South-2-The-Pole

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Fri 24 Nov '06 – Patriot Hills. Altitude - 920mts


I got up about 11.00am. Yes, a little late but remember I am on a holiday. At Patriot, ALE provide a communal mess tent for the various groups to cook & eat in while we await the move to Vinson Base Camp (VBC) which is weather dependant & could be today or any day in the next week but at 2 hrs notice either way. So like a good boy scout, be prepared to move quickly. The conditions at VBC are apparently looking favourable & we’re expecting to be transferred there sometime late today & in the meantime we have to re-sort the gear & food & stash some supplies for our return here in 10/12 days time. Plus I’m stashing here, some equipment like skis that I don’t need on Vinson but do need for the trip to the Pole. The day passes quickly & after I phone home we hear that we’ll be on our way at 22.30 hrs. The transfer to VBC is by 2 ski equipped Twin Otters which have been adapted to take 10 people plus all their gear. We’re on the second flight out & there is a great buzz about as we finally board, strap in & taxi for take off. The 1 hr flight is a fantastic insight yet again into the sheer vast scale of this place. It was the shortest 1 hr I ever spent doing anything & every minute bought a new view of this ice world. Mountain peaks jutting out from the ice which looked like cloud cover & all lit by the ever present brilliant white light of the sun, which at this time of ‘night’ was casting long deep shadows across the terrain. This is truly an astonishing place which is just impossible to portray properly in photographs, yet alone in the written word. The only noise on board the Otter was the constant buzz of the twin engines & the click- click of cameras as the occupants sat, stared & recorded these amazing vistas for the first time.

About 50 mins into the flight we get our first view of the Vinson Massif out of the right hand side windows. All 10 necks & heads twisted & stretched to get these first glimpses of the majestic Mount Vinson (4897mts) rising high above all other peaks not just here but above all other peaks on this continent. This is what we have all come here for. A privileged opportunity to climb & summit the most inaccessible of the 7 Continental Summits in an environment that is as hostile & harsh as you can find anywhere on the planet. Looking out on this vast empty ice world one is also reminded & left in no doubt that you are alone here & that there is no back up support should anything go wrong. Team work, self sufficiency & self preservation are going to priorities from now on if we are to be successful in our quest & come out of here unscathed. Considering what we were to encounter later, these are chilling thoughts at this early stage but we have come prepared for everything, even if we don’t expect to be hit with everything.

At 23.40 hrs the pilot banks right & climbs gently as he guides the Otter along the rising glacier. Ahead we can see the outline of some tents at VBC & we are soon sliding to a halt on the soft fluffy wind driven snow. VBC at 2200mts is like everything from now on, another new experience. Sitting in the middle of the glacier the view back down is truly spectacular & takes in distant peaks & ever present ‘sea’ that is the polar plateau ice stretching into the never- never & pouring over the cols or gaps between the peaks. Looking back up the glacier, on the left side there is a tempting jagged scramble ridge rising in line with the glacier. On the right the much more formidable face that rises increasing steeply for probably over 1500mts before it breaks onto a col. Looking directly up the glacier I can see the outline of the route to camp 1 & the eye can imagine the track as it winds it’s way the 8 kms to camp. Midway up the glacier I can see the towering summit of Mt Vinson itself popping it’s head up from behind the lesser peaks which guard it from this angle. But enough of this gazing at our new world, we have serious work to do before we can settle down to either dream filled or restless sleep this night.

It’s midnight & we have tents to put up, protective snow walls to build around the tents & a cooking area to prepare before we can cook dinner. Now you know what I mean by a 24 hr day. Ideally we need to get all this done by 1.30 – 2.00 am before the sun hides behind the mountain on the right taking away the little, yet valuable radiant heat the sun provides, plunging the temperatures to -20c. After a couple of hours of hard physical work, we have a hot dinner & with renewed energy levels & fresh adrenaline rushing through our bodies the desire to go to bed is far away. We gaze & marvel at where we are. It is still brilliantly bright even if we are in the chilling shadow of the mountains but it is also 4.00am & time for some sleep.