Antarctica: exploration and research with Gianluca Cavalli, Manrico Dell'Agnola, Marcello Sanguineti

Mountaineering reports from the Antarctica are few and limited. Italian mountaineers Gianluca Cavalli, Manrico Dell'Agnola, Marcello Sanguineti explore fjords, valleys, and glaciers with kayaks, skis, and sleds. Pioneers in vast and unexplored places, they collect snow samples at various elevations, which they then catalog when back aboard the Ice Bird.

ANTARCTICA DIARY: BEYOND THE END OF THE WORLD! by Manrico Dell’Agnola

January 9. At 4 p.m. we reach land. We have three tents to pitch, and finding a safe location is very difficult: the beach is low (so high tide could be a problem), and it is full of bird droppings and penguins. A higher flat surface at the base of a snowslide ought to be safer, though the various collapses among the gigantic series of seracs in front of us are concerning. The evenings here never end. We cook pasta with meat and drink tea. It isn’t cold but the air is damp. The landscape is fantastic. On the opposite side of the bay, we see continuous collapses and hear alarming roars. Some of them form huge waves, which fortunately break on the cliff. It seems like a war zone. And now it’s raining lightly outside. I heat some water with my Jetboil and pour it into a water bottle, which becomes scalding hot. I place it in my sleeping bag with all the damp things I’ll keep in there overnight. Everything dries as expected, but I don’t sleep much: I’m afraid of being swept away by the waves, which I think would be an inglorious end.

January 10. We set out early. We climb the slope just above the tents. The weather is bad and the snow inconsistent. The summit above us appears to be illuminated by a faint ray of sunlight, but our aim isn’t to reach it; it’s to understand what there is to climb in the valley below and, above all, to collect snow samples. These samples will be used by the Italian National Research Council to understand whether the microplastics produced by the inhabited world have reached this point. It’s a study that could significantly affect our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the evolution of our environment and the effects of the continuous conversion of natural spaces and resources by human action.

The wet snow sticks under our skins, but we continue. Higher up, everything changes. We climb up on big icy blocks brought down by an avalanche. Now it’s cold, and crampons soon take the place of skis. The ridge is exposed and the landscape powerful. We stop again to collect snow, which must now be shattered with an ice ax. Marcello notes the elevation and position on the test tubes, and we continue toward the summit.

For us everything is an adventure. These lands are little known from a mountaineering (or any other) perspective, so we’re always moving through virgin territory. Phil, our travel companions’ guide, is one of the people who knows the most about these areas, but even for him many of these valleys remain a question mark.

Link: www.karpos-outdoor.com