UKC

Last month we reported on the successful British expedition to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia that made a 16-day ski traverse of the Salvesen Range. They made a number of first ascents along the way including Mt Baume (1912m) and the spectacular Starbuck Peak (1434m). The team comprising Skip Novak, Stephen Venables, Crag Jones, Henry Chaplin, Simon Richardson and David Lund have now returned, and Stephen and Simon have shared with us an insight into their trip...

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In reply to UKC News:

Fabulous article. All too brief.

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:

Agreed. A brilliant sounding trip!

In reply to UKC News:
Where does this area relate to the exploits of Shackleton in 1916 when he crossed from the South side to the whaling station on the North side in his attempt to rescue his polar expedition? I recall they crossed a pretty high pass.

In reply to UKC News:

great stuff

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Excellent question - I would also like to know this.

In reply to UKC News:

Wowey! Would like to know how they secured the boat too? Anchored and left? Or was someone left with it? If left, how did they have the confidence do that?

This must be considered as true alpinism?

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

From Simon:
'The Shackleton Traverse is near the north end of the island whilst we were 50 miles further south in the rarely visited Salvesen Range. An amazing exploit for the day, the Shackleton Traverse is now repeated three or four times a year.'

In reply to jonnie3430:
From having read about Skip Novak's other trips to S Georgia/ Antarctica, the boat will have had a crew left onboard. I doubt leaving an unmanned boat anchored in these waters is acceptable under the Antarctic travel operators code.

and as SV notes 'There is no rescue infrastructure, so each expedition has to have its own dedicated vessel standing by for emergencies.' - the dedicated vessel will be the yacht.

In reply to UKC News:

Wow looks really comitting, can't imagine help would arrive very quickly. Proper adventure.

In reply to UKC News:

Great stuff, and from the point of view of what inspires and is newsworthy in mountaineering, this sentence sums it up: "Now… if you had to choose between that, or standing behind a queue of a hundred people at the Hillary Step."