Trip Reports

Antarctic Climber 2009 expeditions

Written by Leader Mungo Ross, January 2010

What an unusual, spectacular and fantastic month that has just been! Two "Antarctic Climber" trips back-to-back, this was my own first opportunity to visit the Antarctic. I was expecting this one to actually be a bit of a holiday - living on a cruise ship, brief climbing forays on a few of the days (weather and itinerary permitting); zodiac cruises, penguin colonies, seals and whales....Instead it has been non-stop activity - about 20 shore landings, 8 summits, a couple of overhanging ice-cliff top-rope sessions, and sleeping out on the snow twice!

The formula for these Antarctic holidays has been well worked out and perfected by Aurora, the Australian tour operator. Flying to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego (which claims to be the most southerly city in the world), up to 56 passengers board the "Polar Pioneer" - a ship specially designed for Arctic waters - who are then taken on a variety of itineries to the Antarctic Peninsula. For these last two trips, additional options of sea kayaking or mountaineering are offered for up to a maximum of twelve of the guests, the climbing option giving Jagged Globe the opportunity to offer their own clients a chance to do some modest alpine mountaineering in this remote and extraordinary part of the world. So under the supervision of suitably qualified and experienced guides these specialist groups can indulge in their chosen activity while the "normal people" get off the ship for zodiac cruises amongst ice bergs, or visit sites of interest - penguin and seal colonies, abandoned whaling stations, and several of the currently manned Scientific Bases. Three excellent meals a day, a programme of lectures and films, even the chance to sleep out on the snow or take a "Polar Plunge" in the icy waters completes what is offered to make up an Antarctic Experience.

The overall Expedition Leader was Henrik Lovendahl, who, supported by his partner Sue Werner, has been doing these trips for over 10 years. Our other climbing guide was Hugh Barnard from New Zealand, who has been climbing, guiding, and running a hele-ski operation in New Zealand, the Indian Himalaya and Greenland for the last 20 years; between us we felt reasonably able to pick out suitable routes for the group! On the first trip (25th Nov-10th Dec) there were 8 Jagged Globe clients, and four who had booked through Aurora: we lost two of them to the kayaking group after our first outing (they had wanted to do both but it is not really feasible to dip in and out of activities) so we were a group of 12. The second trip had only 5 Jagged Globe bookings, but another 8 from Aurora, so a total group of 15. Given that there was an inevitable range of fitness, climbing experience and ability, and most of the opportunities to get ashore are for only 3 or 4 hours (sometimes even less - though Henrik worked very hard to give us as much time ashore as possible), we were obviously restricted by these constraints as to what was reasonably achievable.

Of course the other major factors, as on any climbing trip, are the weather and conditions (there is not much of an issue in the Antarctic with congestion on the routes!), and this season has been blessed on both accounts. We got most of our share of winds during the crossing of the Drake Passage - the stretch of the South Atlantic between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula - two days each way which allowed us to know a little of what it can be like in these waters (rough!). One force 10 catabatic gale in the Gerlache Strait was fun, and more-so on the second trip low cloud and snowfall gave us a more balanced perspective of life in the Antarctic - blue sky all the time would have left us with a false impression. Because there are 24 hours of daylight, pre-dawn starts and benightment are not an issue, but we did generally work within a daily framework of breakfast at 7, lunch at 1, dinner at 7:30, though for the climbing groups this was pretty flexible.

So, what was the climbing like? Virtually everywhere is glaciated, and crevassed in an unusually unpredictable way. Recent snowfall covered everything, and occasional light snowfalls added to that cover. Most of the peaks we could see from the shore, even by their easiest and most obvious route, presented significant obstacles - hanging seracs, gaping crevasses, or rock bands. The big peaks are certainly spectacular, draw the climbers eye and offer serious objectives: the smaller (300-600 meter}summits offer wonderful viewpoints and challenging route selection and finding, avoiding the objective dangers of hanging ice cliffs and rock fall, assessing for potential avalanche conditions, and probing for hidden crevasses. We summitted several unnamed hills, Doumer Peak by it's west and east ridges (fun roping folk across a fragile looking snow bridge one at a time), Peon Peak, Hugo Peak, and Molina Point. There were some spectacular and exposed snowy arêtes; though relatively small mountains and short sessions there was a very definite Alpine "big" feel about it all. Just knowing that there is no rescue service, and no one else around, puts the sense of adventure back into even easy alpine climbing.

A huge thanks must go to all of the 24 Russian Crew on board the Polar Pioneer, all the Aurora staff - Grey and Andy the chefs, Sarah for looking after domestics, Al (kayaking) and Alan (wildlife), and Giles the ship's doctor: and of course Henrik and Sue. They collectively provided a relaxed yet secure environment to enable everyone on board to realise their own Antarctic Dreams - taking home not only photographs (how many pics of penguins do you really need?), but memories that will last a very long time. It has been great working with Hugh (we became collectively referred to as Hugo!), sharing not just a cabin for a month, but all the climbing and mountaineering decisions. And thank you and well done to both of the climbing teams - for allowing us to share each of your own experiences of a lifetime.

Mungo Ross. Climbers group leader for Jagged Globe.« Previous report | Next report »

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