December 17 – Second Night at Camp I

Transcript of Dave Hahn sat phone dispatch:

Hi, this is Dave, Bud and Peter reporting in for the BAI Vinson 2004 climb.  We are at 9,800 feet and all is well as we settle down for our second night at this camp.  We took a rest day today, knowing that it would be smart to let our bodies recuperate and acclimatize a bit.  Also we still have the high peaks around us capped out with clouds and as today went on the clouds dropped and we had light snow again.  We build walls with ice blocks around our tents  just in case, but so far the winds have not come up at this elevation.

Tomorrow we may move to our high camp at 12,500 feet, but we will wait to see what the weather holds before we make that decision for sure.  For the time being it is 10:30 PM and we are ready to get some sleep.  We have had a successful day today with four important activities:  rehydration, rest, reading and eating.  That is what mountaineering is all about in this part of the world!