News in this edition:
37-01. Holtanna Group Establishes Base Camp, Commences Ascent
37-02. Position of NAE Trekkers Unknown, But Expedition Confident of Outcome
37-03. Six Traverse Groups Approach Pole From Ellsworth Sector
37-04. 'Pole To Pole 2000' Commences Trek After Lengthy Delay
37-05. Two To Now Attempt Peninsula Plateau Traverse
37-06. Visits Scheduled To Seldom Visited Locations
37-07. Oceanites Commences Seventh ASI Season
37-08. Private Expedition Hut For Removal
37-09. Further Albatross-Petrel Conservation Discussions Scheduled
37-10. Overflight Participants To Pass 20,000 Mark
37-11. Coming Events Relevant to Non-Government Activities

IN READING PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter is being produced in the interest of improved information sharing in the Antarctic community. Inclusion of information in it should not be taken to imply endorsement, by the publishers of ANAN News, of any company, program or associated activity that is listed, nor that the activity has necessarily completed all environmental impact assessments required under the legislation of the 'home' nation.

The eleven members of the Queen Maud Land International Expedition (QMLIE) established their base camp at the foot of Holtanna Peak in Dronning Maud Land (DML) last weekend and the group's climbing team are believed to have commenced their attempt on the mountain during the last few days. Holtanna, which in Norwegian means 'the hollow tooth', is considered by experienced mountaineers to be in the very hard category, the climb involving ascent of an almost sheer wall of rock that rises some 800 m above the surrounding ice.

Ten of the QMLIE group arrived at 'Blue 1' on a Polar Logistics Ilyushin-76 flight from Cape Town, South Africa, on 10 December, that flight having been delayed five days due to weather. They joined expedition member Ronald Ross who, together with over a tonne of expedition equipment and supplies, had been at 'Blue 1' since the Adventure Network International's flight of 13 November (ANAN-35/02, 22 November 2000). Ross lived at Polar Logistics' Blue 1 field camp in the intervening period establishing an automatic weather station and conducting other work.

Two members of the QMLIE party, Photographer Rene Robert and a cameraman from France's Canal+ television network, left 'Blue 1' on the 50 km overland journey to Holtanna via motor toboggan on the 11th. The five prime climbers, Alain Hubert (Belgium), Daniel Mercier (France), André Georges (Switzerland), Fab Zangrilli (U.S.), and Ralph Dujmovits (Germany), followed them the day after, manhauling their sledges with the aid of parasails. Both overland parties had reached Holtanna by the 16th, and the remaining four expedition members, communications specialist Ross, journalist Kathelijne Van Heukelom, researcher Alain Bidart and another person from Canal+, together with the bulk of expedition equipment and supplies, were flown to Holtanna from 'Blue 1' that day by Twin Otter.

The expedition's base camp was set up about a kilometre from the main face of the northern part of the mountain on 16-17 December, and initial forays to prepare for the climb commenced on the 18th. Plans developed during a reconnaissance carried out early this year, call for the six-person climbing party to ascend the sheer face of the northerly summit, cross the intervening rock ridge, then descending via the southern peak (ANAN-19/09, 12 April 2000).

While on the sheer cliff face the climbers will camp using four portaledges, or tent-like platforms a few metres square which are hung from the cliff face, for sleeping, cooking and general shelter. One of their biggest problems will be obtaining water and most of it will have to be carried from the base of the mountain in a frozen state. Expedition organisers believe that the whole operation could take up to three weeks or more, depending on the conditions that prevail. The climbing team will be made up of the five prime climbers and one other, probably from the media group, although who will be involved is unclear at this stage.

During the climb personnel at the base camp will monitor their progress and relay stories and images via satellite to expedition headquarters in Belgium for issue to media outlets worldwide and used on the expedition web site.

There has been no up-date as yet as to just how the group is to leave Antarctica following the completion of activities at Holtanna. The expedition's web site is still indicating that the party will be flown or ski from the mountain to South Africa's SANAE station on the coast of DML from where they would travel by ship to Cape Town (ANAN-28/07, 16 August 2000), however previous reports indicated that such arrangements had not been approved (ANAN-34/12, 8 November 2000).

