Maybe tomorrow! 12/18/2007
 
This afternoon, we had our second brief meeting. The snow finally stopped by Sunday, and it was said to be the longest snow storm in 22 years memory. This morning 7:30am, the Dec 10 group finally took off and landed at Patriot Hill after about 4 hours´s fly. As we speak at 4pm, the flight is carrying 54 climbers and skiers back from Antarctica, and is scheduled to land in Punta Arenas around 7:30pm. All patience on Vinson paid off — all the people who hunkered down on Mt Vinson during the snow storm last week made to the summit eventually, except a group of 3 under Dave Harn´s guide who is still making the second summit attempt. Skiers also reached south pole and being picked up before their tea supplies run out  Everyone is safe.

There´s only one plane and one crew that can fly this route, and they need 12 hours break after a long trip. So we are planning to fly tomorrow morning. The weather forecast does not look so good though, another storm is closing in, but we will try our best to make an attempt. Every hour would count at this moment. Sometimes, the flight may have to turn around after 4.5 hours´ flight because the landing window is closed, so the crew is always prepared for a non-stop round trip.

Let´s pray for the weather!

 


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