Back in Contact (from Scott)
We are back at Union Glacier now. We have been experiencing email problems so I have not been able to send a blog until now. On Nov 21 we moved from base camp to low camp. It was a beautiful but long ski through a magnificent valley of 9km. We set up camp and spent the night.
On Nov 22 we moved up to high camp in a single carry. Our packs were heavy but this would save us time and overall effort. The headwall was 1200m of fixed line and while not technically difficult it was very tiring and took us around three hours to climb. We then ascended for another 90 minutes to high camp. We were quite tired when we got there. We set up camp and prepared for a summit push in the morning.
On Nov 23 we set out for the summit at 9:30am. The route follows a gentle but exhausting valley for seven km. The sky was clear with a slight wind. Temperature was around minus 25. After six hours we made it to the summit ridge. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped to around minus 45 with the wind chill. The summit ridge was amazing, with a razor sharp top and steep drops on both sides. We made it to the summit at 4:30. It was amazing but difficult to enjoy with the cold and the wind. After a couple of bad summit photos all three of our cameras froze. We spent about 20 min on top.
The journey down was easy but tiring and took us around three hours. We made it back to camp had dinner and slept. On the 24th we made the long journey back to base camp. It was a fast, fantastic, and challenging climb. After a rest day we did some great skiing at base camp and then flew back to Union Glacier late last night. We will pack and head back into the mountains today to explore areas the have never seen footsteps. We are all having fun and enjoying our time in Antarctica. I will send more detailed daily journals when I have access to wifi.
Summit life! Scott.