Ellsworth Mountains, Various Activity. We climbed the Vinson Massif in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains via a new route on the southeastern side. Our expedition took place from December 19, 2000, to January 16, 2001. Our group consisted of Liesl Clark, John Armstrong, Rob Raker, Andrew McLean, Jon Krakauer, Dave Hahn, Dan Stone, and myself as leader. Our expedition was funded by WGBH NOVA for the purpose of creating a documentary on glaciers and climate change. Dan Stone conducted a snow survey of accumulation rates in the Sentinel Range. We also remeasured Vinson with a Trimble Scientific GPS (see below).

We landed in the Flowers Hills on January 2 at an elevation of 750 meters. We skied onto the Hansen Glacier. On January 8, Jon Krakauer and I climbed the small peak Mt. Havener. The route involved short sections of 5.6. On January 10, Andrew McLean climbed and skied Mt. Mohl. The descent involved a 47-degree, 1300-meter couloir. He reported sporty conditions. The route to the summit plateau was climbed via the “Hahn Headwall,” a climb of 1000 meters. The entire team summited on January 14 in very cold conditions. This was the first route from the east side of the range. The route we chose has fewer objective dangers than the standard route from the Branscomb Glacier.

Conrad Anker