While most travelers heading south in November do so to find warmer climes, Martino Flynn partner Kevin Flynn’s recent southern journey ended a bit differently: with a summit of the Vinson Massif, the highest point in Antarctica.

“It’s not a real difficult climb technically,” says Flynn. “ The big challenges are getting there, and because it’s Antarctica, the cold. As in it’s really, really cold.”

The temperature ranged from –5º to –40º. “When the sun was out and the wind wasn’t blowing, it wasn’t bad,” Flynn says. Fortunately, for all but four hours between 10:30PM to 2:30AM, when it was merely “shady,” the sun never actually set.

From Punta Arenas, Chile, at the foot of South America, Flynn and his fellow International Mountain Guides expedition members boarded a large cargo plane for a flight to an ice runway at Antarctica’s Patriot Hills. From there, it was a short 50 minute ride in a much smaller plane to Vinson Base Camp.

After a few days of moving supplies to higher-altitude camps and waiting out some unseasonably cold weather, the temperature rose to a balmy –15º and he was able to finish climbing to the 16,067 foot summit.

“It was a beautiful summit, a beautiful day,” says Flynn. “It’s a world of white. You look off in the distance and think you’re looking at clouds, but it’s all ice.”

Six Down, One to Go

By ascending the Vinson Massif, Kevin has now reached the top of six of the “Seven Summits,” defined as the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. In addition to this latest climb, Kevin has summited:

Denali (Mount McKinley) — North America: May, 1993
Kilimanjaro — Africa: February, 1998
Aconcagua — South America: January, 2001
Elbrus — Europe: August, 2003
Everest — Asia: May, 2004

Kevin will attempt the seventh, 7,310-foot Kosciuszko in Australia, in November, 2006. As “Kosie” is a relatively simple “walk up,” in a few months he should be joining a very exclusive club of those who have climbed all Seven Summits–currently reported to number 107.

 

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