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Omega GPS expedition: The Vinson top ten and last major unclimbed feature!
Jan 27, 2005 03: 55 EST
Previously published Jan 11, 2005
Damien Gildea and team-mates Rodrigo Fica and Camilo Rada haven’t relaxed even for Christmas. Before heading back home, the team is decided not to leave a single summit without a climb, an accurate GPS measurement and a new name.
Here's the result of their work: A Top Ten list of the highest peaks in the Vinson Massif - and - the last major unclimbed feature on Vinson; an unclimbed ridge for “whomever is lucky - and determined - enough to first climb it.”
This is Damien’s latest report:
Towards new targets
“On the 26th the weather seemed perfect, so we set off with full packs for 3 days up high on The Far Side, as we had come to call the high plateau to the south of the main Vinson summit where our targeted peaks are situated.
We reached the col that leads there in 4&1/2 hrs, as by now we were well acclimatized - normal Vinson summit teams, not carrying loads, take around 7hrs to reach the equivalent point. We collected food and fuel from our cache there and quickly made our way down and across the plateau and south around the base of the big peak we called 'Long Top' that we had summited and measured a couple of weeks previously.
Down and down more, losing altitude until we made a camp in a low valley between two peaks we were aiming for - 'The Turrets' and 'East Peak'.”
That’s what we are here for
“On the 1988 USGS map of 'Vinson Massif', The Turrets are shown as a big snow and ice peak the same height (in theory) as East Peak, but just looking at the two of them it was obvious they are quite different.
The Turrets are just a rise of icy ground to three points - two on rock and one on snow - jutting up above the edge of the plateau. They look like nothing at all compared to East Peak, which is a sizable mountain of rock and snow at the eastern edge of the plateau, with a steep rocky south face and a less steep but icy and thin ridge rising up from the back (East) of Long Top.
Determining the difference between these peaks, both visually and topographically with GPS, is the kind of thing we are here for. The map, despite all its merits, is quite misleading in depicting this topography and we are here to sort it out. Our contribution to Antarctic science is a better understanding and representation of this area, one of the most important in the continent.”
The not so insignificant Turrets
“Camilo and I left Rodgrigo to set up the Bibler (aka The Icehouse) and set off for The Turrets - the middle, rocky summit. It was one of our easier climbs until the very top, which was a jumbled rock tower. Some easy scrambling led right to the top but then, whoa! Don't step off the other side! It dropped thousands of feet down to the eastern glaciers, maybe the steepest bit of terrain on Vinson, so in some ways The Turrets are not so insignificant.”
“From the west (plateau) they are nothing, but from low down on the east side they would be extremely impressive. I stepped forward on snow toward the highest point and suddenly plunged forward. I regained my balance but looked through a hole into blue sky and a view you would normally get just before dying. There had been a big gap between boulders, snowed over to look like solid ice. But it was not: Stepping around this little booby trap we set the GPS on the summit and proceeded take a lot of photos.“
The last major unclimbed feature on Vinson
“East Peak looked good from here but we could also see that it is the top of the long and unclimbed East ridge, probably the last major unclimbed feature on Vinson.
It only took us about 30 minutes to get back to camp where we all crashed for a few hours, after another long 'day'. I'd like to say I slept (like my partners here from the Chilean National Snoring Team) but I was so anxious to get the job done in the weather window that I couldn't sleep - and eventually would not sleep for 30hrs. Later that morning Rodrigo retrieved the GPS and returned, joined up with Camilo at the tent and set off up East Peak, returning several hours later.”
“After some more not sleeping I went up there solo and got it back. This is our current progression system. The ‘East’ is a great peak with fantastic views, a worthy end to whomever is lucky - and determined - enough to first climb the East ridge.
As soon as I'm back at the tent we pack up and slog back north up the route we came down, across the plateau.
...an unnamed peak that we call, er… Unnamed Peak
We don't go back to the col but head east and make a sunny camp beneath the southern faces of Kershaw Peak and an unnamed peak that we call, er… Unnamed Peak.
Yes, after 6 weeks, 7 first ascents and numerous other adventures we're running short on ingenuity.We don't want to waste time so Rodrigo and Camilo climb it quickly through a short route with some rock scrambling near the summit, and are back at the tent soon.”
Moody weather
“We all sleep well now and I don't retrieve the GPS from Unnamed until later in the day (now the 28th). From the summit it gives a great view west to Kershaw and Vinson, showing that Kershaw is indeed (but only just) lower than Vinson.
When I get back to the tent the weather is still good but then changes within minutes, clouding over from the north. I expect bad weather so instead of heading for Manana Point, a feature we had missed measuring back on our second foray in early Dec, we go up through the col and head down to C3. So of course the weather then miraculously clears up.”
“Anyway, over the next couple of days I processed the data from our work, via Iridium and AUSPOS, and Rodrigo and Camilo made quick trips from C3 to put the GPS on Manana Point, Kershaw Peak (again) and a rocky knoll above the west face of Vinson that we call 'Branscomb Point'.
We are meassuring Manana and Branscomb, though they are not really significant peaks, to balance out the spread of points that we have climbed and measured over the Vinson Massif.”
Future plans
“Most of the peaks we had already done were south of, or level with, Vinson main summit, so we wanted some data from points north of the main summit. We also plan to do Vinson again, just to get the most data we could, and also do some other points, but I'll deal with those in my next dispatch.”
Vinson Masiff summit list in order
“More importantly, we can now outline the order of height for all the main summits of the Vinson Massif. This was completely unknown before our visit and was the primary objective of the expedition. The figures are rounded up or down to the nearest whole number:
1. Vinson Main Summit 4892m
2. Kershaw Peak 4865m
3. Long Top 4841m
4. Unnamed Peak 4822m
5. International Peak 4790m
6. East Peak 4743m
7. Sphinx Peak 4729m
8. Pyramid East 4677m
9. Pyramid South 4634m
10.The Turrets 4551m”
Disclaimer
“These names, except for Vinson itself, are unofficial names. Names from 3td to 10th were used by us for working purposes, to distinguish them from each other. We are not suggesting at this stage that any or all of them become permanent. Omega may or may not take further action to attempt to establish these, or other possibly more suitable, names.”
This is Damien’s sixth expedition to Antarctica. He led the successful Omega Foundation projects on Mt. Shinn (2002) and Livingston Island (2003) and previously summited Vinson Massif on an Omega expedition in 2001. He is the author of The Antarctic Mountaineering Chronology (1998), the only reference book on mountaineering in Antarctica and is currently working on a second book due out in 2005.
In 1998 Rodrigo Fica and some friends made the first complete north to south crossing of the Southern Patagonian Icecap, a grueling journey recounted in his upcoming book Bajo la Marca de la Ira.
Since then he has been on successful Omega Foundation Antarctic expeditions to Mt. Shinn (2002) and Livingston Island (2003). A computer engineer by training, he now makes his living in the mountains, in addition to writing and photography and often climbs with his wife Patricia Sotos, the first Chilean woman to climb Mt. Everest.
Camilo Rada studies astronomy at Universidad Catolica in Santiago. On recent expeditions with friends he has made the coveted first winter ascent of San Lorenzo, the second-highest peak in Patagonia and before that, the second winter ascent of San Valentin, the highest mountain in Patagonia. Camilo has made other expeditions in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, including the first ascent of Volcan Melimoyu. This will be his first trip to Antarctica.
The Omega Foundation is a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to supporting scientific, environmental, educational and literary endeavor in the Antarctic region.
Image of Camilo with the GPS on the summit of The Turrets - East Peak rise in the background, with the unclimbed east ridge falling down to the right – courtesy of Damien Gildea.
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