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The Omega Livingston team is down south
19:19 p.m. EST Nov 17, 2003
The Omega Livingston Island GPS Expedition is one step closer to the ice. All the expedition members have arrived in Puntas Arenas, the most common jumping off point for Antarctic expeditions. Today the team will be holding a press conference for the expedition, which will use a sophisticated and very expensive GPS system to first measure the height of Mount Friesland and then possibly some other peaks on Livingston Island, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Damien Gildea writes in to ExplorersWeb from Puntas Arenas:
"The Omega Livingston Island GPS Expedition 2003 has arrived in Punta Arenas. Damo and John had 38hrs of flying to reach Punta, via LAX, so we arrived pretty tired but it was good to be met by Rodrigo and Osvaldo. Straight from the airport we went to our gear store and retrieved various items for John.
The rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking and setting up our tech gear. Everything is working fine so far. JB even cooked us dinner, but it obviously took its toll, as he went to bed at midnight and is still asleep twelve hours later. This morning (Thursday) Rodrigo, Osvaldo and I had a brief meeting where we discussed the press conference on Monday and other issues such as the HF radios and buying food.
We fitted-out Osvaldo with the rest of his gear - thankfully the boots I bought him fit well. He's getting excited about the trip. We're going out tonight for dinner and a few drinks.”
D
On the expedition this year will be Damien Gildea, 34, of Australia, Chilean Rodrigo Fica, 36, an Australian GIS specialist John Bath, 33, and a Chilean student, Osvaldo Usaj. The aim this year is to first ascend Mount Friesland on Livingston Island and record it’s proper height by means of a GPS. The information collected by the Omega expedition will be combined with previous maps and research to make a more accurate map of the area that will be available sometime in 2004.
Image of Osvaldo trying on some of his gear and a new solar recharger courtesy of Damien Gildea.
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