VINSON TEAM HAVE ARRIVED ON THE ICE, AFTER A RECOND 10 DAYS OF DELAYS IN PUNTA ARENAS! WE WISH THEM ALL THE BEST FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

Today or tomorrow, weather permitting, they will take a major down-size on plane size and fly to Vinson base camp at 2700m. From here the hard work begins to load carry and acclimatize to the altitude of high camp just under 4000m… a camp as secure as possible, so that they can sleep well, even if adverse weather keeps them there for several days whilst attempting the summit. Summit day is just under 1000m vertical and around a 12 hour round trip! Despite not being the highest of the seven summits, the lack of oxygen this far from the equatorial bulge makes it considerably harder.

Despite a relatively easy technical grade, climbing Mount Vinson is tough in ALL other respects, temperatures of -40°C are likely to be encountered, and the added complications of such a remote situation provide the real challenge of a Mount Vinson expedition.