Very interesting - thanks for posting
Found this link about the island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouvet_Island

dadndave wrote:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-02/explorer-conquers-worlds-most-remote-island/3850110

Very nice. That link isn't working for me though this slightly different one does, though not sure if there's supposed to be a video at the bottom.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-02/e ... ite=sydney

Another short article:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaki ... 6280757084

Thanks for sharing DadnDave

When is the last time someone climbed Big Ben?

http://www.heardisland.aq/about

Select "Human Activities and scroll down to "private expeditions"

"Successful ascents of Big Ben have been made on three occasions: by members of the Southern Indian Ocean Expedition in 1965, by members of the Anaconda expedition in 1983 and by members of the Australian Army Alpine Association in 1999/2000".

http://www.peakware.com/peaks.html?pk=1028&view=logs&log=14291

Meanwhile, after a bit of searching, I have now found the names of the first successful ascent party and the names of all members of successful summit parties on this site http://cerchi.net/destinations/2002_sioe/sioe_himi.html.

Big Ben is no exception to the challenge such mountains present to the more adventurous. Eric von Drygalski appears to have been the first to attempt to climb the mountain, which he had named Kaiser Wilheim Peak. John Béchervaise, ANARE station leader, made an attempt in 1953, albeit unsuccessfully due to attrocious weather. Grahame Budd, station leader in 1954 succeeding Béchervaise, and Warwick Deacock made an unsuccessful attempt in 1963. The pair started from Atlas Cove, skirted around the eastern and southern coasts, traversing glaciers en-route, and started their ascent from Long Beach. They climbed the eastern limits of the glacier now known as Deacock Glacier, passed through Budd Pass, continued in a north-easterly direction along the eastern limits of the Gotley Glacier. They reached the plateau of Big Ben at c2,000 m, but were unable to continue to the summit.

However, during the summer of 1964-5, a small private group, bearing the title South Indian Ocean Expedition to Heard Island, succeeded. The expedition was led by Warwick Deacock and included Budd, John Crick, Colin Putt and Philip Temple. The expedition sailed from Sydney on 5 November 1964 in the steel schooner Patanela, skippered by the legendary adventurer Bill Tilman. The outward course was well to the north of Îles Kerguelen until they reached approximately 60°E when the Patanela was headed south-west towards Îles Kerguelen. The expedition called at Christmas Harbour, Île Kerguelen, where they encountered a party of French scientists. The Patanela then sailed on, rounding Cape Digby before heading southwards, passing close to the McDonald Islands. After landing the climbing party at a small beach between Cape Lockyer and Winston Lagoon on the south coast, Tilman took the yacht to a safer station. The climbing party made their ascent along ????? ridge then headed westward towards Budd Pass, through which they reached the Gotley Glacier. The ascent continued in a north-easterly direction along the eastern limits of the Gotley Glacier. When they reached the plateau of Big Ben they turned west to climb Mawson Peak from the east. They were fortunate to get a break in the weather which enabled them to make a dash for the summit, up a 45° slope obstructed by crevasses and ice cliffs. They found that Mawson Peak had a furrow-like crater only 76 m long, 23 m wide and 7 m deep, emitting sulphurous fumes. The expedition returned to Sydney on 14 March 1965.

The second successful ascent was made by another Australian party on 9-10 February 1983. After being landed at Skua Bay on the eastern side of Big Ben by the ketch, Anaconda II, William Blunt, Jonathan Chester, Pauline English, Martin Hendy and Ross Vining reached the summit via Long Ridge. Although route finding was problematical, technical difficulties for the climb were low. Aside from climbing, the group conducted glaciological and biological investigations. A party from Anaconda II also made the first recorded landing on Shag Island.

Concurrently, a combined Radio DX, scientific & climbing expedition was also at Heard Island. The expedition was originally conceived by the Heard Island DX Association and was 3 years in the planning stages. The expedition sailed from Hobart in the 35 year old former whale chaser S.S. Cheynes II. Problems with fuel consumption soon forced the ship's return to Hobart. After resuming the voyage, the expedition was forced to also call at Albany and Port aux Françaises, Île Kerguelen, for extra fuel before it reached Heard Island on 5 February 1983. The 5 man, mainly Austrian, climbing party started from Mechanics Bay in an attempt to climb the mountain via a north-western route. However, they were forced to retreat short of the summit due to foul weather and dangerous snow conditions. As the expedition was preparing to leave the island, their aluminium dinghy sank. Most fortuitously, the Anaconda II was able to assist in getting the remaining members of the expedition off the island. Three days after leaving Heard Island on 17 February 1983, the Cheynes II ran out of fuel. Sails improvised from tarpaulins were pressed into service to enable the ship to continue until it could be rescued by another ship which took it under tow. The S.S. Cheynes II arrived in Albany on 16 March 1983, after a protracted voyage of 27 days. The vessel had steamed 811 n. miles, "sailed" 855 n. miles (in 368 hours at an average speed of 2.32 knots) and was then towed for the remainder of the the 2,242 n. mile voyage. [note 13]

The third successful ascent of Mawson Peak was by Australians, Robb Clifton, Tim Curtis, Stuart Davies and Matthew Rogerson. The 4 climbers sailed from Mauritius on 2 December 1999 by the fishing ship Southern Champion, which was owned and operated out of Perth. They were landed at Atlas Cove on 1 January 2000. After being thwarted by the island's notoriously violent weather on their first attempt, they reached the summit on 10 January 2000 via a new route from the west. The party experienced poor climbing conditions and encountered many crevasses. They also noticed sulphur and steam escaping from a vent close to the summit.

Cool!

There is a lot to be said for that feeling of being remote. Now this is another level.

This space might be worth watching too.

This bloke is gunna tackle Big Ben the hard way.

http://www.heard-island-solo.com/

danndave, I really wish you could provide adequate information when I ask a question :p

Thanks mate

Thank you for this article. These remote islands always fascinate me. It's sobering that in 2012, there are still "firsts" to be done.

surgent wrote:...These remote islands always fascinate me. It's sobering that in 2012, there are still "firsts" to be done.

In a similar vein to Bouvetoya, the high points of Peter I Island (Lars Christensen Peak 1775m) and the high point of the Balleny Islands (Brown Peak 1524m) are both unclimbed. Like Bouvetoya, they are protected by remoteness, terrible weather and steep cliffs rising out of the sea.

As an aside, Bouvetoya was visited by the Nazi expedition to Antarctica in 1938, en route to Queen Maud Land. They planned to annex the Norwegian Antarctic claim, and though they barely got ashore, they did several long flights that took the first photos of the big rock spires like Ulvetanna that are now famous. It was from this trip that so many rumours emanated about secret Nazi bases in Antarctica, hiding Hitler, gold and UFOs.