Remote Spectre in Antarctica Repeated
Leo Houlding, Jean Burgun and Mark Sedon made a rare ascent of the remote Spectre spire in Antarctica’s Organ Pipe peaks of the Gothic Mountains. They made the second ascent of the 1980 route established by Mugs and Ed Stump and climbed some new ground along the way. The big north-facing route was their second option after a new climb on the south wall, but logistics forced a change of plans. They were mid-trip of a two month traverse of big glaciers using kite-skiing techniques and walking. Spokesman for the expedition, Chris Lines, reported the team had originally intended to attempt the new route on the south face. The weather and duration of the expedition limited the time available for climbing.
“After fully assessing options on site, the team made the decision that their primary objective should be to get all three members to the summit via the ‘route of least resistance.’ That proved to be much easier said than done,” Lines said. “It was a fully committed push that was very much touch and go at times, always with the threat that a deterioration in the weather would force [them] to abandon their climb. However, after an extremely arduous ascent, they reached the summit around midnight, and after a quick descent got back to camp safely over 20 hours after setting off.”