What does it take to ski nearly 400km through one of the most remote and unforgiving landscapes on Earth, towing your supplies behind you and climbing to the highest point on the continent? For KOOEE! Ambassador and adventurer James McAlloon, it meant years of planning, relentless training, and a deep passion for exploration. 

Alongside expedition partner Rob Smith, James set out to establish a new route from the Antarctic coast to the summit of Antarctica’s tallest mountain, Mt. Vinson. We sat down with James to hear the full story behind the expedition, from breathtaking glacier views to 6,000-calorie days fuelled by KOOEE!'s high-protein organic, grass-fed beef jerky and snack sticks.

 

How did you get to the start?

I flew from Brisbane to Sydney, and then to Santiago, Chile. From here, I flew domestically down to the town of Punta Arenas at the bottom of Patagonia. The real journey began from Punta Arenas, Chile, where we were flown to Union Glacier in East Antarctica by Antarctic Logistics Company “Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions” (ALE). From there, we were flown in a smaller aircraft to the Ronne Iceshelf at a location called Constellation Inlet. This is the first time an expedition has departed from this location. The expedition from this start point to the top of Mt. Vinson included navigating the Heritage and Sentinel Mountain Ranges, crossing eight glaciers, and tackling the steep Zappol Glacier to reach the mountain's base camp. 

 

What inspired this trip?

I've always been inspired by adventure and Antarctic exploration. To me, this was an expedition that embodied those sentiments. It combined high altitude mountaineering with polar exploration, took years of preparation and allowed me to see my potential.

Myself and expedition partner Rob Smith, skied from the inner coast of Antarctica to the top of the tallest mountain. This was a successful attempt to establish a new route in Antarctica and climb its tallest mountain (Mt. Vinson) from the coast. 

We were exceptionally lucky with the weather, which enabled us to make quick progress. Unlike most expeditions, which face horizons of endless flat, white nothingness, our route meandered through mountain passes and across glaciers, providing us with spectacular landscapes that few had seen before from the ground.

 

 

How many days in total were you on the expedition? What was the total distance covered?

We covered close to 400km including the climb, starting at Constellation Inlet and finishing at the summit (4,892m) - all in all, I suspect we had close to double that in elevation change. We managed to complete the trip in 18 days from the time we started, however I was in Antarctica for another 8 days arriving and departing.

Initially, we took 20 days of food to account for 15 days expected ski to the mountain base, plus 5 days surplus to account for bad weather and storm delays. Thankfully, we were met with low to no wind, good weather, and better than average snow conditions. These resulted in a faster than expected journey, covering the distance between Constellation Inlet and Mt. Vinson Base Camp (VBC) in 10 days! We skied 250km to arrive here, navigated through 5 crevasse fields, and traversed the Skytrain Ice Rise, Union Glacier, Driscol Glacier, Schneider Glacier, Minnesota Glacier, Nimitz Glacier, and Zappol Glacier.

During this time, we spent Christmas day alone, enjoying an evening of whiskey, biscuits, and lively Xmas music and phone calls to friends and loved ones. Once arriving at VBC, weather in the mountain changed drastically with high winds and low cloud. We were delayed 3 days in which we passed New Years Eve in the company of Base Camp Staff. On the 1st of January, 2025 we commenced our summit push, skiing to Low Camp (2,700m) and resting for a day before continuing up the fixed lines to high camp (3,800m). After another rest day and with clear weather, we committed to a summit push and achieved the summit (4,892mt) at 5:00PM on January 5th, 2025, returning to Base camp by the 7th. 

 

What was the most breathtaking or surreal moment you experienced?

The approach to the Zappol Glacier, which was the point where we came off the main glacier towards base camp. It felt wild and unlike the long expanses of glacier behind us, we truly dove into its depths as we strained to pull our sleds up the steep slopes leading to the base of the mountain. Apart from that, nothing beats the feeling of being on top of the tallest point in the continent. It was more metaphorical than anything as it represented all the effort, determination, bumps in the road, experience and time it took to get to that point. 3 years of dedication summed up in a moment. a moment shared only with one other.

 

 

How did you feel at the start of your trip compared to the end?

The start was exciting. At that point the worry wore off, replaced by excitement that we were actually doing it. Nothing beats the feeling of being on top of the tallest point in the continent. It was truly one of the most surreal moments in my life.

 

What did a typical day look like out on expedition?

Efficiency and routine are important on these expeditions, which fortunately was simple given the good weather. We'd wake up and immediately start boiling water, eat breakfast and boil the water we'd need for the day before going to the toilet and packing up. 2 hours after waking we were on skis, swapping leads after every 90 minutes and taking a short break to rehydrate and eat and check our position and direction. 

We'd ski for 10-11 hours a day, before finding a good location to set up camp, where one person would secure the tent and gear whilst the other boiled water and made dinner. Finally, we'd do our safety check in and position confirmation, get a weather update and any personal communication we wanted to make before settling into a book or music and sleeping.

 

 

How did you physically and mentally prepare for this trip?

Apart from the skills-specific training which we did extensively, the key thing was to build up the body with consistent, sports-specific exercises. For me this was mostly ski training, pulling tyres attached to my harness and supplemented with gym. Additionally, ensuring that I'm eating enough protein and putting on excess weight for the trip. 

Mentally, I'd envisioned this for a long time which helps and had experience in similar situations before. I knew how well I fared in the environment and honestly getting there is more stressful than doing the trip, so it was actually mentally relaxing and enjoyable whilst in Antarctica.

 

 

What role did nutrition play in your expedition?

Nutrition was key - both in prep and during the expedition. Beforehand, you need to eat a lot! You need to be healthy whilst putting on weight. This means ensuring you're eating a balanced diet with a slightly higher focus on protein and serving yourself double portions. 

In Antarctica, it's slightly different - it's a combination of getting as many calories, protein and fat as possible in the least amount of weight, eating regularly (and smartly), and dividing your food type depending on what you need the energy for: activity or recovery. There is real science to it, and KOOEE! was key in this. KOOEE!'s organic grass-fed beef jerky and snack sticks are very high in protein and good fats, are made with real ingredients, and are easy to eat. When you are eating 6,000 calories a day, your body works hard to process your food, so good quality and tasty snacks are key for keeping fuelled for adventure.

 

 

What is your favourite KOOEE! product?

I really like the Classic Free Range Pork Sticks and Smoked Chipotle Beef Jerky. I still eat them today, and when something still tastes good after eating them all day everyday in Antarctica, you know it's great stuff!

To stay up to date with James’ future adventures, you can follow him on Instagram at @jameswayne_explorer