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Six non-government traverse groups are currently thought to be heading towards the South Geographic Pole (SGP) from the Ellsworth Land sector, and the first of these groups of trekkers should reach the Pole sometime just before New Year.

The six groups, which are made up of a total of twenty-nine people, are spread out over a distance of around 700 km, two being within several hundred kilometres of the Pole, three in the vicinity of the Theil Mountains around Latitude 85° South around 550 km from the Pole, and the last one further back which has around 850 km to travel.

A commercially organised, nine-person, 'Last Latitude' party should if weather allowed, by now should have been deployed by air at Latitude 89° South, 110 km from the Pole. Last Saturday evening the Dutch 'Sasquatch' pair of of Marc Cornelissen and Wilco van Rooijen, who are attempting a round-trip traverse from the Patriot Hills to the Pole and back, were in the same general area, being just over 200 km from the SGP. They are making 25-30 km each day, therefore a New Year arrival at what is the half-way mark of their journey appears possible if conditions allow.

Participants in 'Last Degree' commercial traveses are flown into the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land from Punta Arenas, Chile, by commercial air operator Adventure Network International, then on to the starting point of the trek, leaving a journey of just over 100 km. Those involved are normally led by several professional guides, the cost of participation being $US29,500 ex Punta Arenas (ANAN-27/05, 2 August 2000).

The three groups who are currently in the vicinity of the Theil Mountains are the Danish pair of Gregers Gjersoe and Kristian Joos (ANAN-33/10, 25 October 2000), the four members of the Challenging Horizons group, Miles Hilton-Barber, Jon Cook, Doug Stoup and Damien Gildea (ANAN-30/02, 13 September 2000), and the recently arrive 'Pole to Pole 2000' party (see ANAN-37/04 following).

On 18 December the Challenging Horizons group reported that they had been stationary for three days awaiting resupply by air. They have been making and average of 20-25 km each day over the past few weeks, and estimate that they will not arrive at the Pole until very late in January. It is not known what, if any, impact that will have on Doug Stoup's plans to ride a bicycle from the Patriot Hills to the Pole after he completes the current journey (ANAN-36/04, 6 December 2000).

The Wearables pair Thomas and Tina Sjorgen currently appear to be around 850 km from the Pole having covered around 320 km since their start from Hercules Inlet on 19 November. After a slow first few weeks they have recently been making around twenty kilometres per day, which if maintained may see them arrive at the Pole in late January orr early February. This would give the pair very little time to prepare for their planned journey to the North Geographic Pole, earlier reports indicating that they planned to arrive in northern Russia to commence preparation for that trip around 23 February (ANAN-35/05, 22 November 2000).

Reports from the pair have only been available intermittently via the ORBCOMM satellite communications system, and they are apparently unable to receive messages from the outside world. On 12 December their web site talked about sending out a 'search party' if news was not received the next day, however a message arrived overnight at their expedition headquarters. Later reports indicate that the pair have also been having trouble with some of the 'wearable' computer equipment they are testing in the field (ANAN-35/05, 22 November 2000).

Meanwhile several groups have already indicated their interest in conducting traverses in Antarctica in 2001-02.

The Trinty Expedition, which was forced to cancel a planned trek from Berkner Island to the Pole this season (ANAN-27/08, 2 August 2000), is activity looking for sponsorship for next season.

Brigitte Muir, one of the principles of Icetrek Expeditions, who offer commercial services for mountaineering and traverse activities in the region (ANAN-27/05, 2 Augusst 2000), and who is taking part in the current 'Last Degree' traverse, has told a newspaper in Australia that she is planning to undertake a traverse to the SGP commencing in November 2001.

Muir apparently plans to conduct the traverse with one other, so far un-named, women, and the journey is described by the newspaper as being 1,800 km in length, take eight-four days to complete, and that it will be undertaken along a new, previously unused, route. The story goes on to say that the pair will be 'dropped off at the shore by boat' for the trek. No other details are currently available, however it is difficult to equate the plans with the normal availability of 'boats' in Antarctica in November and the distance stated for the journey.

