Mawson Peak, Heard Island, South Indian Ocean. An Austrian expedition led by Dr. Ross Vining and William Blunt made the second ascent of Mawson Peak, the highest point (2745 meters, 9005 feet) of an active volcano called Big Ben. Heard Island is uninhabited and nearly entirely ice-covered. It lies some 2500 miles equidistant from South Africa and Australia and 1000 miles north of Antarctica. The first ascent, from the southwest via the Gotley Glacier, was made in 1965 by Australians led by Warwick Deacock and conveyed to the island by Bill Tilman. (A.A.J., 1966, pages 215-6.) The 1983 expedition sailed in a ketch, Anaconda II, skippered by Josko Grubic, and landed on Skua Beach. The summit was reached on February 9 and 10 by the two leaders, Jonathan Chester, Pauline English and Martin Hendy via a new route from the east in high winds and with difficult route-finding, although the climbing was not technically difficult.