A day at Union Glacier

After a very smooth flight from Punta Arenas the team touched down at Union Glacier's ice runway last night, and spent their first night on the continent of Antarctica. Dennis reported clear, beautiful weather, and this held through today, with an temperature of around -15C.

The team spent the day organizing their gear and resupplies and doing some pulling of their sleds. Everyone was quite pleased with the way they felt. They plan to do a full-day ski tomorrow complete with setting up camp and cooking meals with their stoves, as a shakedown.

Make sure to listen to Lisa's audio report below, and check back again tomorrow for more info from the team!

And they're off!

The team is on its way to Antarctica! After months of planning and endless hours thinking about the start of the expedition, the time has finally come. A scheduled departure time of 9 pm was suddenly pushed back to 2 pm, causing a bit of a rush to get ready for the Antarctic flight. The flight to Union Glacier basecamp is approximately 4.5 hours. They arrived by the evening and had a nice dinner at the basecamp before catching some rest. They plan to do some training before getting dropped off at Hercules Inlet.

Make sure to listen to the audio update from Dennis!

Pre-flight briefing and final pack out

Today the team had their pre-flight briefing with the charter flight providers. This briefing covers the flight rules and regulations (same security check as any other international flight), as well details about the Union Glacier basecamp and the South Pole. They were also given a decent weather report, and so far it looks like their flight will go on schedule (knock on wood please!)

If the weather continues to hold they will depart for Antarctica around 20:00 tomorrow evening. This gives them most of the day to relax, but they won't stray far from the hotel. When they get "the call" giving them the green light to fly, they need to be ready to go immediately.

If they fly tomorrow it means that tonight will be their last night in a bed for a long time. That might sound unappealing to some people, but not to our team! They are very, very excited and ready to go. They want nothing more than to board that flight tomorrow and take off on the adventure of a lifetime.
We wish the team sweet dreams and an extra long hot shower in the morning, but most of all clear skies and an on-time departure for their expedition.

Don't forget to listen to Ronny's audio update and check back again tomorrow for another update from the team!

One more day of preparations...

The team spent another day preparing for the expedition and everything is coming together nicely. Tomorrow they have their pre-flight briefing and official weigh-in.

Among the people staying at the same hotel as our team is a man named Richard who is a NASA flight engineer on a DC30 making flights to and from the Antarctic Peninsula studying ice thickness with IR laser technology. After making the acquaintance of our team he asked them to carry a special coin to the South Pole. In addition to Richard, the hotel was housing a number of Vinson Massif climbers  who departed today for Antarctica. It's always interesting to meet other adventurers, and hear what brings people to this small city, the southernmost of it's kind in the world!

The coin given to the team

Check back again tomorrow for more information from the team. Hopefully they will learn that there is a good weather window for their flight to Antarctica. Our fingers are crossed!

Pre-expedition prep work in Punta

Today was spent with preparations for the adventure ahead. For an expedition of this magnitude there  is a lot of gear, food, clothing and equipment to check, re-check, and then pack. Everyone is getting excited for their departure to Antarctica, scheduled for November 22! Today also happened to be guide Lisa Strom's birthday - Happy Birthday Lisa! We hope you celebrated with a Pisco Sour and a rousing birthday song from the team! Tomorrow the team will try to wrap up the bulk of any remaining preparations. Make sure to check out the audio report from Bryony!

The team in Punta Arenas

We also received a video from the team but we're having some trouble getting it online. Hope to have it sorted out soon, please check back.

Everyone has arrived!

Can it finally be? After months of preparation, training and anticipation, the start of the expedition is only days away. The team is all together in Punta Arenas, Chile and everyone is happy to be one step closer to Antarctica. All the gear and food that was shipped from the USA has arrived safe and sound, minus a few cranberries :( Tomorrow the team will begin final preparations, including tent modifications and some last-minute shopping for certain food items. We are hoping to have an audio report to post tonight. So check back again soon!

Cheers! From the Shackleton Bar in Punta Arenas

Welcome to our Full South Pole Expedition Blog!

Welcome! We are delighted to have you reading our 2011-2012 Full South Pole Expedition Blog. As you read this our team is in the process of completing final preparations for the expedition. Gear has been ordered, modified and packed, and food has already been shipped to our initial starting point of Punta Arenas, Chile. The team will be assembling there on November 18, 2011 for several days of last minute preparations before departing for Antarctica on November 22, 2011.

We will be updating this blog on a daily basis starting November 18, 2011. Until then we will make periodic postings with interesting and fun information about the team's training and preparations.

One of the best features of this blog is to have you, the reader, send our team questions during their expedition. We will forward these questions to them during our daily contact, and post their answers on the blog. This is fun for everyone, so don't hesitate to join in the adventure!

If you have any questions about the expedition please don't hesitate to contact us!

Happy Trails!

The PolarExplorers Team