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Posted by Bill S on January 11, 2007 at 6:30:10 am EST
In reply to Re: Gear usage posted by SteveTheFolkie on January 10, 2007 at 9:49:11 am EST

Steve -

You would have to be there to appreciate the fantastic scenery on Vinson. The movies and TV shows do not come close to conveying the magic of the continent. We were a bit more rushed on Vinson than I would like, with the result that we only got 2 of our party to the summit. One returned to Patriot Hills from Low Camp. I had a bit of indigestion on the morning of the summit attempt, and the rest stopped about 100 feet short of the summit. So we didn´t put any of the original 1st ascent party back on the summit. We agreed that another camp was needed between High Camp and the summit (there was one on the first ascent and many of the subsequent ascents). But not tagging the absolute summit does not detract from the wonderful time we all had and the overwhelming scenery.

In view of the dismissive comments by some of the posters in the Everest show discussion, I should note that the environmental regulations, imposed by the climbers themselves, are far more extensive than almost anywhere else. Everything, including human waste, must be packed out. This includes spilled granola bits, tiny bits of wrappers, and, yes, ALL human waste (at the base camps, you pee into empty fuel barrels, and the barrels are flown out, while on the trail, you carry your pee bottle and empty that at base into the barrels).

I don´t believe that most of the people claiming great environmental consciousness from treks even begin to comprehend this kind of LNT practice. The end result is that the only traces of human presence you see are footprints (which are quickly drifted over) and at the campsites themselves (the tents and people who are there). There are a few plaques and summit registers, but few of those, and some plane remains from early exploration before LNT was fully put into practice.

At this time, even with the increasing number of commercially guided groups in the interior, there is a large amount of mutual help in case of incidents like the crevasse fall and altitude illness that happened while we were on the ice. Completely different from the Everest scene.

Replies

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• Re: Vinson - SteveTheFolkie 12:51:50 01/11/2007
  • Re: Vinson - Bill S 20:10:26 01/12/2007
    • Re: Vinson - adam g 08:02:17 01/13/2007
      • Re: Vinson - Bill S 19:20:26 01/13/2007
        • Re: Vinson - Dave 00:02:20 01/14/2007
    • Re: Vinson - Tom D 20:25:33 01/12/2007

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