A valentines day first Ascent.

Alan here: (s65.33,w64.45) Grandidier Channel (heading to Woolpack island)

At long last we have made a first ascent in Antarctica. Chris and I climbed with the two Marks, so good company assured with the amount of sarcasm and self deprecation reaching all time highs. Mark Bryan is an expatriate Scot,
who has lived in New Zealand for twelve years but has lost none of his sharpness of wit. The other Mark, Mark Seddon "the guide", is a Kiwi with a great ability to join in with the banter and keep it going. I was pleased that our team was ready first and so first into the rigid inflatable boat(RIB).

The excitement started right away just getting from ship to shore. Our overnight anchorage had filled with bergs, some as small as ice-cubes,
others larger than double Decker busses. So all the climbers had to paddle the rubber inflatable boat through a thick soup of ice. Access to the shore was blocked by the brash ice so getting ashore involved a leap from the boat to the snow clad land. Once ashore we four roped up. It was strange to start cramponing right from sea level. The ascent involved climbing steeply scoured snow ridges which dropped right down to the sea hidden by the fog.. Further up we came to a rock band which we christened the Seddon Step, in a sarcastic reference to the more famous Hillary Step on Everest. The snow steepened and shortly after we arrived at the snow covered summit. There was delight all round when the fog started to lift and the sun sought to shine.
For the first time we could make out Antarctic Peaks, both on the nearby islands and the mainland. We salivated at what seemed like endless first ascent possibilities in the area. The difficulties in gaining access to the land is the main issue. It is dawning on me, if not the rest of us, that access from a boat to a continent clad in 100 feet thick ice is very problematic. Ideally we would have a helicopter that could take us from ship to land us on our glacier of choice.

And in case you were wondering, the team have not decided on a name for the
new peak but given the date, the shortlist is Mount Valentine and Cupid's Peak, but with many ruder and less publishable options being suggested.