Rest Day at Camp 1

I received a call a couple of hours ago. Bill said that the team did move up to Camp 1, at the bottom of the northernmost ridge dropping down off the Vinson Massif to the Branscomb Glacier. It was a long day, and took the team about 7 hours to make the trip. they have taken a rest/acclimatization day today, in order to be more prepared to tackle the tricky climbing up the ridge.

In a previous post I mentioned that we used to climb around the aforementioned ridge and through a basin threatened by hanging ice cliffs. Apparently the recent storms have made that area hospitable than usual, so our climbers will climb up the ridge east of camp to gain a High Camp at the north end of a big plateau that stretches north from the summit of Mount Vinson.

The climbing up the ridge is tricky and fixed ropes have been set to provide climbers with self belays through the steeper sections.

Tomorrow will probably be another long day getting up to High Camp. The weather looks good, and Bill reports that it has been quite mild by Antarctic standards. The forecast is for continued good weather, so hopefully the team can get situated at High Camp and make a summit bid in the not-too-distant future.