Mount Sidley

Mount Sidley is the highest dormant volcano in Antarctica. It is part of the Volcanic Seven Summits, which includes the highest volcanoes on each of the seven continents. With a summit that reaches between 4,181 and 4,285 metres (13,717 to 14,058 feet), Mount Sidley is a giant covered mostly in snow.

This massive mountain is a type of volcano called a shield volcano. It is the tallest of five volcanoes in the Executive Committee Range, located in an area of Antarctica called Marie Byrd Land. Near its peak, Mount Sidley has a large crater called a caldera, which measures about 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) across. It sits to the northeast of another volcano named Mount Waesche.

History

The mountain was discovered by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd during an airplane flight on November 18, 1934. He named it after Mabelle E. Sidley, the daughter of William Horlick, who helped support the 1933–1935 Byrd Antarctic Expedition. Though very tall, Mount Sidley is not well-known in the mountaineering world because it is far away and hard to reach, unlike Mount Erebus, which is closer to the U.S. and New Zealand bases on Ross Island.

The first person to climb to the top of Mount Sidley was New Zealander Bill Atkinson on January 11, 1990. He was helping a scientific group from the United States Antarctic Program at the time.