Top Attractions in Antarctica

Balleny Islands

The Balleny Islands extend for about 160 km in a northwest-southeast direction. The islands are heavily glaciated and of volcanic origin. Glaciers project from their slopes into the sea. The islands were formed by the so-called Balleny hotspot.

Mount Vinson

Vinson Massif is a large mountain massif that is 21 km long and 13 km wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located about 1,200 kilometres from the South Pole. Vinson Massif was discovered in January 1958 by U.S. Navy aircraft. In 1961, the Vinson Massif was named by USACAN, for Carl G. Vinson, United States congressman from the state of Georgia, for his support for Antarctic exploration. On Nov. 1, 2006, USACAN declared Mount Vinson and Vinson Massif to be separate entities. Mount Vinson is the highest peak in Antarctica, at 4,892 metres . It lies in the north part of Vinson Massif’s summit plateau in the south portion of the main ridge of the Sentinel Range about 2 kilometres north of Hollister Peak. It was first climbed in 1966. An expedition in 2001 was the first to climb via the Eastern route, and also took GPS measurements of the height of the peak. As of February 2010, 1,400 climbers have attempted to reach the top of Mount Vinson. The Vinson Massif extends between Goodge Col and Branscomb Glacier to the northwest, Nimitz Glacier and Gildea Glacier to the southwest and south, Dater Glacier and its tributary Hinkley Glacier to the east. The southeastern part of the massif ends at Hammer Col, which joins it to the Craddock Massif, of which the highest point is Mount Rutford (4,477 metres (14,688 ft)). The massif comprises both the high central Vinson Plateau with its few peaks rising to over 4,700 metres (15,400 ft), and several side ridges mostly trending southwest or northeast from the plateau. The current height (4,892 metres ) of Mount Vinson was measured by a GPS survey that was conducted by the 2004 Omega Foundation team comprising Damien Gildea of Australia (leader) and Rodrigo Fica and Camilo Rada of Chile. Since 1998 and continuing through 2007, the Omega Foundation has placed a GPS receiver on the summit for a suitable period of time to obtain accurate satellite readings. The climate on Mount Vinson is generally controlled by the polar ice cap's high-pressure system, creating predominantly stable conditions but, as in any polar climate, high winds and snowfall are a possibility. Though the annual snowfall on Mount Vinson is low, high winds can cause base camp accumulations up to 46 centimetres (18 in) in a year. During the summer season, November through January, there are 24 hours of sunlight. While the average temperature during these months is −30 °C (−20 °F), the intense sun will melt snow on dark objects. Over successive years, the limited amount of snow that falls on Vinson Massif compacts and is transformed into ice, forming glaciers. These glaciers follow the topography and flow down the mountain's valleys. The uppermost glacier occupies Jacobsen Valley on the north face of Mount Vinson, and flows either into Branscomb Glacier to the west or Crosswell Glacier to the east. The Crosswell Glacier flows into the Rutford Ice Stream via Ellen Glacier. The south face of Mount Vinson is drained by Roché Glacier, which flows westwards into Branscomb Glacier, with the latter leaving Vinson Massif to join Nimitz Glacier. In 1963, two groups within the American Alpine Club, one led by Charles Hollister and Samuel C. Silverstein, M.D., then in New York, and the other led by Peter Schoening of Seattle, Washington, began lobbying the National Science Foundation to support an expedition to climb Mount Vinson. The two groups merged in spring 1966 at the urging of the National Science Foundation and the American Alpine Club, and Nicholas Clinch was recruited by the American Alpine Club to lead the merged expeditions. Officially named the American Antarctic Mountaineering Expedition 1966/67, the expedition was sponsored by the American Alpine Club and the National Geographic Society, and supported in the field by the U.S. Navy and the National Science Foundation Office of Antarctic Programs. Ten scientists and mountaineers participated in AAME 1966/67. In addition to Clinch they were Barry Corbet, John Evans (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN), Eiichi Fukushima (University of Washington, Seattle, WA), Charles Hollister, Ph.D. (Columbia University, New York, NY), William Long, Ph.D. (Alaska Methodist University, Anchorage, AK), Brian Marts, Peter Schoening, Samuel Silverstein, M.D. (Rockefeller University, New York, NY) and Richard Wahlstrom. In the months prior to its departure for Antarctica the expedition received considerable press attention, primarily because of the reports that Woodrow Wilson Sayre was planning to fly in a Piper Apache piloted by Max Conrad, the "flying Grandfather", with four companions into the Sentinel Range to climb the Mount Vinson. Sayre had a reputation for problematic trips as a result of his unauthorized, unsuccessful, and nearly fatal attempt to climb Mount Everest from the North in 1962. His unauthorized incursion into Tibet led China to file an official protest with the U.S. State Department. In the end, the purported race did not materialize as Conrad had difficulties with his plane. According to press reports, he and Sayre were still in Buenos Aires on the day the first four members of AAME 1966/67 reached Mount Vinson's summit. In December 1966 the Navy transported the expedition and its supplies from Christchurch, New Zealand to the U.S. base at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, and from there in a ski-equipped C-130 Hercules to the Sentinel Range. All members of the expedition reached the summit of Mount Vinson. The first group of four climbers summited on December 18, 1966, four more on December 19, and the last three on December 20. On August 17, 2006, from nomination by Damien Gildea of the Omega Foundation, US-ACAN approved naming the subsidiary peaks south of Mount Vinson for the AAME 1966/67 members Nicholas Clinch, Barry Corbet, Eiichi Fukushima, Charles Hollister, Brian Marts, Samuel Silverstein, Peter Schoening and Richard Wahlstrom. Other peaks in the Sentinel Range had previously been named for John Evans and William Long. The climb of Vinson offers little technical difficulty beyond the usual hazards of travel in Antarctica, and as one of the Seven Summits, it has received much attention from well-funded climbers in recent years. Multiple guide companies offer guided expeditions to Mount Vinson, at a typical cost of around $30,000 per person, including transportation to Antarctica from Chile.

