UKC

We sent some questions to a few members of the team to find out more about the trials and tribulations of an Antarctic expedition...

Call me a grumpy **** but I see this as a prolonged North Face product placement commercial. If it was the Conrad Anker or Savannah Cummins expedition and they had arranged it all, funding, logistics, etc, then well and very, very good.

But they appeared not to have done this. N Face ferried them out there, as its' "athletes" (groan) and they wore/used its products as they went up and down the mountains. It's just another big supplier calls the shots, and farms the glamour to sell its gear show.

I'm sorry but I hate this. The emphasis, for me, is all wrong.

I'm really jealous as well.

Standard MO for marketing big brands these days. It's getting as manufactured as pop music - the blond one, the crazy one, the old one, the fit one etc. 

I'll step out of my usual UKC character and be decidedly positive here, in making a few points...

The really notable thing about this expedition was that Alex and Cedar simul-climbed a lot, using the speed and efficiency of that technique, and their years of experience and skill, to get a huge number of pitches done in a short time, hindered by days of weather delays at the beginning. They made no significant first ascents, but the climbing they did do was still impressive.

Alex achieved what is probably the hardest free-climbing ever done in Antarctica, onsighting 5.11+ on one route, with poor or non-existent pro.

They also added no bolts, which many prior QML climbing teams have done.

Conrad and Jimmy's route on Ulvetanna climbed very little new ground, it linked and added to existing routes and was not really a 'first ascent'. But it was an enjoyable and meaningful experience for them, and for Conrad, sidling off from the main action by the stars of the show - Alex and Cedar - was part of his passing-on of the leadership of the North Face athlete team, to Hilary O'Neil (not present) and operating under the leadership of another, Cedar.

There were two women included in the team of seven, a higher proportion than most Antarctic or Himalayan expeditions. The critical role of photographer was entrusted to a young woman, Cummins, which is significant in expedition terms. Pfaff is currently one of the most active American expedition climbers.