The route out of Base Camp

A view of Vinson Base Camp from a ridge to the south. Note the group of tents at center left and the trail heading right, out of the frame at about center height. (The more prominent trail heading down and right is our ski track from when I took the image.)

This image shows the next section of trail heading across the frame, ascending slightly. This shows about 1.5 miles of the Branscomb Glacier as it flows down from the massif.

This image shows the trail (at left) as it heads east up the Branscomb Glacier. The Vinson massif is the prominent rocky ridge line with the steep glacier descending from below the summit of Mount Vinson. Mount Shinn is the snow covered, conical peak at the upper left. you can see how the Branscomb makes a sharp turn northward (up and left in the image). Sometimes we camp right before the icefall at the corner before it breaks north, and sometimes we camp farther up the Branscomb.