Vinson Massif: Hahn & Team Holding On at Low Camp
The weatherman was spot on. By morning there were wind sculpted space ship clouds stacked over all the peaks and the ridge above us began to sprout streamers of snow flying out into the air. Not a whole lot of choice for us but to stay put. The teams at high camp were able to get moving downward before things strengthened at midday. We greeted and congratulated our traveling companions as they did a quick reshuffle of their gear and got hauling sleds down to basecamp. And we went back to cutting snow blocks and building stout walls to protect our tents. Before long, the winds were visible reaching all the way down the fixed lines and it was blowing pretty hard -perhaps 40 or 50 mph- on the glacier just a few hundred meters from our camp. We’re considering ourselves quite lucky that it stayed relatively calm and even sunny in camp all day. The jealousy for the victorious teams that hit the narrow two day weather window perfectly has passed and we are now a little excited to have the entire mountain to ourselves. It feels a little more “Antarctic” in some way. What better way to commemorate that Antarctic feeling, than with burrito night in the cook tent.
We are each confident and motivated for climbing Mt. Vinson just as soon as the wind drops.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
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