The Mountain Madness expedition to Mount Vinson Mt Everest summiter Chris Boskoff summits!

This is Christine Boskoff calling from the summit of Mt. Vinson. It is 10 o’clock at night and the sun is high in the sky and we just summitted. We are proud to say that all nine people in our expedition team made it. We are on our way down now and will call in later.

Previous Update

Tuesday, December 22nd at 12:20 a.m.

Hi this is Christine Boskoff calling from Mt. Vinson Base Camp. We got the green light in Punta Arenas on the 20th at 8:30 p.m. that we were going to fly to Patriot Hills. We had 15 minutes to get ready before our bus picked us up for the airport. We departed Punta Arenas at 10:40 p.m. and arrived at Patriot Hills at 3:10 in the morning.

We departed Punta Arenas at 10:40 a.m. We landed in marginal weather with light snow. Due to bad weather we stayed at Patriot Hills for the night. We woke to cloudy skies we so waited until 5 p.m. to fly.

We established our camp and then we had a great Mexican dinner and drinks. Joe and Will helped with melting snow. Everyone is in great sprits and is eager to move to Camp 1 later on today. We will call again this evening. Over and out!

Sunday, December 26 at 8:04 p.m.

Hi everyone. This Christine Boskoff calling from Camp 3 of Mt. Vinson.

Just reporting in to let you know that yesterday on the 25th the group we took a rest day. A well deserved rest day might I add. We just got to relax and enjoy the Antarctica.

Today we woke up as soon as the sun hit the tent which was around 11:30. We packed our stuff and headed up towards Camp 3. We climbed a 40 to 45 degree headwall with magnificent views; we could see all the way to the Rohn Ice Shelf. We got here around 8 or 8:30 today. We established camp and had a great dinner and now we are all very sleepy. It is quite cold here at Camp 3 tonight. The sun has gone behind the mountain, so we are in the shade.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the summit. We are hoping it will warm up and we will have a nice day. The Russians came down yesterday and said that they had a beautiful nice, warm day and we are hoping for the same for tomorrow.

We will report again tomorrow.

Christine Boskoff Mountain Madness, Inc.

The Mountain Madness expedition to Mount Vinson: Located at a latitude of 78 degrees 35 minutes south and 85 degrees 25 minutes west longitude, Vinson is found in the Ellsworth Mountains. The 16,077 foot summit is the highest point on the continent of Antarctica. For most that have the unique opportunity to join an expedition like this, their definition of wilderness will be redefined. Isolated and starkly beautiful, the icy continent of Antarctica is beyond description and offers an adventure of a lifetime for team members.

Last steps to summit photo by: Mark Gunlogson

They leave Punta Arenas in Chile for the six-hour flight to Patriot Hills. Then the flight takes them over Tierra del Fuego, past the Antarctic Circle and on to Patriot Hills. From there they make a one-hour flight to basecamp. With sleds loaded they move up the mountain, establishing two or three camps before the summit attempt. From high camp the final climb consists of moderate snow and ice climbing.

	In technical terms the climb is considered moderate, but cold temperatures (minus 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit are not uncommon) and strong winds often increase the challenge. However, during the austral summer there is usually less than 18 inches of snow and 24 hours of daylight contributes to our success on the climb.
	Picture: moving to high camp by: Mark Gunlogson

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