Home Sweet Home

... Finally home! After 6 different planes and over 24 hours of travel, I am back in Denver and ready to jump into the swing of things.
First of all, I would love to thank everyone for their support and enthusiasm regarding this website. I had no idea how big of a deal the site had become until I got home and read all of the comments and heard reports of people logging in from around the country. I also have to apologize for not being more eloquent or providing more details. Most of the posts I made were after long days of climbing or carrying gear and the cold weather limited the amount of time I wanted to spend outside the tents on a satellite phone. So, thanks for listening!
A few thoughts:
-Everything worked out very well. It was nothing but good Karma that we were able to arrive a whole day earlier than what was predicted to be our unrealistic earliest possible day home. We were truly the strongest climbing team on the mountain. Everyone had a fabulous attitude towards the climb and a strong work ethic to get the job done. There was no complaining, only bad jokes and lively conversation. Instead of our moral being lowered on our bad weather days, our commeradery was reinforced with every snow block that we used to strenghthen the walls protecting our camp. We were also blessed with overall fabulous weather conditions. The only time I was truly cold was on the flight leaving Antarctica. I am convinced the pilots thought it would be funny not to turn any heat on in the back of the plane.
-It is nice to be able to change clothes on a daily basis considering I did not change clothes the entire time I was on the mountain (really). It is just a way of life on a mountaineering expedition. You do not want to carry the weight of multiple sets of clothing and they will just start to smell instantly anyway since there is no way to shower. Besides, I smelled like roses compared to everyone else.
-The 24 hours of sunlight really began to mess with my head even more than the altitude. We would be working until 1 o'clock A.M. some days and I could have sworn it was only 5 in the afternoon. I think without a watch, I would have quickly lost any sense of time.
-What a surreal place. For several days I looked out from our camps and could have sworn I was looking down on a low cloud layer, which is often the case from bigger mountains. What I was really looking at was ice and snow as far as I could see. I was a witness to a couple of interesting phenomenon. First, when I took a compass out to look at the direction, the needle was pegged down against the bottom of the compass since we were so close to the south pole. Also, all of our altimeters showed an altitude that was a t least a couple of thousand feet higher than the actual altitude at the top. We are pretty sure that this is due to a further decrease in barometeric pressure as you move away from the equator towards the poles. Equatorial bulge?
-Antarctica is an isolated place. After traveling to places like the Rub al Khali sand desert in southern Saudi Arabia, I thought I had been in isolated places. Antarctica is an entire continent of nothing but snow, ice and mountains. There are a couple of research stations with no permanent residence... thats it. Antarctica is a place that spawns stories of courage and adventure from Shackleton to Scott and many more. We flew hundreds of miles over a small chunk of Antarctica and saw no signs that any people had every set foot to this spectacular area. To put it into perspective, I was told at the end of the trip that fewer people have stepped on top of Mt. Vinson than have gone into space.
-Everyone on our trip lost some weight. I personally lost about 6 pounds. I think I should market this diet. You can eat all the fattiest food that you want such as bacon quesadillas and raw chocolate chip cookie dough logs and still lose 5-10 pounds in a couple of weeks. All you have to do is either climb ten hours a day or sit around in - 22 degree weather.
-Finally, I have been extremely fortunate to have realized so many of my dreams and goals. I have been able to turn two of my loves, teaching and climbing, into careers. I consider myself to be extremely lucky to be envited as a professional guide and climber on such an amazing expedition. Thanks Phil!! I am also lucky to be at a school such as Kepner Middle School where I not only get to teach an incredible group of students, and I get to learn from them as well. I have been fortunate enough to have a world class set of mentors in every stage of my life; from my parents whose values set me up for success to a fabulous set of high school science teachers, to Joe Williams, an amazing scientist, advisor, and hard worker, to climbing mentors like Andy Politz and Phil Ershler whose modesty as living legends have inspired me to work as hard as I can towards every goal. I truly belive you can over come any obstacle and reach any goal with enough hard work, an open eye for opportunity, and respect for all people along your paths in life.

After taking several more deep breathes, I am sure that I will come up with some more ideas. Keep checking the website since I should be able to start putting some pictures up this week. Also, I will be able to start replying to the "comments" section. If you have any questions about Antarctica or any other ideas you would like me to carry on about, write 'em down.
Thanks!!!
Mike Haugen
P.S. I did not chew gum on the mountain. I am physically unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. Just kidding. I do not chew gum while I climb because it is hard enough to breathe at altitude because of a lack of air pressure. I am pretty sure that gum would not get hard in your mouth due to the fact that I never remember my tongue being cold.