VINSON MASSIF, ANTARCTICA

Introduction

Antarctica, is now more accessible than ever before, yet it remains by any measure the remotest place on earth. Getting there is still a major adventure, first by Russian Alusian jet from Punta Arenas, on the southern tip of South America, to the ice runway at Patriot Hills at 81° S. and then onward in smaller ski equipped DC4 or Twin Otter aircraft. At Patriot Hills we will find a ever changing community of explorers preparing to set off on expeditions big and small, mixed with those who have come just to soak up the atmosphere, fly to the South Pole or visit the penguin rookeries.

The mountains of Antarctica's Sentinel Range stretch for more than eighty miles, drawn up, like the pieces on a chess board, against the edge of the greatest sweep of ice in the world, a vast, barren plain, bigger than the USA. These elegant symmetrical pyramids of striated metamorphic rock, laced with icy runnels, grow in stature from the flanks to culminate at the centre, in the Vinson Massif (4897 m), the highest peak in Antarctica.

Expeditions to Vinson have a high success rate. The most common reason for failure is insufficient time. you should therefore alot a full three weeks for this expedition. This allows extra flexibility for bad weather which delay flights and the option of climbing Mt Shinn as a secondary objective.

The 13km. route, rising from the airstrip at 2100 m., is technically straightforward. But the effects of altitude at these latitudes should not be underestimated. Objective dangers are small; low temperatures and high winds are the most serious concern. Three high camps are usually necessary.

The climb is comparable to, but less demanding than, the west buttress route on Denali, with crevassed glacial approaches and 45° snow and ice on the mountain. Participants must be mountaineers, competant in the use of ice axe and crampons, with good motivation and personally well organised. The ability to ski is advisable but not essential. It will be necessary to haul pulks on the glacier and carry heavy loads high on the mountain.