Hoggestabben Butte

Hoggestabben Butte is a prominent butte, 2,410 metres high, standing 3 nautical miles north of Mount Hochlin and being its highest northern outlier, in the Mühlig-Hofmann Mountains of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. It was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos by the Sixth Norwegian Antarctic Expedition and named Hoggestabben .

Sturge Island

Sturge Island is one of the three main islands in the uninhabited Balleny Islands group located in the Southern Ocean. It lies 25 kilometres southeast of Buckle Island and 95 kilometres northeast of Belousov Point on the Antarctic mainland. The islands were discovered by John Balleny in 1839. The island is roughly a parallelogram in shape, with long east and west coasts and shorter coasts facing northwest and southeast. It is approximately 5 nautical miles in width, and its maximum length is 20 nautical miles , between Cape Freeman in the north and Cape Smyth in the south. The island's highest point reaches 1,705 m or 1,524 m (the unclimbed Brown Peak). This is the highest point in the Balleny chain. The island forms part of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand (see claims on Antarctica).

Buckle Island

Buckle Island is one of the three main islands in the uninhabited Balleny Islands group located in the Southern Ocean. It lies 25 km north-west of Sturge Island and 8 km south-east of Young Island, some 110 km north-north-east of Belousov Point on the Antarctic mainland. The island forms some parts of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand.

Row Island

Row Island is a small island, less than 1 nautical mile in diameter, which lies just off the southeast end of Young Island in the Balleny Islands. John Balleny assigned the name in 1839 to an island which he reported to be 10 nautical miles north of Young Island, naming it for J. Row, one of the merchants who united with Charles Enderby in sending out the expedition. Since the island reported by Balleny could not be found by other explorers in the vicinity, the name was assigned to this island discovered by the British ship Discovery II in 1936.

Young Island

Young Island is the northernmost and westernmost of the three main islands in the uninhabited Balleny Islands group located in the Southern Ocean. It lies 8 kilometres northwest of Buckle Island, some 115 kilometres north-northeast of Belousov Point on the Antarctic mainland. The island is roughly semi-oval in shape, with a long straight east coast and a curved west coast meeting at Cape Scoresby in the south and Cape Ellsworth in the north. The distance between these two capes is 19 nautical miles , and at its widest the island is 4 nautical miles across. The island is volcanic, with active fumaroles, and a height of 1,340 metres . It is entirely covered with snow. An explosive VEI-7 eruption occurred from Young Island 1,700,000 years ago. Several small islets lie in the channel separating Cape Scoresby and Buckle Island, the largest of which is Borradaile Island. Several sea stacks lie off the island's northern tip. These are known as the Seal Rocks. The island forms part of the Ross Dependency, claimed by New Zealand (see Antarctic territorial claims).

Bowyer Butte

Bowyer Butte is a steep-cliffed eminence with a nearly flat summit, 3 nautical miles wide and 1,085 metres high, located between the lower ends of the Johnson Glacier and the Venzke Glacier on the coast of Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered and photographed from the air by the U.S. Antarctic Service, 1939–41, and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Donald W. Bowyer, a United States Antarctic Research Program meteorologist at Byrd Station, 1962.

Browns Butte

Browns Butte is a bare rock butte at the north side of the mouth of Koski Glacier in the Dominion Range. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Craig W. Brown, United States Antarctic Research Program meteorologist at South Pole Station, 1963.

Domen Butte

Domen Butte is a snow-topped butte with steep rock sides, just southwest of Hogskavlen Mountain in the Borg Massif of Queen Maud Land. It was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos by the Norwegian–British–Swedish Antarctic Expedition and named Domen .

Evans Butte

Evans Butte is a prominent snow-topped butte, 2,570 metres high, standing at the head of Albanus Glacier and marking the southeast limit of the Tapley Mountains of Antarctica. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Lieutenant Eldon L. Evans, U.S. Navy medical officer of the Byrd Station winter party, 1962.

