DCXP Vinson Sea to Summit dispatches - Antarctica 2008-09

Run by DCXP, Jamie was assistant guide for this "once in a lifetime" expedition.
(Vinson, Antarctica, is not 8000m, but it is one of the "seven summits", the highest on each continent).

A big thanks to Duncan for inviting me on this expedition,
and another big thank you to all the team for joining, it was simply an incredible experience.

DCXP dispatches

Imagine being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, no town for literally thousands of kilometres, and nothing but snow and a little rock. That is the continent of Antarctica, a CONTINENT that is a virtually empty ice field where you have to be completely self-reliant. It is a forbidding white world, where the air temperature never rises above around -5C (we had -27C to -5C), even with 24 hour sun, winds from the South Pole are the norm, and occasional tent-destroying winds...

As a quick summary, we climbed some unclimbed peaks (!!) then sledded up a glacier and established an advance base camp (ABC). From there we carried loads up a partly rock ridge to make a couple of high camps and then climbed Vinson 4892m/16,050ft, probably the highest in Antarctica (one of the "seven summits", the highest on each continent).

Thanks again to Duncan Chessell who prepared the expedition so professionally.

See the DCXP expedition dispatches. I hope to post a few photos and more sometime later.

Will we run this sort of expedition again? Absolutely!

When? Probably Dec 2010. We would love to run a trip in Dec 2009 but the base we fly to in Antarctica is being moved and so logistics details are not yet certain.

Jamie