Mount Menzies is the culminating peak (3,220 m; 10,560 ft) on the large

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

between Mount Mather and Mount Bayliss, standing on the south side of Fisher Glacier,

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. It was sighted by Flying Officer J. Seaton from an ANARE Beaver aircraft in 1956, and mapped by an ANARE southern seismic party under K.B. Mather in 1957–58. Mount Menzies was named by ANCA after the Rt. Hon.

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

, 1939–41 and 1949–66.

First ascent

Mount Menzies was first reached and climbed by Dave Keyser, Jim Seavers and Dave Trail, in December 1961. With two teams of five dogs each, this three-man party left Mawson Station early in November, accompanying a five-man tractor party (G. Maslen, I. Todd, G. Wilkinson, R. Wyers and W. Young) to recover a D-4 Caterpillar tractor left for lack of fuel on the polar plateau at latitude 70°34' South. The three-man dog sledge party continued south to a small plywood caravan left at Binders Base at 72°36' South by the 1960 Mawson party, in order to re-provision and sledge on to the Fisher Glacier. Crevasses slowed the party, but one day sufficed to cross the glacier, and after inspecting the formidable ice-falls on the south side on Mt. Menzies, the party climbed the mountain from the north, plodding through the night – mainly over moraine – to reach the summit at midnight on 19 December 1961. From Mt Menzies, the party sledged further south and east in unsuccessful attempts (prevented by crevasses) to reach Keyser Ridge and Mount Ruker. The party then crossed the Fisher Glacier on better ground from the north-east end of the Menzies Massif directly to Seavers Nunataks and from there, returned to Binders Base on 31 December. The dog sledge party then reached Mawson on 27 January 1962.Geoscience Australia, Canberra
from the Field Notebooks of D.S. Trail (also found in AGSO – Geoscience Australia Bulletin 247, ''The Geology of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica'').

References

{{coord, 73, 30, S, 61, 50, E, type:mountain, display=title Menzies, Mount

First ascent

See also

References