Nepal Cancels Climbing Permits – Restrictions to Entry
As most of the climbing and expedition community now know all climbing permits have been cancelled for the Spring Climbing season in Nepal.
The Drake Passage
An Antarctic Journey
Back in Ushuaia – prep for next passage south
It’s very very busy the day we return to port in Ushuaia. We have to Get the current passengers ready to disembark Get their baggage off the ship Re-provision the ship with fresh supplies Meet the incoming staff and say goodbye to any offsigning staff. We (the staff) then get a few hours ashore before […]
Antarctic Peninsula – Yankee Harbour – 26th December
Weather rules all – 100% in the mountaineering world. The plan had been to go up a short but spectacular rocky ridge but low cloud and snow storms meant that the terrain would not have been suitable for us to use. Instead we hiked along the beach past the toe of the ridge and around […]
Antarctic Peninsula – Foyn Harbour Ice Climbing – 25th December
After travelling north to Foyn Harbour, the next Mountaineering team had an adventure of a different kind. Ice climbing again but this time we hiked to the top of the cliff first and then had to be lowered to the bottom before climbing back up. Before we could do this however, we needed to actually […]
Antarctic Peninsula – Ketley Point – 25th December
With snow storms threatening but holding back around the N of Ronge Island we made our landing at Ketley Point, donned our snowshoes (of which we were all experts at doing now) and began our walk up towards the start of the glacier. We all negotiated a short narrow section well above one of the […]
Antarctic Peninsula – Danco Ice Climbing – 23rd December
Our 3rd Morning ashore was held on the low slopes of Danco Island where our guides quickly climbed a short steep section of ice about 300m away from the main landing of Danco Island to set up 3 different tope ropes. These ropes were set up with increasing difficulty and everybody soon got to get […]
Antarctic Peninsula – Jabet Peak – 22nd December
Jabet Peak is one of the more technical ascents we make on the Basecamp trip and requires a small team of experienced climbers – well versed in the use of crampons and pitched climbing. It is normally a 6 – 7 hour climb getting the small team + guides to a height of 550m above […]
Antarctic Peninsula – Neko Harbour – 21st December
The increasing winds on the morning of the 21st meant that out first major plan change occurred when we shifted to Neko Harbour for the afternoons shore activities. Neko provides a long gentle rise to a high view point over the ocean below. Plancius started to look like a small toy ship and the passengers […]
