Russian Emergency Situations Ministry flag put up on Antarctica's tallest mountain
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Dec 27 (Interfax) - Dmitry Sokov, an officer of the Sakhalin regional emergency situations department, put up the ministry flag on the tallest Antarctic mountain, the Vinson Massif, the department reported.
Extremely complicated weather patterns make Mount Vinson rarely accessible to climbers. The mountaineer team, of which Sokov was a member, had to ski and walk across rough terrain for almost four days to reach the foothills from their camp. The weather was blustery and the temperature remained around minus 50 degrees Centigrade.
Sokov, the chief state inspector of the South Kuril division of the Sakhalin regional emergency situations department, hoisted the flag of the ministry and the department on the world's highest mountain, Everest, in 2011.
Sokov has been in the employ of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry since 2005. He is a holder of ministerial awards and a participant in numerous operations that rescued people at the high seas.
Mount Vinson is 4,897 meters high, which makes is the tallest mountain in Antarctica. It is part of the Ellsworth Mountains, 1,200 kilometers away from the South Pole. The mountain is 21 kilometers long and 13 kilometers wide. U.S. air crews discovered the mountain in 1957.