cover image The Loneliest Mountain: The Dramatic Story of the First Expedition to Climb Mt. Minto, Antarctica

The Loneliest Mountain: The Dramatic Story of the First Expedition to Climb Mt. Minto, Antarctica

Lincoln Hall. Mountaineers Books, $35 (232pp) ISBN 978-0-89886-222-5

This account of a remarkable mountain-climbing feat sandwiched between two wild sea voyages begins as six Australian climbers and their crew of five are battered by Antarctic waters after setting off from Sydney in an aged, 65-feet schooner. The expedition's goal was the first ascent of Mt. Minto, a peak of 12,000+ feet, in the Admiralty Range (N. Victoria Land). From the ship's anchorage in the Ross Sea, the team had to trek nearly 100 miles, climb the mountain and return--within three weeks. Hall, who related an Australian conquest of Mt. Everest in White Limbo , gives an exciting, day-by-day account of this adventure in which the six climbers reached the summit, but had to be airlifted by a helicopter and returned to their ship. The return voyage, replete with a Force-11 storm, damage from icebergs, a shortage of fresh water and mechanical failures, ended in New Zealand. The gripping story is enhanced by spectacular photographs. (Nov.)