Miller Butte

Miller Butte is a large rock butte located 2 nautical miles southeast of Roberts Butte in the Outback Nunataks of Antarctica. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959–64, and was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Carl D. Miller, a geophysicist at McMurdo Station in 1967–68.

Navajo Butte

Navajo Butte is a sandstone butte which displays large-scale cross bedding, rising from the south-central part of Table Mountain, Royal Society Range, in Victoria Land. Named by Alan Sherwood, New Zealand Geological Survey party leader in the area, 1987–88, after the famous Navajo sandstone of Utah. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Navajo Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Peters Butte

Peters Butte is a flat-topped, steep-sided rock butte on the south side of McCarthy Valley in Long Hills, Horlick Mountains. Mapped by United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy aerial photographs, 1958-60. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Norman L. Peters, meteorologist at Byrd Station in 1958. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Peters Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Pinet Butte

Pinet Butte is a small butte comprising the westernmost portion of the Caudal Hills, in Victoria Land. Mapped by United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-64. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Paul R. Pinet, geologist at McMurdo Station, 1966-67. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Pinet Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Mount Prince

Mount Prince is a prominent butte marking the north end of Perry Range on the coast of Marie Byrd Land. The feature was discovered and photographed from aircraft of the United States Antarctic Service , 1939–41, and was mapped by United States Geological Survey from surveys and air photos, 1959-65. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Joseph F. Prince, ADR2, U.S. Navy, Aviation Machinist's Mate with Squadron VXE-6 who participated in several Operation Deep Freeze operations and wintered over at Little America V and McMurdo Station . This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Mount Prince" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Pudding Butte

Pudding Butte is a butte in Antarctica, standing 2 nautical miles southwest of Beta Peak, in the Prince Albert Mountains, Oates Land, close to the boundary with Victoria Land. Named by the Southern Part] of the New Zealand Geological Survey Antarctic Expedition , 1962–63, because of a splendid feast at the nearby camp. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Pudding Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Roberts Butte

Roberts Butte is a striking, flat-topped butte that is very prominent in Antarctica, and can be seen from great distances standing 2 miles northwest of Miller Butte in the Outback Nunataks. It was discovered by the U.S. Victoria Land Traverse Party, 1959-60. Louis J. Roberts, United States Geological Survey surveyor with this party, proposed the name "Flattop Mountain," but to avoid duplication the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names named it for Roberts who was first to survey the feature. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Roberts Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Toltec Butte

Toltec Butte is a truncated peak east of Harris Valley in the Shipton Ridge of the Allan Hills, Oates Land. Reconnoitered by the New Zealand Antarctic Research Program Allan Hills Expedition who named the feature for its resemblance to buildings of the civilization of the same name. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Toltec Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Treves Butte

Treves Butte is a prominent, partly ice-covered butte immediately northwest of Discovery Ridge in the Ohio Range. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Samuel B. Treves, geologist, who worked several seasons in Antarctica and who in the 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons made investigations in the Ohio Range and other parts of the Horlick Mountains. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Treves Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Valter Butte

Valter Butte is an ice-free butte on the east side of Schytt Glacier, about 5 nautical miles west-northwest of Mount Schumacher in Queen Maud Land. It was mapped by Norwegian cartographers from surveys and air photos by the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition and named for Stig Valter Schytt, second in command and glaciologist with the expedition. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Valter Butte" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Borradaile Island

Borradaile Island is one of the Balleny Islands. It was the site of the first landing south of the Antarctic Circle, and features the "remarkable pinnacle" called Beale Pinnacle, near Cape Beale on its south-eastern coast, and Cape Scoresby on its north-western coast.

Union Glacier Blue-Ice Runway

Union Glacier Blue-Ice Runway (ICAO: SCGC) is the blue ice runway for Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica. It is located in the Heritage Range, Ellsworth Mountains, on the glacier that gives it its name. It is operated by Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions LLC (ALE), a company that provides expedition support and tours to the interior of Antarctica. The runway was certified by the Chilean Directorate General of Civil Aviation in December 2008.

Wilkins Runway

Wilkins Runway is a single runway aerodrome operated by Australia, located on upper glacier of the ice sheet Preston Heath, Budd Coast, Wilkes Land on the continent of Antarctica, but 40 km (25 mi) southeast of the actual coast. It is named after Sir Hubert Wilkins, a pioneer of Antarctic aviation and exploration.

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Top Attractions in Antarctica

Balleny Islands

Mount Vinson

Hoggestabben Butte

Sturge Island

Buckle Island

Row Island

Young Island

Bowyer Butte

Browns Butte

Domen Butte

Evans Butte

Miller Butte

Navajo Butte

Peters Butte

Pinet Butte

Mount Prince

Pudding Butte

Roberts Butte

Toltec Butte

Treves Butte

Valter Butte

Borradaile Island

Union Glacier Blue-Ice Runway

Wilkins Runway

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