Antarctica 2009/10 – Ellsworth Mountains Ski Traverse (Part 2 of 2)

Ski Traverse from Mt. Vinson to Patriot Hills (via Hercules Inlet).

This expedition was part of the 7summits2sealevel quest and involved skiing over 250km through the Ellsworth mountains. Following remote and unvisited glaciers in one of the most stunning regions of Antartica. The trip is best described by the photos!! The opportunities for exploring the Ellsworth mountains by ski are endless – just contact Darren or ALE if you fancy planning a visit!

The team ready for the off at VBC

The Branscomb glacier, Vinson Massif, Antarctica

The first day involved finding a safe route through the upper glaciers, down to the huge Nimitz glacier. We took the flat terrain in the top left of the photo towards the Zapol glacier.

Skiing across the Cairns glacier towards the Zapol col.

On the upper glaciers the skiing was generally  fairly easy. Just a few large crevasses to avoid heading for the col that lead to the Zapol glacier and descent route to Nimitz glacier.

An aerial view of the Zapol glacier and subsequent route.

Once safely through the heavily crevassed Zapol glacier we started to ski along the huge Nimitz glacier. This ice stream is over 65km in length and runs through the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains to meet the even larger Minnesota Glacier.

The 65km long Nimitz Glacier.

Skiing along the Nimitz glacier

After descending from Vinson Base camp via the Zapol glacier Day 1 finished with a easy 8km ski along the Nimitz glacier. The next day we covered over 30km in between the Craddock massif and the Bastien Range. Stunning scenery and a long ski!

Day 3: Perfect weather at the camp site on the Nimitz glacier

In the afternoon of Day 3 we finally came to the end of the Nimitz glacier only to be met with crevasses and a 30m high pressure ridge as the ice crashed in to the even larger Minnesota glacier. The Minnesota is over 80km in length and some 8km wide. We traversed across the glacier just below the crazy paved scenery known as the Bowie Crevasse field. We were now close to the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains.

Skiing a blue ice section as we entered the Heritage Range of the Ellsworth Mountains.

Two days further on and we started the climb up the 30km long Schneider Glacier. Now we were in the heart of the Heritage Range amongst stunning peaks and perfect glacial scenery.

High on the Schneider glacier after 35km skiing that day.

A long day saw us reach the 1600m high col between the Scheider and Driscoll glaciers. The aerial photo below shows the route. Approaching from high on the right we crossed the col on to the Driscoll glacier which runs left to right in the centre of the view. This region is right in the middle of the Heritage Range of Mountains and affords stunning views.

Driscoll Glacier - aerial view

Campsite high on the Driscoll Glacier

From the Driscoll glacier we descended on to the Union Glacier. High winds and bad visibility meant we had to stop early one day. The weather continued to be far from perfect for the next two days but we pressed on and reached the Hercules Inlet on Day 9 of the expedition. Day 10 and we were back at Patriot Hills camp tired but happy!

New routing on the West ridge of Mt. Fordell, Marble Hills

A day off saw some exploring in the Hidden Valley in the Marble Hills and a first ascent of the West Ridge of Mt. Fordell.

High on the West Ridge of Mt. Fordell

An airy descent on West Ridge of Mt. Fordell

After the ski expedition and a few days at Patriot Hills I returned to Vinson Base Camp (Jan 12). The last Vinson climbers of the 09/10 season were all successful on the mountain and then it was time to pack up camp for another season.

Time to relax at Vinson Base Camp! Thanks again ALE!!

Antarctica – 2009/10 season (Part 1 of 2)

Second Season Guiding for Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions/Adventure Network International (ALE/ANI).
I departed Le Chazelet heading for Punta Arenas, Patagonia, Chile on November 5, 2009. Then on November 12, after lots of preparation and packing, we all got in to the giant Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft and set off to the Ice. Following an extremely smooth landing on the blue ice runway (thanks to the work of the advance team) we all began the Patriot Hills camp set up – first up was our personal tents and cook tent. One day of wild winds did not deter the camp building and after a week, with Patriot Hills up and running, the Vinson guide team took the ski plane (Twin Otter) the 220km to the Branscomb glacier on Mt. Vinson (our home for the season).

windy day at Patriot Hills camp, Antarctica

Vinson Base Camp, Mt. Vinson, Antarctica. (Nov 09)

This season saw a small, but International, set up team (Chris (USA), Pachi (Chile), Namgya (Nepal) and myself) on the mountain. However, we soon built up the Vinson base camp including communications (HF and VHF radio systems), solar power, waste containers, tents and stores. We then skied up the mountain to prepare Low Camp, the fixed ropes and High Camp before the clients arrived.

Building snow block walls at Low Camp, Mt. Vinson.

Namgya snowmelting for tea! Mt. Vinson 2009.

For the first two client programs I was Vinson Base Camp manager. Amongst the numerous tasks this involved keeping a track of all expeditions and teams on the mountain. I was extremely fortunate to get to fly over to the far side of the Vinson Massif with an Austrian team who were to attempt Mt. Tyree (2nd highest in Antarctica). Russell (the Twin Otter pilot) landed us safely on the Patton glacier where we all enthused at the view in this rarely visited part of the Ellsworth mountain range. Not only was Mt. Tyree impressive but the whole Patton glacier was surrounded by stunning peaks including Mts. Gardner, Shear, Morris and Evans peak. Wow!

Vinson Massif, Antarctica from the south.

Mt. Shear, Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica.

Having helped the Tyree climbing group unpack their gear we then flew back all the way to Patriot Hills to pick up more Vinson climbers. Although it was now 11pm the sun was shining and the light extremely clear so the trip through the Ellsworth mountains was superb. Later in December I was going to be leading a ski trip from Mt. Vinson back to Patriot Hills (see Ellsworth mountains ski traverse …report coming soon) so this flight provided me the opportunity to view (from above) the route. Through relatively unexplored terrain the proposed ski route would be descending the 65km long Nimitz glacier, crossing the even larger Minnesota glacier and then on through the Heritage Mountains range to reach Hercules Inlet (the edge of the Antarctic Continent – would be the coastline if the ice melted!) and back to Patriot Hills camp. Over 250km of skiing!!

Patton Glacier flowing north from Mt. Tyree

Twin Otter lands on Patton glacier below Mt. Tyree

Back at Vinson base the new teams were all getting ready to ascend the mountain…… This season all ALE/ANI clients again reached the summit successfully and safely…..more to come…..

Darren McAulay – Mt. Vinson and South Pole, Antarctica with ALE

Darren McAulay – Mountain Guiding and Instruction Services:
In Nov 2008, I travelled to Antarctica to guide for Antarctica Logisitcs and Expeditions (ALE) and Adventure Network International. ALE is the only Company to provide travel logisitics and guiding services for climbing Mt. Vinson, skiing the Last Degree to the South Pole and many other exciting and challenging actvities in the Worlds greatest wilderness. I was fortunate to climb Mt. Vinson twice, in Nov and Jan 2009, ski guide a group of 5 clients to the South Pole and lead many other adventurous ski and climbing expeditions. I will return to Antarctica again this Nov for the ICE summer season.

Approaching High Camp on Mt. Vinson, Antarctica

Feb-Apr: The remaining (Northern Hemisphere) winter months I resided in Le Chazelet, La Grave in the Ecrins Alps, France. Great fun in the snow and learning to play on a speed riding paraglider (fast ski fun with a small wing). Have a look at :#mce_temp_url# &   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gJYqx8xtc4

Other winter activities including snowshoeing, ice climbing, ski touring and ski paragliding.