Expedition ANTARCTIC ODYSSEY 11 was part of a Reserve Forces adventurous training project to climb the ‘7 Summits’ comprising the highest mountain in every continent; a challenge yet to be achieved by any military organisation. The project is jointly patroned by the Duke of Westminster and Sir Chris Bonnington and to date the team have completed 6 of the 7 Summits and Mount McKinley in Alaska is the only remaining objective. On 22 May 2007 8 personnel stood on the summit of Everest after climbing the South East ridge and observed the curvature of the earth. The Ulysses Trust has played a pivotal role in supporting this challenging project and to date all the expeditions have achieved 100% summit success.
ANTARCTIC ODYSSEY 11 aimed to climb Mount Vinson (4897m) in Antarctica. The mountain is situated in the Ellsworth mountains and is one of the coldest and most remote locations on earth. Although at 4884m Vinson is about the same height as Mont Blanc it is as cold as Everest and more remote. The 4 man team of Reservists arrived in Puntas Arenas, Chile on News Years Eve and two days later were transported by a specially adapted Russian Ilyushin aircraft to the Union Glacier Camp run by Antarctic Logistics Expeditions (ALE). A Twin Otter aircraft was then utilised to land the team of 4 x Reserves at Vinson Base Camp. Equipped with enough food for 12 days the team used pulks to transport their equipment over heavily glaciated terrain. After establishing a Low Camp (2750m) on the glacier and the following day ascended the 1000m headwall that provides access to Vinson High Camp (3773m) at 3700m. After a short period of further acclimatisation all team members endured temperatures of minus 40 degrees prior to summiting Mount Vinson. The view across the vast Antarctica continent was humbling and all team members were felt privileged to have been given the opportunity to take part in such a challenging and unique venture in one of the world’s most beautiful and remote areas.
After resting at High Camp the team turned their attention to other objectives and climbed Mount Shinn (4660m), the third highest mountain in Antarctica and Mount Branscombe (4520m). The latter objective was a particularly memorable day on an aesthetic ridge line in glorious weather. As food supplies ran low the team descended to Low Camp and then Vinson Base Camp. Bad weather prevented immediate extraction to Union Glacier and until a weather window two days later when the team flew back to the ALE camp. On arrival the team was greeted with the news that owing to further bad weather, aircraft serviceability and airport strikes, recovery to Chile was delayed. A further week was spent at Union Glacier, which provided the team with opportunities to ski tour climb on nearby Mount Rossman; including a first ascent and a first British ascent. When the team finally recovered to Chile and their first shower in three weeks it was with a sense of considerable satisfaction and privilege.
This was the first ascent of Mount Vinson by a military expedition and puts the team another step further towards achieving the goal of being the first military organisation to climb the 7 Summits. Exercise ALASKAN ODYSSEY 11 will take place in June 2011 and will also be supported by the Ulysses Trust. The team’s progress and a complete resume of the UK Reserves 7 Summits Project will be promulgated on the website in the near future.