Vinson Massif: Team 2 Arrives in Punta Arenas
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Vinson Massif
Greetings from Punta Arenas,
Our second Vinson trip of the season is officially underway. Our small but adventurous group arrived yesterday in the beautiful port city of Punta Arenas. This small southern Chilean town sits right on the Straight of Magellan and is the jumping off point for our flight to Antarctica.
Today, we had our pre-trip briefing with our outfitter ALE to go over all the details about our flight and to review some of the protocols for visiting Antarctica. "Vast, large, and remote" is how Peter McDowell, one of the owners of ALE and the person giving today's orientation, described it. He then showed a slide with the US (the lower 48) overlaid on top of Antarctica. Even with the US, there was still a whole lot of land mass showing.
After the team meeting we began to unpack and then re-pack everything for the flight to Union Glacier. With the final equipment check complete, the bags were weighed and transported to the airport to be loaded on the plane. It is now a waiting game. The forecast is showing an improving trend and with any luck, the team will be able to fly out tomorrow as planned and meet RMI Guide Dave Hahn who is waiting for them at Union Glacier.
Today is beautiful here and we are now off to do a little exploring and then on to dinner. We'll check in tomorrow to let you know about the flight status.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
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