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The ten-person, multi-national, 'Pole to Pole 2000' group commenced their traverse to the South Geographic Pole (SGP) from the vicinity of the Theil Mountains, 400 km south of the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land, on 18 December, almost a month later than originally planned. Details of the expedition's program announced earlier this year called for the party to start from the coast of Ronne Ice Shelf 250 south-east of the Patriot Hills in the last week of November (ANAN-33/06, 25 October 2000), and the change of start point appears to be designed to help make up for time lost recently due to bad weather and other problems.

'Pole to Pole' trek members were originally scheduled to fly from Punta Arenas, Chile, on an Adventure Network International (ANI) inter-continental flight around 26 November, however this was delayed to 3 December as a result of serious delays to ANI's early season flight operations caused by bad weather (ANAN-35/02, 22 November 2000). That flight was also delayed by weather and it was not until early on the morning of 6 December that the group reached the Patriot Hills from where they anticipated being flown to the starting point of their trek as soon as weather allowed.

The expedition's web site says that that onward flight was delayed for almost two weeks due to weather and what have been described as 'miscommunications' with ANI about on-flight requirements. The exact nature of the problem has not been made public, however the web site suggests that it took 4-5 days to resolve the issues 'and paperwork' involved. By that time the weather had deteriorated, and conditions remained unsuitable for flying until last Monday when the group were flown to the Theil Mountains to start their journey.

'Pole to Pole 2000' announced earlier this year that it expected its skiers to take thirty days to travel overland to the Pole from the Ronne Ice Shelf coast with parasail support. Given the reduced distance involved it is possible that they could still reach the Pole by New Year as originally planned. To achieve that however they would have to operate very effectively, particular with their parasails which many of the group have little experience with.

Four members of the ten person group are to return overland from the Pole to the Patriot Hills, while the others will be flown there and back to Chile by ANI (ANAN-33/06, 25 October 2000). The southward journey by the ten is to be unsupported, the group hauling all of their supplies behind them, however those returning overland will be resupplied at the Pole by ANI.

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The unsupported sledging journey along the spine of the Antarctic Peninsula from Hope to Charlotte Bays which is to commence early in January will now be undertaken by two men, not three, as previously announced (ANAN-33/08, 25 October 2000). Australians Jay Watson and Peter Bland, who have both visited Antarctica a number of times previously, say that their quest to find an appropriate third person to accompany them was not successful, even though a number of people were reportedly interested in joining the venture.

Watson and Bland propose to ski and manhaul sledges over a distance of 220 km and kayak for a further 70 km during the expedition. Two thirds of the traverse route involves travelling along the twisting, sometimes narrow, but generally flat, plateau that marks the divide between the western and eastern sides of the Antarctic Peninsula. Once on the plateau the two men are likely to experience frequent periods of low visibility, and few suitable routes are available by which they can leave the plateau and travel back down to sea level.

Jay and Peter are schedule to leave Ushuaia, Argentina, on the commercially operated, fourteen metre steel sloop 'Tooluka' on 1 January (ANAN-33/13, 25 October 2000), and expect to commence what is proposed as a month-long traverse about a week later. 'Tooluka' is to shadow the pair as they make their way southwards, however the nature of the terrain is such that should they encounter serious difficulties, the pair will have to deal with the situation themselves. Provision of any search and rescue (SAR) support to the two while they are on the plateau would be very difficult, and in a life-threatening situation would be likely to require the assistance of national program personnel and equipment.

The expedition has submitted an environmental impact assessment for its activities to Australian authorities and following an appropriate asessment a permit to operate was issued on environmental grounds only. Australian authorities have advised Watson and Bland of their concerns regarding SAR cover, however they are unable to press the issue further under current Australian legislation. The trekkers acknowledge the potential for problems during their planned journey and say that they plan to undertake the trek with particular care.

