Staccato Peaks () is a series of rock peaks extending 11 miles (18 km) in a north–south direction, rising to about 940 m with Hageman Peak being the highest peak of the Staccato Peaks, rising from the snowfields 20 miles (32 km) south of the Walton Mountains in the south part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. The peaks were first sighted from the air by Lincoln Ellsworth on November 23, 1935, and mapped from photos taken on that flight by

W.L.G. Joerg Wolfgang Louis Gottfried Joerg, better known as W. L. G. Joerg (February 6, 1885 – January 7, 1952) was an American geographer, and in particular an expert in the geography of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, who exercised broad influence on the ...

. Remapped from air photos taken by the

Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition The Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE) was an expedition from 1947–1948 which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. Background Finn Ronne led the RARE which was the final privately sponsored exp ...

in 1947–48, by Searle of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1960. The name, given by the United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee, refers to the precipitous and abrupt way in which the peaks rise from the surrounding

snowfield A snow field, snowfield or neve is an accumulation of permanent snow and ice, typically found above the snow line, normally in mountainous and glacial terrain. Glaciers originate in snowfields. The lower end of a glacier is usually free from sn ...

s and is associated with other musical names in the vicinity.

2012 British Antarctic Survey expedition

In December 2012, Hamish Pritchard of the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

(BAS) embarked on an expedition through the Staccato Peaks, he and his accompanists arrived at the

Shostakovich Peninsula Shostakovich Peninsula is an ice-covered peninsula lying north of Stravinsky Inlet and extending into Bach Ice Shelf in southern Alexander Island, Antarctica. The peninsula was first mapped by Directorate of Overseas Surveys from satellite image ...

, and trekked inland in an eastward direction, they reached Hageman Peak shortly afterwards, and marched into the central zone of Staccato Peaks, here, a two-man field camp was established at the base of Duffy Peak overnight. After disestablishing the minor field camp, Pritchard's team continued to travel eastward before they left the geographical vicinity of these peaks, after traveling an elapsed distance of almost 40 kilometers, Pritchard arrived at

Mimas Peak Mimas Peak () is a sharp conspicuous peak, rising to about west of the head of Saturn Glacier and west of the Dione Nunataks in the southeast part of Alexander Island, Antarctica. It was first seen and photographed from the air by Lincoln Ellswo ...

, where he began his successful ascent of this topographical feature, on December 16, 2012, Hamish Pritchard became the first individual to ascend to the summit of Mimas Peak, while ascending to the summit of this peak, rock samples were detected by Pritchard, he concluded that these summits must have emerged from retreating ice sheets hundreds of years ago.

References

Mountains of Alexander Island {{AlexanderIsland-geo-stub