The International Scientific Benito Glacier Expedition of 2007 was
caried out under the leadership of Martin P. N. Sessions. The
expedition gathered information to comprobate the big glacial changes
of the Benito Glacier since the year 1972/73, when a previous
expedition gained first information of the area and the
glacier.
History:In
1973 , the Joint Services Expedition (JSE) of the British armed forces
sent a team of volunteers and a surveyor to the Northern Patagonian
Icefields, to study Benito Glacier and other areas closeby during a
timespan of incredible five months. The results of the JSE 1972/73
could not have been better: an exact map of the Abra Kelly was
produced, the observations of the metereologist and the surveyor
brought new information about the weather and the movements of the
benito glacier, as well as its ablation rate over a comparatively long
timespan. The men around Captain C.H. Agnew of Lochnaw did a lot of
exploration work, they went far of their basecamp to find a
way onto the icefields above, and today we must admit that their report
reads like a truly intrepid adventure, full of anecdotes.
Our Benito Expedition 2007 wanted to repeat some measurements
of the 1972/1973 JSE and thus give a comparative base for calculations
about glacial, climatic, and other changes within the last 34 years.
Of course we used methods which were a bit more of the modern art. The
CW - morsecode was replaced by satellite phones and HF SSB radios, the
theodolite only travelled with us as kind of backup solution, should
our state of the art Trimble DGPS system fail on us. But a
few items of equipment, which might have been the same int the two
expeditions, still made a good job, even 34 years later! This was the
photographic camera of our leader Martin Sessions and the trustworthy
hammer of our geologist Stuart Harron, called "Berta"(the hammer).
To gain access to the glacier we used different
transportation like a Mercedes Sprinter, ships, inflatables, kayaks,
foldable kayaks, or our own feet, sometimes in shoes with crampons,
sometimes in rubber boots, but most of the times wet.
In the aftermath, weather was not so bad, and we did not loose a gram
of body mass on that trip...
Well, in the future we hope to write more about the expedition here,
but still we are working on some topics.
If you click
here you are able to see some more pictures of this expedition
Do you have interest to get more information about this referential
trip from Martin Sessions & Associates? If so, please tell us
your wish via the
Feedbackform
and we will forward your data to Mr. Sessions..
ColibriVentura 
