Saturday, December 27, 2014

Chillin' in Chile

Hey this is Judy here (Randy's wife/Anders' Mom) filling in for RC during this adventure.  You may hear from him once or twice more while they are in Chile, but then I hear the Internet connection isn't great in Antarctica, so you are mostly stuck with me!
I just talked to Randy, and the boys finished the third leg of their journey and are in their hotel in Punta Arenas.  Since most of us have NO idea where that is, here is a map of the very southernmost part of Chile.  They are all the way down near the Strait of Magellan and Cape Horn. You can't really get much further south unless you go to Antarctica...which as we know is where they'll be heading.


I took them to the LA airport yesterday and they headed off with 4 very carefully packed bags of gear.  As many of you know from previous journeys of theirs, they have spent the last few weeks and especially the last few days, discussing, debating, packing and repacking all the gear so they can survive on the ice for a couple weeks.  So I'm sure it was a relief for them to know they were finally packed and heading off.  Although as Randy admitted, thinking about going to Antarctica was one thing, but actually leaving to go there was a bit intimidating (for me too)!  Here's some pictures of them loading into the car and then heading into the airport to the world famous Copa Airlines. 


  
They had just met with their guide Greg for their gear check, which of course they passed.  And then they were waiting for the 4 other climbers to arrive and they will all have dinner tonight.  They may leave for Antarctica as early as tomorrow night, depending on the weather.  They said it's dreary and chilly in Punta Arenas, around 50 degrees. But I imagine once in the land of the South Pole, that dreary 50 might be sounding pretty good to them. So start sending some positive vibes for them on this challenging climb!  Feel free to leave comments for them since they love to get them when they come back.  I think because of spam this is set up that I have to approve them, but leave them and I will do so! 

2 comments:

Lisa said...

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures! Thanks for sharing them, it is a learning experience for all of us. Wishing you the best; sending prayers for safety.

Tony Anderson said...

Good luck cousins!