Hello, MountainZone cybernauts, this is Vern Tejas, down in paradise, the bottom of the world in Antarctica, high on the flanks of Mount Vinson.

Currently in Base Camp, resting and recuperating. Part of our acclimatization schedule is to stress ourselves, and then to recuperate. This builds strong bodies in 12 ways. Not to delineate too much about those 12 ways, but just to tell you this is a Russian system where you go to altitude, strain your body so that it actually grows more red blood cells and adapts, and then you go back to low altitude to recuperate and to put the fat back on, if you will, so that when you go up again, you're ready. Your body's sort of like a sponge, it soaks up the oxygen down low and then you're ready to give it another shot up higher.

And today, we did just that. We recuperated quite nicely, by going out on a little ski tour. We wanted to stress ourselves a bit, so we went up a 12,000 foot hill, Christophe, the local ANI guide and Tom from Mountain Madness and myself, on touring skis, alpine touring skis. And it was one of the best runs of my life. As they say, there was three inches of powder over a 10,000 foot base. It couldn't be better.

Also, I want to mention that Dave Hahn, a fellow guide and good friend, has just come in with his team, finally. They were postponed a week at Patriot Hills, waiting for the winds to die down and fly over here. They got off to a great start today, so anybody that knows Dave and his teammates, know that they are on their way up and they're successfully at Camp I and on their way to Mount Vinson as well.

For those interested in statistics, I've got a few, here they come.

We've got currently, 2100, an oxygen saturation of 94, which has improved quite a bit now that I've come back down here, it's gone up. I've got a pulse of 50, which has gone down. These are all good signs, good things. We're currently at 2,015 meters above sea level. You notice even though I'm at Vinson Base Camp, that's slightly different than last time here. Obviously the pressure has increased, which means good weather, and that's what we're having today, spectacularly good weather. Also notice that I'm a little more adapted than the last time I was at this level, so that's good. I'm just noticing the oxygen saturation is a couple of points higher. That shows that the stress and recuperation regimen is paying off. 6,620 feet above sea level, with a barometric pressure of 764 millibars. In the shadows it's 21 below centigrade, about minus 3 fahrenheit. Currently no wind, currently no wind chill factor, currently no clouds. A sunny, beautiful, fantastic day.

Now weather is something that we have to learn how to live with, in Antarctica or any of the high mountain ranges in the world. We like to plan it where we're resting and recuperating during the storms, and then actually climbing to the summit in the clear weather. So you need to be flexible enough in your schedule, and that means planning storm days in your food and materials, and also in the things that you take with you, such as books and musical instruments.

So, that's pretty much it from down here today for today, and I just want to tell you that Conrad Anker is supposed to be flying back to Patriot Hills from the other side of the mountain tomorrow, just for the people who are following his progress.

Ciao for now, we'll see you on the flip side, should be another day or so here, and we will begin another project. So stay tuned, stand by, signing off from the bottom of the world. Vern Tejas, cheers.

— Vern Tejas, expedition leader and MountainZone.com correspondent