Vinson Massif
Vinson Massif is the
highest mountain of
Antarctica, located about 1,200 km (750 mi) from the
South Pole. The mountain is about 21
km (13 mi) long and 13 km (8 mi) wide. The southern end of the
massif is capped by
Mount Craddock (4,650 m).
It is in the
Sentinel Range of the
Ellsworth Mountains, which stand above the
Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the
Antarctic Peninsula.
The massif's existence was unsuspected until 1957, when it was spotted by
US Navy aircraft. It was named after
Carl Vinson (also the namesake of an
aircraft carrier), a
United States Georgia Congressman who was a key supporter of funding for Antarctic research.
In 1963, the
American Alpine Club began lobbying the
National Science Foundation to support an expedition to climb Vinson, in part to forestall the efforts of
Woodrow Wilson Sayre, who had developed a reputation for problematic trips (the concern in this case was that a private expedition in trouble would require a difficult and dangerous rescue). The Alpine Club finally got permission in 1966, and with the help of the Navy, which flew the climbers to the Sentinel Range on a ski-equipped
C-130 Hercules, a group of four climbers led by
Nicholas B. Clinch reached the summit on
December 18,
1966.
The climb of Vinson offers little technical difficulty beyond the usual hazards of travel in Antarctica, and as one of the
Seven Summits, it has received much attention from well-heeled climbers in recent years; between 1985 and 2000,
Adventure Network International (the only organization that runs private expeditions to Vinson) has guided over 450 climbers to the summit.
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE) recently purchased Adventure Network International. ALE is now the only company offering flights to Vinson Massif. ALE, as well as several other companies, now guide clients up Vinson Massif.
The new height (4,892 m) of Vinson Massif resulted from a GPS survey by the 2004 Omega Foundation team comprising Damien Gildea of Australia (leader), and Rodrigo Fica and Camilo Rada of Chile; it is 5 m lower than the previous figure.
While the vast majority of prior climbs to the summit have used the western side of the massif from the
Branscomb Glacier, the first ascent from the east side was successfully completed by an eight-person team sponsored by
Nova in January 2001. The team consisted of:
*
Conrad Anker - expedition leader
*
Jon Krakauer - mountaineer and author
*
Dave Hahn - mountain guide with 19 ascents from the established route
* Andrew Mclean - extreme skier
* Dan Stone -
glaciologist* Lisel Clark - producer (who also became the first woman to make an ascent from this side)
* John Armstrong - cameraman
* Rob Raker - assistant cameraman and sound recording
The team not only made the first ascent from the east side but also performed scientific research into snow accumulation at different elevations as well as taking the first ground based
GPS reading from the summit. The GPS reading gave the elevation of the highest point in Antarctica as 4,897 metres (16,077 ft), eclipsing the earlier established heights recorded in 1959 and 1979.
Another first was the successful aircraft landing of a
Twin Otter on the Upper
Dater Glacier on the eastern slopes of Vinson Massif.
Nova named the production
Mountain of Ice, which first aired on
PBS in February 2003.
*
Mountain of Ice*
Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions
