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Mapala UI student conquers Antarctica's Vinson Massif
University of Indonesia's (UI) nature lovers community has conquered its sixth mountain of the world's Seven Summits challenge, as member Dedi Satria on Sunday scaled Antarctica’s highest peak, Vinson Massif.
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Preparations to climb Vinson Massif, which measures 4,897 meters in height, had begun in February last year. Located in the southern hemisphere, the mountain can only be climbed in its warmest months, which are December and January. (Courtesy of Mountain Professional via Kompas.com/Ryan Waters)
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niversity of Indonesia's (UI) nature lovers community has conquered its sixth mountain of the world's Seven Summits challenge, as member Dedi Satria on Sunday scaled Antarctica’s highest peak, Vinson Massif.
Ade Wahyudi, Vinson Massif' expedition team manager at Mapala UI expressed pride over the achievement and said that the team had long prepared to climb the mountain, as reported by kompas.com.
"Finally, we were able to reach the sixth peak in the series of the Seven Summits, [which was] the peak in the coldest continent," Ade said, as quoted in a statement.
Preparations to climb Vinson Massif, which measures 4,897 meters in height, had begun in February last year. Located in the southern hemisphere, the mountain can only be climbed in its warmest months, which are December and January.
Dedi, a delegate from the community, left Indonesia to embark on his journey on Dec. 25 and arrived in Punta Arena, Chile the following day, where the weather was temporarily less-than-favorable.
He continued on a flight to Antarctica on Jan. 1 and began the climb the day after. On the first day of the expedition, Dedi, along with a group of climbers, successfully hiked to the first camp, which is approximately four hours and 30 minutes from the base camp.
Read also: Indonesian students reach highest North American peak
On Jan. 3, the team remained in the low camp while practicing fixed rope skills to continue on their journey to the top.
The following day, the group embarked onward to the high camp, where they rested for two days in preparation for the summit scale on Sunday, Jan. 6. Dedi successfully reached the peak within the same day.
The UI student is an experienced climber, with mountaineering conquests including Indonesia's highest peak, the Carstensz Pyramid on Mount Jayawijaya in Papua, in May 2016. He climbed the mountain together with fellow Mapala UI members, including Mahendratta S., Fandhi Achmad and Ahmad Nadil.
In September of the same year, Dedi went on to climb Elbrus Mountain, the highest peak in Russia, which he did along with members Fandhi and Ade Wahyudi.
In February 2017, Dedi, along with Agam Napitupulu, climbed Aconcagua, the highest mountain in Argentina.
Read also: Six Indonesian mountain peaks to climb this New Year
Established in 1964, Mapala UI embarked in 1972 on climbing the Seven Summits, a mountaineering challenge consisting of the highest mountains of each of the seven continents. The university students' community began by first conquering the highest peak in Australasia, which is the Cartensz Pyramid in Indonesia.
Through various members' achievements throughout the years, Mapala UI subsequently went on to tick off the Seven Summit mountains from the list, including Mt. Kilimanjoro in Africa in 1983, Mt. McKinley in the US in 1989, Mt. Elbrus in 1990 and Mt. Acocagua in 1994.
"After a long time without any continuation to complete the Seven Summits, Mapala UI at the end of 2017 sent one of its climbers, Dedi Satria, to Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica," Ampala UI head Yohanes Poda said.
Yohanes explained that Mapala UI had lost members during past expeditions. Climbers Norman Edwin and Didiek Samsu died on their journey to conquer Aconcagua in 1992.
He expressed hope that with the recent success of reaching the top of Vinson Massif, the team would be pushed to complete the final challenge on the list, which is the world's highest mountain, Mt. Everest. (liz/kes)