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Brief visits to three remote, infrequently visited, islands in the Antarctic region are planned early next year by two tourist vessels, while a third is currently visiting Emperor penguin colonies in the Ross Sea and plans visit to the equally remote Bay of Whales in the north-eastern corner of the Ross Ice Shelf next month.

Netherland's based company Oceanwide has scheduled a one-day visit by its vessel 'Grigory Mikheev' to volcanic Zavodovskiy Island, the northern-most of the South Sandwich Islands (SSI) south-east of South Georgia, in late March. The same voyage is scheduled to spend time at Bouvet Island, one of the most isolated, uninhabited, islands in the world, around 1 April. Both Zavodovskiy and Bouvet lie in the South Atlantic Ocean outside the Antarctic Treaty area, and are managed by the U.K. and Norway respectively. Both nations have established management arrangements for visits, however neither island has been visited by tour vessels for several years.

German company Halpag Lloyd's vessel 'Bremen' is listed for a visit to remote Peter I Island in the Bellinghausen Sea region around 2 February during the second half of a voyage from Bluff, New Zealand to Ushuaia, Agentina, via the Ross Sea and Antarctic Peninsula. The last visit by a tourist vessel to the island was that of the 'Kapitan Khlebnikov' in February 1999 (ANAN-4/07, 15 September 1999).

U.S. company Quark's 'Kapitan Khlebnikov' is currently in the Ross Sea on a voyage which aims to visit a number of Emperor penguin colonies that have not previously been visited by tourists. On its next voyage in mid-January its schedule involves a visit to the seldom visited Bay of Whales, its last visit there being in 1999 on the same voyage as the Peter I visit. That 1999 voyage by 'Khlebnikov' was the first by a tourist vessel to be made along the coast of Edward VIII, Marie Byrd and Ellsworth Lands, visits then being made to the former Russian station Russkaya, and to the vicinity of Mount Siple.

'Khlebnikov' is also scheduled to visit the George V Land and Adelie Land coasts in February after its third visit to the Ross Sea this season. The last time a tourist vessel visited that coastline was four years ago, although smaller, adventure-type activities have been undertaken there regularly over the past decade (see ANAN-37/08 following).

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The U.S. based, non-profit foundation Oceanites, is continuing its collection of baseline environmental data at key tourist landing sites in the Antarctic Peninsula region this austral summer in what is the seventh field season of the Antarctic Site Inventory (ASI) project (ANAN-10/05, 8 December 1999).

Over time ASI data may provide indications as to whether there have been environmental changes at tourist sites due to human visitation and might also assist in identifying any mechanisms involved. While many consider ASI-type data critical for long-term management of tourist sites, a workshop held in the U.S. last June on the potential cumulative impacts of Antarctic tourism noted that changes at these sites may result from natural variability in climate and biological systems as opposed to direct human influences, and that identifying the latter is likely to present challenges (ANAN-24/02, 21 June 2000).

ASI researchers visit tourist sites in the Peninsula region at key census times each austral spring and summer. In 2000-01 the Inventory's shipboard logistics will be accomplished with the primary assistance of the tour ship 'Caledonian Star', operated by Linblad Travel in the U.S. Site visits and aerial photodocumentation is also to be undertaken in cooperation with the U.K.'s ice patrol vessel H.M.S. 'Endurance'.

Over 13,000 tourists made landings in the Peninsula region in 1999-2000 (ANAN-26/01, 19 July 2000), one site receiving nearly 8,000 visitors, and five others in excess of 4,000 during the four month season (ANAN-27/04, 16 August 2000). Visit numbers are expected to fall slightly in the current season (ANAN-34/07, 8 November 2000), however current indications are that visit numbers will continue to increase during the remainder of the decade.

Some important papers describing ASI data and information have been published recently in 'Polar Record' and 'Waterbirds', and another is expected to be published in 'Polar Record' shortly. The publications are: "Censuses of penguin, blue-eyed shag, and southern giant petrel populations in the Antarctic Peninsula, 1994-2000" (Polar Record 36[199] 323-334, 2000); "Prevalence of Leucism in Pygoscelid Penguins of the Antarctic Peninsula" (Waterbirds 23(2): 283-285, 2000; while the in press item is titled "Zodiac landings in the Antarctic Peninsula, 1989-99"

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The small, privately-owned expedition hut at Cape Denison, George V Land, which has been used to support three non-government winter expeditions since 1995, is to be pulled down early next month and returned to Australia. The hut is being removed under the terms of the permit issued by Australian authorities prior to its erection.

