Damien Gildea
Between 2001 and 2008 Damien climbed many of Antarctica’s highest peaks, several by new routes and made a number of first ascents. Most of these have been resurveyed with GPS by Damien and his team and in 2007 they produced the definitive new topographical map of the area around Vinson Massif.
In 2000-01 Damien worked as a guide for ANI on a 1130 km ski journey to the South Pole. He thus became the first Australian to have guided a client to the South Pole and more recently he guided a small team of Australians on the 110km ‘Last Degree’ to the Pole. Damien has also climbed on the Antarctic Peninsula, both as a guide and doing GPS work.
In 1998 he wrote the Antarctic Mountaineering Chronology, the first reference book about climbing in Antarctica and South Georgia. Since then Damien has written numerous journal and magazine articles on climbing ‘down south’. He is the Antarctic correspondent for the American Alpine Journal, Alpinist magazine (USA) and Climb magazine (UK).
In November 2010 Editions Nevicata published Damien’s second book ‘Mountaineering In Antarctica: Climbing in the Frozen South’
Since 1995 Damien has also done several trips to the Himalaya, Karakoram and Andes.
