Making the most of Snow Hill Vega Island
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
As cruise ships cannot dock here, passengers are tendered ashore by inflatable zodiac boats.
Sightseeing
Off the Antarctic Peninsula's east coast, Snow Hill Island is almost entirely snowcapped, measuring 20 miles (32 km) long and 6 miles (10 km) wide. Admiralty Sound separates it from James Ross Island to the northeast. Adventurer Otto Nordenskjold and members of his party endured two winters here in 1902 and 1903 before a miraculous rescue. Accessible only by icebreaker and helicopters, it is undoubtedly the world's most accessible emperor penguin colony.
James Clark Ross's British expedition discovered the island on January 6, 1843. Unsure whether it connected to the mainland, Ross named it Snow Hill because its snow cover contrasted with bare nearby Seymour Island ground. Otto Nordenskiöld's Swedish Antarctic Expedition established its island character in 1902; he spent winters in 1901, 1902, and 1903 there, using it to explore neighbouring islands and the Antarctic Peninsula's Nordenskjold Coast.