The compact nine square metre prefabricated structure, which is known as 'Gadget Hut', is made of panels of high-density foam sandwiched between plywood and fibreglass. It was set up at Cape Denison early in 1995 and its owners, Australians Don and Margie McIntyre, wintered there that year, to be followed by solo winterer Alfred Winklemeyer in 1997, and husband and wife pair Yvonne and Jim Claypole in 1999 (ANAN-8/05, 10 November 1999). Winklemeyer and the Claypoles paid around $US70,000 for the use of the hut, and while they also had to provide their own food and general supplies for twelve months, the 'rent' included transport to and from Cape Denison on the McIntyre's nineteen metre yacht 'Spirit of Sydney'.

The McIntyres, who recently established the new company Ocean Frontiers and operate the vessel 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' (ANAN-36/06, 6 December 2000), had been interested in having other couples winter there in 2000 and 2001, however suitable candidates were not found. They are scheduled to visit Cape Denison several times over the next three weeks on the 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' to land and retrieve a group who are conducting a conservation program on Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 expedition huts located there (ANAN-35/08, 22 November 2000). Gadget Hut will be removed during one of those visits.

In addition to the 'Sir Hubert Wilkins' the McIntyre's 'Spirit of Sydney' is to visit Cape Denison for the tenth time in mid-January from Hobart, Australia, and is to be followed by the tourist vessel 'Kapitan Khlebnikov' in early February.

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A second international meeting to discuss the establishment of conservation measures to protect Albatrosses and Petrels in the Southern Hemisphere has been scheduled for late next month. The gathering, which is to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from 27 January to 2 February, follows an initial meeting in Australia last July, at which agreement was reached on the key elements and principles of a proposed Treaty (ANAN-26/04, 19 July 2000).

There is widespread concern about the rate of decline of both species, data from many locations in the sub-Antarctic indicating that the breeding populations of Grey Headed, Yellow Nosed, Black Browed and Wandering Albatrosses, and White Chinned, Spectacled and Grey Petrels have decreased significantly in the last few decades. Some researchers estimate that up to 1,000 birds are being lost each week in the Southern Hemisphere as a result of long-line fishing practices. Habitat disturbance and marine pollution are also believed to be contributing to the population decline, although little research has been undertaken into those factors to date.

The proposal for international coordination of Albatrosses-Petrels conservation and management issues received wide support during the annual meeting of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in October. A number of CCAMLR nations have been looking at ways in which long-line fishing practices can be modified so that Albatrosses and Petrels are not attracted to, and caught on, long lines.

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Please forward notice of events via e-mail to: tourism@aad.gov.au. Up-dates are made to ANAN's web site at http://www.antdiv.gov.au/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/Index.html as soon as new information comes to hand.

YEAR 2001

27 January to 2 February (Cape Town, South Africa)
Meeting on measures to protect Albatrosses and Petrels in the Southern Hemisphere

5 February (King George Island, Antarctica)
Fourth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon.
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan)

May [Date to be set](St Petersburg, Russia)
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXIV

9-12 July (Washington, D.C., United States).
IAATO year 2001 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).

20-24 August (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
COMNAP XIII (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).

YEAR 2002

February [Date to be set](King George Island, Antarctica)
Fifth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon.
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan)

July [Dates/location to be set] (Europe).
IAATO year 2002 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).

13-18 July (Shanghai, China)
COMNAP XIV (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).

YEAR 2003

July [Dates to be set] (Seattle, United States).
IAATO year 2003 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).


Next edition issued on Wednesday, 3 January 2001 @ 0600 UTC.
Deadline for items: Sunday, 31 December 2000 @ 2359 UTC.

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