I am down in Wales and we had a visit after the golf yesterday from an old pal Steve Heaney Horrible Heaney. He was away with Tom Jones in 1991 to a 3 month expedition to Smith Island.
In 1977, the 79-year-old legendary mountaineer, WWII veteran and yachtsman, Bill Tilman was lost at sea along with seven others. The converted Dutch barge, En Avant, and her crew was lost somewhere between Rio and the Falklands en route to Mount Foster on Smith Island to the north of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Read more at http://www.pbo.co.uk/news/antarctic-voyage-in-the-footsteps-of-bill-tilman-12761#bBuBM33w9PFF4ZQq.99
Smith Island Re Union Tom Jones and Steve Heaney.
Topographic map of Livingston Island and Smith Island.
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 Smith Island
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 63°00′S 62°30′W |
| Archipelago | South Shetland Islands |
| Area | 148 km2 (57 sq mi) |
| Length | 20 mi (30 km) |
| Width | 5 mi (8 km) |
| Highest elevation | 2,105 m (6,906 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Foster |
| Administration | |
| Administered under the Antarctic Treaty System | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Tom and Steve were on a 3 month expedition on this remote Island the plan was to climb Mount Foster at that time unclimbed. They had some great tales of wild weather living in a snow cave and fighting the elements. Tents were damaged and they had a few epics including nearly summiting on Mountain Foster and a wild descent. It was some night of reminisce. The highest peak, Mt. Foster (2,105m), was climbed for the first time in 1996 after years of effort by various teams. It had become famous for its huge vertical relief and terrible weather.
Smith Island is 20 miles (32 km) long and 5 miles (8.0 kilometres) wide, lying 45 miles (72 km) west of Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands of the British Antarctic Territory. Surface area 148 square kilometres (57 sq mi).[1]
The discovery of the South Shetland Islands was first reported in 1819 by Capt. William Smith, for whom the island is named. This island was known to both American and British sealers as early as 1820, and the name Smith has been well established in international usage for over 100 years, although in Russian literature it is often referred to as Borodino Island, sometimes marked as Borodino (Smith) Island.
The island hosts no research stations or camps, and is seldom visited by scientists or mountaineers. Its interior is entirely occupied by Imeon Range rising to 2,105 m (6,906 ft) (Mount Foster). The first detailed topographic mapping of the island was made by the Antarctic Place-names Commission and the Military Geographic Service of the Bulgarian Army and published in 2009[1] in both English and Bulgarian.
As for the golf it was a fine day plus some rain and a visit again by Al Haveron we played at Rhuddlan and we are all still pals.
2017 golf gang
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