"Still in Punta Arenas, but we nearly flew south to Antarctica tonight. Alas, the katabatic wind at the blue ice strip at Patriot Hills is still too strong: 35-45 knots, and blizzard conditions. 15-20 knots is the maximum crosswind for this Russian cargo plane on the ice. Gusts have reached 61 knots, which is a big crosswind, given that winds above 64 knots are hurricane force.

The main mishap so far was my skis being put on the wrong plane from Miami, to Argentina instead of Chile. I've got 300 items of kit, and some things like my Olympus Mons triple layer boots and ski-mountaineering bindings cannot be found in South America. So I carried a spare set of bindings, and wore my boots and polar gear throughout the airports, attracting the interest of the security staff at Heathrow and Miami.

There are no skis in Punta Arenas, so the only option was to delay my flight and look for some in Santiago. I dug up some long forgotten Spanish words, and found a mechanic to drill and fit the spare bindings on. Then my original skis suddenly arrived from Buenos Aires, so I've got two sets now. I was glad to get to Punta Arenas after 49 hours travelling including two back-to-back nights on planes.

Today, I went for a hike and found a deep canyon, with views over Magellan Straits, which is 20 miles wide here, with fierce gales blowing from Cape Horn. What Magellan did nearly 500 years ago is amazing.

Punta Arenas has some wide streets designed for sheep herding in the past. Sheep would have a hard time now due to hordes of stray and wild dogs roaming the streets, some of them very wolfish. This is claimed as the world's southernmost city, and has to be one of the windiest. The wind blows garbage all over the place, even 100 feet up in the air, and it hangs up on telephone lines.

My fellow travellers to Patriot Hills are all hoping that the katabatic winds will subside soon. There's a Norwegian group attempting Mount Vinson, and an Anglo-American team going for the South Pole. Everyone is in very good shape, with loads of polar experience and a passion for adventure. Frostbite prevention has been the main conversation topic."