Our arrival. Our first encounter with the extrememeteorological conditions in Antarctica.
After another 2-hour-flight, the DC 3 makes a bumpy landingbetween the towers and fins of the Drygalski mountains.
Like forgotten castles in the air,the massive Nunataks-Ulvetanna, Kintanna and Holtanna – stand in the endless white desert of Antarctica.
Midnight sun in our idyllic base camp below the Holtanna west face.You cannot see the cold, yet it is possible to imagine the temperatures of about -40ºC.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAThe steepness of the wall is impressive. The 800meter wall shoots out of the ice at a perfect 90º angle.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAThomas climbs the last bit of snow to thecentral part of the wall. The difficulties start.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAStephan is solidly leading pitch 8. By doing this traversewe reach the main crack system on the wall for the first time.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNA250 meters above the ground Alexander reaches the start of the main cracksystem. He will fix a rope straight down from there. Everyone is working together perfectly.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAUp to the end of the main system,we thought we may havea chance at freeing the route. Despite the conditionswe managed to free climb up to 5.11.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAOur two portaledges hanging 400 meters up the wall.This is our camp for the next days.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAPins and beaks are the only gear thatthe thin crack on pitch twelve takes.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAThe adventure up the 800-meter-wall finds itsconclusion: the last meters to the summit.
THE ASCENT OF THE WEST FACE OF HOLTANNAA dream comes true: The four of us stand on the summitof Holtanna. We are happy and overwhelmed at the same time.
THE FIRST FREE ASCENT OF HOLTANNA VIA THE NORTH RIDGEA true walk in the sky: Our route »Skywalk« is the first free route up Holtanna!
THE ASCENT OF ULVETANNAUlvetanna, a mystical cathedral in a world of ice. The free-standing toweris the highest peak of the Drygalski mountains and the hardest mountain of Antarctica.
THE ASCENT OF ULVETANNAOn the west pillar, the next challengeis waiting: wide cracks up a steepening pillar.
THE ASCENT OF ULVETANNAWe get to celebrate again! Thomas, Alexanderand Stephan on the summit of Ulvetanna.
THE ASCENT OF ULVETANNAA storm rolls in: the descentproves difficult and strenuous.
For six weeks, we had the opportunity to draw our lines in this landscape.Soon, the wind and the snow will make all our marks disappear. The only thingthat will remain is the memory of a great adventure that we hold dear to our heart.
2008
Expedition
Antarctica
Queen Maud Land
CLIMBING IN LAND OF THE PERPETUAL ICE
Words: Thomas Huber
Average temperatures of -25º with a low of -52º, and a high of -5º Celsius (T-Shirt Weather!), several storms, much more unsettled weather than we expected, no sun sets… One has first got to get used to these harsh conditions. But attempting a vertical big wall that is 750 meters high, free climbing when possible, is a plan that motivates us to put all our energy and passion into the project.
In November and December 2008 we travel to Queen Maud Land deep in Antarctica for 6 weeks. We are accompanied by our friend Stephan Siegrist. Just like for the movie »To The Limit«, Max Reichel from Bayrisch Gmain in Bavaria was along to document our time on the freezing cold wall with his camera.
In Queen Maud Land, jagged spires, towers and pillars rise straight out of the sea of ice like nowhere else in the world. These Nunatakks are only the very top of a mountain range whose summits spike through the ice cap, which is several kilometres thick. They form spectacular granite mountains that stand in the apparently endless white glacier landscape like missiles.
The most impressive mountain in Queen Maud Land is undoubtedly the 2.931 meters high Ulvetanna - a perfect Pyramid that is steep on all sides and presents a very intimidating, demanding challenge. It’s for good reason that the Ulvetanna is considered the most difficult peak in Antarctica.
Besides the Ulvetanna we were most interested in the unclimbed west face of Holtanna. It’s a very gnarly big wall, 750 meters high, overhanging, not to mention the extremely low temperatures in Antarctica.
We planned to spend six weeks on our journey into the unknown. Despite thorough research and discussions with members of previous expeditions to Antarctica, we didn’t know whether or not we would achieve our goal until we had a first closer look at the Holtanna west face…
We found and climbed a line up the 750-meter-wall - but we soon abandoned our free climbing ambitions considering the extreme temperatures that we had to deal with. It was cold, very cold, much harder and more difficult than we had anticipated, but our first ascent up the west face became a jewel despite the extreme conditions: Eiszeit, 24 pitches with difficulties up to 7+(5.11) and A4.
A week later we managed the first free ascent of Holtanna by climbing up its north buttress. Even though the difficulties were moderate at 5.10, the route, which we called Skywalk, could not be more beautiful.
At the beginning of December, the weather changed and it was bad for a while. We had to be patient. Waiting was the name of game… waiting for decent weather. We had another big goal and towards the end of our expedition we were lucky with the weather once again. Over two days, we climbed the northwest buttress of Ulvetanna, doing the first ascent of an insanely cool route. Sound of Silence, 5.11/A2, was the cherry on the cake on the most beautiful expedition of our careers.
Objectively speaking, we may not have fully reached our goal of doing a difficult free climb in Antarctica. But when it’s -20º Celsius, an easy 5.10 becomes 5.12 and 5.12 becomes impossible, and most of the time it was even colder than that! Don’t ask! Thus we tried hard, and did it - we’re super happy!
ANTARCTICA
source: Wikipedia
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, containing the geographic South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean.
At 14.0 million km2 (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America and South America. For comparison, Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages at least 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) in thickness,which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DRYGALSKI MOUNTAINS
source: Wikipedia
The Drygalski Mountains are a group of scattered mountains and nunataks lying between the Filchner Mountains and the Kurze Mountains in the Orvin Mountains of Queen Maud Land.
They were discovered by the Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939), led by Captain Alfred Ritscher, and named for Professor Erich von Drygalski, the leader of the First German Antarctica Expedition of 1901-03. They were remapped from air photos and survey by the Sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition, 1956–60.
The highest peak is Ulvetanna Peak at 2.930 metres (9,600 ft).
1. Eiszeit
HOLTANNA
West face, Holtanna, 2.650 m
Antarctica, Queen Maud Land
EISZEIT
800 meters, 5.11/A4
FIRST ASCENT
2008, free and aid climbing
Thomas Huber, Alexander Huber,
Stephan Siegrist, Max Reichel
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. SKYWALK
HOLTANNA
North buttress, Holtanna, 2.650 m
Antarctica, Queen Maud Land
SKYWALK
300 meters, 5.10+
FIRST ASCENT
2008, Redpoint
Thomas Huber, Alexander Huber,
Stephan Siegrist
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Sound of silence
ULVETANNA
West buttress, Ulvetanna, 2.930 m
Antarctica, Queen Maud Land
SOUND OF SILENCE
800 meters, 5.11+/A2
FIRST ASCENT
2008, free and aid climbing
Thomas Huber, Alexander Huber,
Stephan Siegrist, Max Reichel
EISZEIT – REFLEXION EINER EXPEDITION
DVD (2008), length: 52 minutes
More information in our online-shop
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
EISZEIT –EXPEDITION ANTARKTIS
Coffee-table book, Hardcover, 160 pagesMore information in our online-shop
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Silence