Antarctica
Antarctica The on lin e versio n o f these re p o rts fre q u e n tly c o n ta in s a d d itio n a l ph otos, m aps, topos, an d exten ded text. P lease visit aaj.americanalpineclub.org Damien Gildea acknowledges contributions from Simon Abrahams, Ludovic Challeat, Patrick Degerman, Bob Headland, Robert Miller, Todd Passey, Mike Roberts, Christian Stangl, and Phil Wickens. E
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Vinson Massif, summary. One-hundred-and-forty-seven climbers reached the summit o f Mt. Vinson (4,892m) in the 2011-12 season, with repeats by guides bringing total ascents to 158. Fourteen climbers also ascended nearby Mt. Shinn (4,660m), the continent’s third highest mountain. Guides from Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE) made several ascents of Knutzen Peak, a rocky summit that lies above the Vinson normal route, and did some reconnaissance on the eastern side o f the massif. American Jordan Romero, aged 15 years, 5 months, 12 days, guided by ALE’s Scott Woolums, became the youngest to climb Vinson and also the youngest to complete the Seven Summits. The m ajor ascent o f the season was the fifth ascent o f Mt. Tyree (4,582m ), the second highest m ou n tain in A n tarctica. A u strian clim bers H an s K a m m e rla n d e r, R o b e rt M iller, an d C h ristian Stan gl reached the top by m aking the third ascent o f the n orth east face, m ore or less following the 1997 French route up the G rand Couloir. Stangl attem pted the route in D ecem ber 2010 but had to retreat from very high when his partner was injured by rockfall. T h e three u se d a d iffe ren t ap p ro ach from previou s asc e n sio n ists; A LE flew them to a b ase cam p on the C ervellati G lacier, rather than the Patton Glacier. From the Cervellati they spent the first day o f 2012 clim bing onto the rocky northeast ridge o f Tyree, where they placed a cam p in an obvious notch at 3,247 m. The next day they went a little higher on the ridge, before traversin g left into the couloir (as on the se c o n d asce n t, in 1997), w hich they follow ed all the way to the broad saddle betw een Tyree’s n orth an d sou th su m m its. E asy g ro u n d then led to the h igh er north sum m it. Their 200m, 6m m rope allowed them to m ake eight lon g rap p els on the descent. Stan gl jo in s C o n ra d A nker, B arry C o rb e t,
an d John E van s as the on ly p eo p le to have clim bed A n tarctica’s three highest mountains. W ith this ascen t K am m e rlan d e r claim ed to be the first p e rso n to have clim bed the Seco n d Seven Su m m its, a c h alle n g e th o u g h t to be c o n sid e ra b ly m ore difficult than the Seven Sum m its. H o w ev er,
K a m m e r l a n d e r ’s c l a i m
c o n s id e r s N g a P u llu , n e a r P u n c a k Ja y a (C a r s te n z P y r a m id ), to be the s e c o n d h ig h e s t in O c e a n ia , w h ile recent developm en ts show that Puncak M andala, a m a ssif m uch farth er east, is the se c o n d h ig h e st m o u n tain on N ew G uinea, approxim ately 25m higher than Puncak T rikora, the third highest. A lso Kam m erlander plans to return to C anada’s Mt Logan, as it becam e apparent that he did not reach the m ain sum m it on his previous expedition. There is another issue o f whether Mawenzi should be considered Africa’s second highest, in preference to M argherita in the Ruwenzori, given that it has sufficient prom inence from Kilim anjaro. There needs to be clarification o f the geographical status o f these various peaks before any claim s can be truly valid. D a m i e n G i l d e a , A u stralia
llsworth
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entinel
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ountains
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Vinson Massif, summary. One-hundred-and-forty-seven climbers reached the summit o f Mt. Vinson (4,892m) in the 2011-12 season, with repeats by guides bringing total ascents to 158. Fourteen climbers also ascended nearby Mt. Shinn (4,660m), the continent’s third highest mountain. Guides from Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE) made several ascents of Knutzen Peak, a rocky summit that lies above the Vinson normal route, and did some reconnaissance on the eastern side o f the massif. American Jordan Romero, aged 15 years, 5 months, 12 days, guided by ALE’s Scott Woolums, became the youngest to climb Vinson and also the youngest to complete the Seven Summits. The m ajor ascent o f the season was the fifth ascent o f Mt. Tyree (4,582m ), the second highest m ou n tain in A n tarctica. A u strian clim bers H an s K a m m e rla n d e r, R o b e rt M iller, an d C h ristian Stan gl reached the top by m aking the third ascent o f the n orth east face, m ore or less following the 1997 French route up the G rand Couloir. Stangl attem pted the route in D ecem ber 2010 but had to retreat from very high when his partner was injured by rockfall. T h e three u se d a d iffe ren t ap p ro ach from previou s asc e n sio n ists; A LE flew them to a b ase cam p on the C ervellati G lacier, rather than the Patton Glacier. From the Cervellati they spent the first day o f 2012 clim bing onto the rocky northeast ridge o f Tyree, where they placed a cam p in an obvious notch at 3,247 m. The next day they went a little higher on the ridge, before traversin g left into the couloir (as on the se c o n d asce n t, in 1997), w hich they follow ed all the way to the broad saddle betw een Tyree’s n orth an d sou th su m m its. E asy g ro u n d then led to the h igh er north sum m it. Their 200m, 6m m rope allowed them to m ake eight lon g rap p els on the descent. Stan gl jo in s C o n ra d A nker, B arry C o rb e t,
an d John E van s as the on ly p eo p le to have clim bed A n tarctica’s three highest mountains. W ith this ascen t K am m e rlan d e r claim ed to be the first p e rso n to have clim bed the Seco n d Seven Su m m its, a c h alle n g e th o u g h t to be c o n sid e ra b ly m ore difficult than the Seven Sum m its. H o w ev er,
K a m m e r l a n d e r ’s c l a i m
c o n s id e r s N g a P u llu , n e a r P u n c a k Ja y a (C a r s te n z P y r a m id ), to be the s e c o n d h ig h e s t in O c e a n ia , w h ile recent developm en ts show that Puncak M andala, a m a ssif m uch farth er east, is the se c o n d h ig h e st m o u n tain on N ew G uinea, approxim ately 25m higher than Puncak T rikora, the third highest. A lso Kam m erlander plans to return to C anada’s Mt Logan, as it becam e apparent that he did not reach the m ain sum m it on his previous expedition. There is another issue o f whether Mawenzi should be considered Africa’s second highest, in preference to M argherita in the Ruwenzori, given that it has sufficient prom inence from Kilim anjaro. There needs to be clarification o f the geographical status o f these various peaks before any claim s can be truly valid. D a m i e n G i l d e a , A u stralia
