Mount Vinson December 2006 Expedition News

Mount Vinson December 6 2006 Expedition News.

The Team Leader : Dave Pritt

Andy Rice

Russell Shellard

John Starbuck

27/12/06 – 11:00 GMT: All the team topped out on Mt Vinson on Christmas Eve, it was a very cold summit day with temperatures around -30C and very windy in parts. It took them 7 hours to reach the summit and 3 hours to descend back to camp. The team are now safely back in Punta Arenas.

22/12/06 – 16:00 GMT:Dave called today, they are all at the top camp and are in position to make a summit bid. The weather today was a little bit mixed, so they have decided to sit it out until tomorrow. If they are successful tomorrow then they plan to have a rest day before attempting Mount Shinn.

18/12/06 – 14:00 GMT:The weather’s still looking good and the team are preparing to move up to Camp 1

17/12/06 – 16:00 GMT:We’ve just had a very excited satellite phone call from Antarctica. The team have landed safely, the tents are up and everyone’s doing well. They’ve got blue skies, there’s no wind and they’re walking around in their thermals.We’ve heard that recently teams have had to wait for up to ten days to get their flight to Antarctica because of bad weather but we’re still on schedule. They reported a very smooth flight with stunning views.The team are now organising their equipment and hope to move on up tomorrow.

15/12/06 – 11pm GMT:The team have arrived safely in Punta Arenas. This afternoon at 1pm GMT, the team will receive their final briefing before preparing to fly onto Antarctica. The team are now on 3 hour standby ready to fly.