Our first Vinson team of the season is in high spirits and moving on schedule.

Following a night at Union Glacier, they flew in 2x twin otter ski plane flights over to Vinson Base Camp in clear weather.

Domes and tents all set up, Vinson Base Camp is looking good.

It’s so cold at Vinson that we’ve spent the last few seasons investing heavily in having a higher level and quality of equipment in one of the most remote places in the world so that our climbers can get out of the cold. Our central dome hang out tent has custom made insulated walls & flooring, proper tables and chairs, which means the team aren’t huddled under the old school ‘hoochie’ type tents of yesteryear, (open sided/upright creating a temporary – albeit very cold – shelter) sitting on ice benches eating dehydrated meals like everyone else. This conserves energy and keeps morale high for when they need it up high. We grill up ribeye and salmon steak, bacon and eggs and all the good things, accommodating any dietary needs.

Today they are moving up to Low Camp (where we also have a dome pre-cached and ready) and the plan is to acclimatize there before moving up to High Camp.

Guide Robert Jantzen reported in overnight with a short and sweet “team is having a blast, weather is good!” – here in the back office we love these kind of updates as it means everything is singing along as it should.

Photographs from CTSS Vinson Archive.