Dispatches

December 6, 2005

After arriving in Patriot Hills and finding zero wind and tropical temps we pitched our tents and drank all our wine in hopes our sacrifice would result in flying out ASAP. It did as early the next morning, as we sipped the last drop of Gato Negro, we were told to prepare for departure, yee haw! We waited for some wayward Eastern Europeans to return then boarded the Aleutian at 11 pm, arriving this morning at 4 am. We are having a farewell dinner. Kit and Rob are off on more adventures, Andrew and Lars are going back to ski powder in Utah and I am trekking with my wife in Torres Del Paine for 2 weeks. Our 5 days at high camp in -50 degree temperature has become a a bit of a legend on this trip as even Phil Ershler said it was the coldest he had seen it in Antarctica, so we are starting to embellish our High camp stand with every beer we have but we are all proud to have made it and skied off of Vinson, so thanks to all the friends and family for the support and the ALE staff who made this trip go so well. This is Matt signing off. Cheers!

December 5, 2005

We're now at Patriot Hills. We did make it out on time yesterday. WE flew out at about 7pm or so, with the ALE group. We celebrated with some really good food. We brought about 6 liters of wine, so we made sure we drank all of that! Currently it's calm in Patriot Hills. We are flying out tonight and should be in Punta Arenas tonight about midnight. We have enjoyed a very sunny calm Antarctica the last couple days, cloudless and windless days, which has allowed us to drink more coffee and gain some weight from our weight-loss program during our 6 nights at high camp.
I'll give you an update once we're in Punta Arenas. Have a great Monday. It's sunny and warm here!

December 3, 2005

We've arrived back to base camp and are ready to celebrate our climb. Other teams reached the summit yesterday. Our team was the first to reach the summit and the only one to suffer through six nights at high camp with temperatures at or below minus 40F! We are thawing out wine and steaks and ready to party down at base camp! With good weather we will be back in Patriot Hills on Sunday.

December 2, 2005

Summit success! After spending five days at high camp we finally topped out on Vinson today, we have arrived back at high camp safely and are preparing to spend our sixth night here and depart back to basecamp tomorrow morning. Temperatures on our ascent dropped to below -40 degrees as we plodded are way to the top. Everyone was psyched for the rapid descent as we successfully skied down from the summit! A great way to end the trip. Everyone is in great spirits without a hint of frostbite. See you all soon!

December 1, 2005

Hello from high camp. We made a summit attempt testerday but cold temperatures, high winds and deteriorating weather turned us back at 13,500. We are now warm in our tents eating breakfast and the weather looks like it is improving. We will make another summit attempt this evening if the winds die down enough. Hello to all friends and family. Matt.

November 30, 2005

From the office: Lars called in while Matt was busy cooking dinner. Today the group made a summit attempt but they only made it half way up the mountain from high camp due to high winds and cold. They will make another attempt as soon as the weather permits.

November 29, 2005

This is Matt at Vinson High Camp.
We got here 2 nights ago. The weather hasn’t been so great, it’s been a little cold, but we’re digging in and building really great snow walls - and we’re hoping for a summit attempt tomorrow.
Today is a little cloudy and windy and last night it blew pretty hard, so we’re just digging out camp.
Hello to all the family and friends that can check the website!

Sat. November 26, 2005

This is Matt at Camp one on Vinson.
We took a rest day to organize camp for going up. We are going to do a single carry and move into high camp tomorrow.
Everyone is in good spirits, and rested and hydrated.
The four other parties that are on the mountain are joining us this evening at camp one.
It’s been a beautiful day, it’s fogging in now – it’s dinner time. The weather has been good, but COOOLLLLDD! The snow is a little sticky, but skiing should be fun.
I look forward to calling you tomorrow from High Camp.

Friday – November 25

We made it to camp one - long push: 6 hours up and then 4 hours making camp, but we’re here. We had a nice big delicious meal – followed by chocolate.
We are turning in. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good ski down the headwall.
We’ll fill you in soon.

November 24- Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Thanksgiving from base camp! Today we carried a load up to camp 1 and made a cache before a nice ski back to base. Unfortunately we did not have turkey, but we do have lots of chocolate! We hope everyone enjoys themselves! Kit had an enjoyable birthday yesterday. Its a great group and we are all happy to be moving up the mountain tommorrow to camp 1.

November 23

We got hustled out of the kitchen today at breakfast to catch our flight to base camp from Patriot Hills. Today was Kit's birthday so we whipped up a ckae for her after a nice curry dinner. On Thursday we carry to camp 1 and get this show on the road. All the teams have arrived and we are all excited. The weather is overcast, but good.

November 22, 2005

We flew on time, at 1PM, and have all arrived. The weather is very good, and hopefully the next time I call in we will be at Vinson Base Camp!

November 22, 2005

We are flying onto the ice today. I’ll be in touch when we land.

November 21, 2005

Greetings from Punta Arenas! Everyone arrived on time and with all their luggage, so after a night of good food and fine wine, our team has bonded and ready to go! Our Ski Vinson Expedition Team : Me; Matt Schonwald, Kit and Rob Des Lauriers, Andrew Chandler, and Lars Morris. We have weighed our gear in and we are on standby this afternoon to fly this evening.

The first flight Nov 9th, was delayed by ten days, then flew in 2 days ago, so we are excited to get on the ice. We are finishing up last minute shopping and waiting for the phone call, so we are on the edge of our seats. We will check back in when we know more. Cheers, Matt