After our successful summit of Vinson on December 9, 2010 it has been quite busy. We took the big Ilyushin back to Punta and then most of the team caught flights out of Punta Arenas to homes across the world within 12 hours of landing. I arrived back in Colorado on Tuesday, December 14th. I am always amazed at how quick I get home. It was a 21 day total trip. First, I want to thank everyone who made a donation to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and especially to those who completed their pledge of a penny a foot. Remember continue reading

Hi Everyone, just a quick update. We finally left Antarctica around midnight last night December 13th and arrived in Punta in the wee hours. We are currently enjoying chairs, tables and cooked eggs at the hotel! While we only waited a few days, it felt longer with the anticipation of getting on our way back home. But, I had mixed emotions as I left knowing what a special place Antarctica is and how fortunate I was to be a guest on the continent. The winds kept blowing both at Union Glacier and Punta Arenas creating delay after delay but a continue reading

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Antarctica's Mt. Vinson; the first of his 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer's awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund at http://www.curealzfund.org/ where 100% of your donation goes to Alzheimer's research. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Antarctica's Mt. Vinson; the first of his 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer's awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund at http://www.curealzfund.org/ where 100% of your donation goes to Alzheimer's research. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Audio Dispatch from Mt. Vinson: Waiting at Low Camp

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Antarctica’s Mt. Vinson; the first of his 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer’s awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund at http://www.curealzfund.org/ where 100% of your donation goes to Alzheimer’s research. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Working up Vinson

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Antarctica's Mt. Vinson; the first of his 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer's awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund at http://www.curealzfund.org/ where 100% of your donation goes to Alzheimer's research. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Antarctica's Mt. Vinson; the first of his 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer's awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today to the Cure Alzheimer's Fund at http://www.curealzfund.org/ where 100% of your donation goes to Alzheimer's research. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

After a few hours of waiting, we were just told to get dressed in our full -15F clothes and meet in the hotel lobby in 1 hour. Our packs were loaded yesterday on the big Ill so all we have are small day packs with another couple of layers, a small book and sunglasses. It is a four hour flight so assuming (a big if) we leave around 5PM local time we should arrive at Union Glacier around 9PM local time, still full sunlight since the sun never sets this time of year. The camp is about 5 miles from continue reading
Great news – it looks like we will be flying out late Saturday afternoon November 27 to Union Glacier! The big Ill, as the ilyushin 76 jet is often called, made trip yesterday and today and the weather looks good for tomorrow, But, as always, this is subject to change. So with this as the base plan, today was a day of hectic last minute rushed activities. It started with a briefing at Antarctica Logistics and Expeditions (ALE), more in a moment, then packing our expedition packs to be loaded on the Ill later tonight and the rest of day continue reading
After exactly 30 hours of travel, I am now in Punta Arenas Chile. It felt like we flew down the coast of South America forever, and it was – over 12 hours of flight time. That is one long continent! All in all an uneventful trip, exactly the way to start this first of many such travels over the next year. I started in Denver by successfully avoiding forming any long term relationships with the screeners, then navigated LAX and onto my LAN Chile flight. First stop was in Lima Peru then to Santiago Chile. After a plane change, it continue reading
After several years of preparation, The 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything is officially underway. After an incredible launch on November 9th where we potentially reached over 20 million people; it is time to climb. The first climb is on Antarctica’s highest, the Vinson Massif at 16,067′ or 4897 meters. This will be followed by the highest peak outside the Himalaya, Aconcagua, in January 2010 then Everest and the rest. This is a brief video with my thoughts as I finish packing today. The Antarctica weather has been tough already for 2010 with climbers, skiers and South Pole continue reading
As I get closer to leaving for Antarctica, it is time to layout all my gear and check, double check and check again. Overall, I will take almost the same items I used on Everest or other 8000m climbs even though Vinson is “only” about 5000m or 16,067′. It’s the Wind, Mr. Scott While temps can hit -40F, it is the wind that creates the extreme danger. Katabatic winds are the culprit. These winds come down from the high mountains sometimes at hurricane force bringing all activity to a halt, including flights in and out. Of note is the first continue reading
