Mt. Vinson and the evolution of US policy on Antarctic mountaineering, 1960–1966

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe full extent of the height and scale of the Sentinel Range, Antarctica, was not known until reconnaissance flights and scientific traverses in the International Geophysical Year (IGY), 1957–1958. These explorations revealed the range to be twenty miles in length, with a large number of high peaks culminating in Mt. Vinson, the highest on the Antarctic continent at nearly 4900 meters. The discoveries captured the interest of the U.S. and world mountaineering communities setting off a competition to achieve the first climb of Vinson. The challenge was tempered only by the range's remoteness from the coast of Antarctica and the formidable logistics of mounting a mountaineering expedition. The US which had the most advanced ski-equipped cargo aircraft, had an established post-IGY policy that prohibited adventure expeditions that could divert logistic resources from the scientific programme. This paper discusses Mt. Vinson competition within the US and international climbing communities, mounting national pressures to achieve the first climb, and a reversal in policy by the US Antarctic Policy Group that resulted in the 1966–1967 American Antarctic Mountaineering Expedition's first ascents of Vinson and five other high peaks. Today, between 100 and 200 persons climb Mt. Vinson each austral summer.