid like shelters we use for our dining tents
To give you an idea of what our dining facilities are like on Vinson: we eat in a pyramid shaped nylon shelter that is put over a deep snow hole. We call this the ‘Pash House or Hole’. We crawl into this steamy cave (there is always steam because the MSR stoves are running), snow melting is going on to make soup and tea. We have been having wonderful meals. We had lamb stew over mashed potatoes last night for dinner, for lunch yesterday we had salmon on bread. All of this food is pre-packed in Fran’s Kitchen. Fran is the head cook back at Union Glacier. The food is prepared in her kitchen, packaged frozen of course, then we can re-heat and eat!
Today is our day to move up to high camp. John, Kaye, Pachi, Flat Stanley and I are busy packing right now. The climb up will take many hours today. We are hoping to continue our ascent through good weather.
The views we will see today on our climb to high camp