New Route on Antarctica's Stunning Ulvetanna
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1/26/13 – An international team has climbed a new route to the summit of Ulvetanna (2,931m/9,616′) in remote Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, one of the world’s most striking peaks. Leo Houlding, Sean Leary, Alastair Lee, Jason Pickles, and Chris Rabone climbed the long northeast ridge, completing the fourth route up the peak.
Many details of the ascent are still not known, but the route involved 35 pitches with difficulties up to E6 6b (5.12) A2. The formation is about 3,600 feet high, but the arcing ridgeline required more than 5,700 feet of climbing.
Ulvetanna (the “wolf’s tooth”) was first climbed by a Norwegian team, via the west face, in 1994. Twelve years later, some of the same Norwegian climbers returned to pioneer the north face. In 2009, Alexander and Thomas Huber, along with Stefan Siegrist, climbed the west ridge. In 2010, the Russian climbers Valery Rozov and Alexander Ruchkin, along with photographer Thomas Senf, climbed Ulvetanna so that Rozov could fly a wingsuit off the summit, as seen in the video below.
Date of ascent: January 2013 Sources: Berghaus.com, Facebook.com, American Alpine Journal