The First Ascent sponsored climbing team of Ed Viesturs, Peter Whittaker, Seth Waterfall, Caroline George, Jake Norton, and Kent Harvey have arrived in Base Camp on Mt. Vinson after catching a lift on one of ALE's big Ilyushin aircraft. In a dispatch from Antarctica yesterday, Norton says that it was a long but exciting day for the group, who have been anxious to get to the mountain.
The flight took them from Punta Arenas to ALE's Union Glacier camp on the Antarctic continent. From there, it was onto a smaller plane, a famed Twin Otter, for a flight to Vinson BC, where they'll now begin their climb in ernest. By all accounts, the weather is fantastic on the mountain at the moment, so they hope to get started with building their high camps and supply caches soon.
Last in the day, Whittaker called in with an audio dispatch which filled in more of the details. Below you'll find a YouTube video of that dispatch that includes photos of the journey so far. He also gives a preliminary outline of what they'll be doing over the next few days as well.