NORTHANGER is now safely moored at the "yacht club" in Puerto
Williams, Chile after her return from a successful sailing/climbing expedition
to Mount Foster on Smith Island in Antractica. NORTHANGER left Victoria
in July '95 with the added impetus of the "Shipton/Tilman Award from
W.L. Fore & Associates, Inc." The route took her six crew of sailors
and climbers across the Pacific via Hawaii, Marqueses and Tahiti, sailing
through the Straits of Magellan and arriving in Punta Arenas in early November.
There, two cinematographers embarked to make a documentary for American
Adventure Productions, rounding the number of crew out to eight overall.
A month was spent sailing through the spectacular channels of Southern Patagonia,
honing our rusty skills in climbing, hiking and filming as a prelude to
our objectives in Antarctica. Most of our efforts here were of a general
mountaineering nature and many worthwhile future projects were reconnoitered.
This time was also used to develop the specialized sailing and anchoring
skills necessary for the feisty and unpredictable Patagonian and Antarctic
Conditions.
From Puerto Williams in Chile, we set off on the 6th of January to cross
the pugnacious Drake to make landfall at the northern tip of Smith Island
five days later. Smith Island, the major coimbing objective of the expedition
is the most remote island of the South Shetland Island group in the area
of the Antarctic Peninsula. It's unclimbed summit 6900' Mount Foster, was
possibly the most sought after of all mountains in this region but until
now has repelled all comers, including two highly organized expeditions
from Britain with ship and helicopter support. Very few people have ever
landed on its shores let alone attempted to scale its rugged peaks. The
legendary British explorer H.W. Tilman led two expeditions to the island,
one in 1977 resulting in his and the entire crews disappearance in the South
Atlantic.
At the time of the landfall, Smith Island was shrouded in the coud that
is almost always present in this area. Since it was imperative to land the
climbing party as close as possible to a feasible route to the summit (travel
lengthwise along the island being virtually impossible), it was decided
to wait for a break in the weather at the nearest secure anchorage 80 miles
away in the Melchior Islands.
NORTHANGER returned to Smith Island on the 27th of January in glorious weather
and managed to land the four climbers by inflatable boat on a small rocky
outcrop below the ice cliffs despite a persistent ocean swell. NORTHANGER,
with a crew of four, returned to Melchior Island to await events. Unfortunately,
whilst the climbing party was scaling the ice cliffs to base camp, a pack
strap broke and their portable SSB radio (Lee's portable SSB radio!) which
was to be used for communication with the boat, plummeted 150 feet into
the sea leaving the climbers with only a small handheld VHF radio with insufficient
range to summon the boat.
Ploughing along regardless, they set up base camp close to the edge of the
ice cliffs with enough food and fuel for a six week siege if necessary.
After an initial foray onto the central southwest ridge of Mount Foster
(beaten back by poor weather and bad visibility), they decided to wait for
another weather break which in general are very short, and go for the summit
in one push. On the 29th of January, travelling as light as possible given
the added burden of the camera gear, they set off up the ridge (which we
named Rick's Ridge after Richard Thomas, the previous owner of NORTHANGER,
killed on Mount Waddington in 1989. Rick also held a passion for climbing
the highest summit of Smith Island) to gain the top snowfield at 5000'.
The summit of Mount Foster was reached a few hours later at 0200 after a
quick brew up in a crevasse. Descent was effected down the same route in
softening snow and worsening weather to reach base camp after 27 hours of
continuous climbing. Amazingly enough, the climbers were able to contact
NORTHANGER while climbing near the summit via an Argentine Scientific Station
to report their success.
Evacuation from the island proved to be easier for the climbers than for
the sailors as NORTHANGER ran into a stiff northerly gale on the way to
pick up the climbing team. In the end, all arrived safely back to the anchorage
in Melchior Islands.
To round out the expedition, we spent the next 6 weeks ski touring, climbing
and enjoying the abundant wildlife on the Antarctic Peninsula. Riding a
strong southerly back across the Drake Passage, NORTHANGER disgorged equipment
and crew in Puerto Williams on the 17th of March where she now awaits next
years adventures.
Expedition Members: