The First Ascent
12 June 1998
Camp 1, N 69º06.207', W 26º41.940'.
At last, we are in the mountains and have started climbing. The flight in the Twin Otter was spectacular. It was about an hour before we began to recognise features from the aerial photos we have studied for the last nine months and we circled round for a perfect landing.After unloading, we stood and watched as the plane disappeared. Then silence.
We cached three days' food and fuel and loaded everything else onto the two pulks. At 5:00 pm we set off on skis. We headed north-west towards the head of the glacier, dumped a twelve day cache, then turned south-west into a large snow bowl surrounded by impressive peaks. We travelled 8km and ascended 300m (hard work with fully laden pulks) before camping at 9:00 pm at 1850m (6000'). (A solitary snow-white bird watched us as we put up the tents).
Travelling between the landing site and the second cache, we got a true taste of being a British polar explorer - man-hauling a sledge uphill with 21 days worth of food and fuel for two people. It's more than hard work and makes you realise what some of our forbears have gone through, without our comforts and relative convenience.
The weather is superb, so the chores of setting up camp and melting snow for drinks and food are pleasant, though still time-consuming. The sun is warm and it never sets.
Today, after a late start we skied a couple of kilometers across the bowl to one of the closer peaks. This gave a fine, straightforward snow climb with a short crevassed section, followed by a loose, rocky summit.
Yesterday this mountain had not been climbed. Today it has. As we eat our tea, the sun is shining on our tracks to the top.
We hope to send more soon, but the climbing will be keeping us busy and satellite reception is a little patchy.