July 2013

The highest mountain in Antarctica is Mount Vinson 4,892m (16,050 ft) and is in the Ellsworth Mountains. It was first climbed in 1966.

The great explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton was buried at Grytviken on the sub-Antarctic island off South Georgia, at the request of his widow Emily. On 27 November 2011, the ashes of another lauded explorer, Frank Wild, were interred on the right-hand side of Shackleton’s grave site. An inscription nearby reads “Frank Wild 1873–1939, Shackleton’s right-hand man.” Photograph by Tim…

Today we are offering you the chance to win Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ Montane jacket in our latest photo competition. It is the actual jacket which he wore on The Coldest Journey expedition (see image) before he was forced home with frostbite and is therefore a genuine artefact of polar exploration history. The Ice Team are currently camping in perhaps the most remote place in the world. So our…

CampNice While it Lasted – a blog by Spencer SmirlYesterday, the 14th of June, was a rare day for us here at our winter camp. It was the third of three consecutive days of no wind.  Not only was the air as still as stone, the sky was clear as well. I couldn’t remember the last time I witnessed the sharp edge of the horizon in the distance. The thirty plus days of howling wind spins the snow…

During winter the sea around Antarctica freezes and this area of frozen sea can be greater than the size of the continent.

Temperatures of around minus 56C might not be too comforting for the Ice Team right now, but at least the winds have dropped aenough for them to be been able to get outside for more than just the briefest moments. Over the weekend they had the combination of low winds (and therefore no drift), clear skies, a small setting moon and aurora activity which lasted throughout the night. This photo…

At the South Pole the sun sets on the March Equinox and rises again on the September Equinox. That’s a long night in anybody’s book!

Ice cliffs are walls of ice where glaciers meet the sea. Icebergs “calve” from the front of the cliffs, giving a continually breaking edge the full height of the glacier. Image: Brian Newham, Ice Team leader, The Coldest…

If you ever wanted to know how the Ice Team gets their drinking water, watch this video in which team leader Brian Newham runs us through the process.

Nobody owns Antarctica. In 1959 the Antarctic Treaty was drafted, designating the land as “a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”. The treaty came into force on 23 June 1961 and there are currently 50 signatory nations.