Tierra Del Fuego 1979

Having visited the Darwin Range in the early 1960s under the leadership of Eric Shipton, Earle jumped at the opportunity to return to the region and make an attempt on Roncagli, a challenging looking peak they had identified on the Shipton expedition. Unfortunately, a series of escalating delays, exacerbated by political tensions between Argentina and Chilé limited their time in the field. They eventually accessed the Stopani glacier from Yendegaia thanks to assistance from the Chilean navy. Navigation to the interior proved challenging, and was made more so by poor weather and the team was forced to abandon their plans for Roncagli. Instead they made ascents of Cerro Caledonia (1402m), the twin-summitted Pico Gemini (1737m) and Pico Sentinal (1432m). They did eventually identify a viable route to the inner glaciers of the Darwin Range and Peters collected samples of Nothofagus (southern beech) for a separate project.