Expedition Dispatch
December 5, 2012 – Returned to High Camp
Well, now it is about 6:15pm, and we’ve returned to High Camp. What a successful summit day we had! As you can tell from the previous reports, we had really great conditions and weather. It’s always serious in Antarctica. Vaughan and I were just talking about that as we were unpacking and getting ready to crawl back in our tent. Even in very benign, easy conditions in Antarctica there is always an edge. You have to be aware of frostbite, the sun, the intensity of the sun can be very demanding, and of course, there are crevasses in the glaciers, very serious place. But my gosh, what a beautiful place and what a beautiful day we had.
The success of Todd, and Vaughan, and I’ve reported to you, but by my count, there were 24 Vinson climbers who went to the summit today. I mentioned to you what a great collection of characters we have from all around the world. And I am really proud to tell you that there was outstanding success with all teams today. So now it’s time to settle down, as you know, it never gets dark here. Catch our breath, start to rehydrate from a long, demanding day, and cook up a big meal to replace ourselves. Tomorrow, we will begin our descent down to Vinson Base Camp.
