Once again I am fortunate to be travelling to Antarctica. This will be my fourth visit to the most remote and inhospitable and beautiful continent on our planet. Every time I return from Antarctica I believe it will be my last visit, and then another opportunity pops up.
About 3 weeks ago my friend Ryan Waters of Mountain Professionals send me a cryptic email “ how does your December/January look?”. I replied that it was “flexible, why?”.
Ryan’s company Mountain Professionals runs expeditions around the world including Everest. I have been on many great adventures with Ryan over the years. Ryan has a very successful Antarctica program offering mountaineering expeditions to Mount Vinson (the highest peak in Antarctica and one of the 7 summits) and to the South Pole.
As I write this Ryan is guiding two clients on a 1200km ski trek from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole. This arduous journey will consume around 55 days. During this time Ryan also has booked a combo expedition for 2 clients. A combo is an amazing opportunity to ski the last degree to the South Pole and to climb Mount Vinson. Since Ryan was otherwise occupied he asked me if I could guide the combo.
I will be departing Canada on December 13 and will return sometime around January 13. I will first fly to Punta Arenas, Chile, where I will complete any last-minute packing and food, buy and will meet with our logistics support team at ALE. I will also meet with my two team members here and we will review the trip, the gear, the food, the logistics and the safety and then we will fly to Antarctica to begin our adventure.
If you check back here regularly I will send further blogs describing the expedition and our experiences and once in Antarctica, I will be sending back daily blogs (maybe not exactly daily) to update you on our adventures and our progress.