South Georgia - Mountaineering in Antarctica (eBook)

A beautiful work dedicated to mountain addicts and to amateurs who like to travel far from home!Climbing Antarctica is a unique experience. It is a dream that only few mountaineers have had the privilege to fulfill and that you can now skim, thanks to this very nice book, richly illustrated and remarkably documented.Damien Gildea will let you get be dragged into the rich history of Antarctica mountaineering adventure, from the first explorations in the 19th century until the achievements of today extreme climbers. He will lead you at the very heart of the most impressive and remote mountains of the South Pole...Discovering the incredible Antarctica Mountains, emerging from the white hugeness, will let more than one reader speechless. It is hard to figure out that we are still on Earth !In this volume you can find all the information about South Georgia.This book is an absolute must-have for all climbers and travellers!ABOUT THE AUTHORDamien Gidea is a polar mountaineer and explorer. He successfully led seven expeditions in the highest Antarctica Mountains, from 2001 to 2008. He is the author of the book entitled Antarctic Mountaineering Chronology, published in 1998, and of detailed topographical maps of the Livingston Island (2004) and Vinson Mountain (2006). His articles and photographs were published in many periodicals around the world, as the American Alpine Journal or the American magazine called Alpinist. He also led a skiing expedition to the South Pole and took part in several expeditions in the Himalayas, in Karakorum and in the Andes. When he is not exploring, Damien Gildea lives in Australia.EXCERPTStormy, rugged, windswept, formidable; all words usually associated with the island of South Georgia, and it rarely fails to live up to such descriptions. Around 170 km long, 30 km wide, overwhelmingly mountainous and heavily glaciated, the island actually has two ranges. The higher Allardyce Range runs down the centre of the island, and the lower, rockier Salvesen Range is in the southeast of the island, the two separated by Ross Pass.The BAS 1:200,000 topographical map shows ten peaks over 2000 m, with all but one of them in the eastern part of the island, but more modern surveying may prove some of these to be lower. However, for such a small island, in such a remote location, with such terrible weather, it has contributed a substantial amount of climbing action towards the history of mountaineering in Antarctica.