Polanco Peak (Bulgarian: връх Поланко, romanized: vrah Polanco, IPA: [ˈvrɤx po-ˈlan-ko]) is the ice-covered peak rising to 721 m on the northwest side of the pass Orpheus Gate on eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It surmounts Perunika Glacier on the north-east, Huntress Glacier on the south, and Balkan Snowfield on the west. First ascent by a team from the Spanish base Juan Carlos I led by Àlex Simón i Casanovas on 20 November 2003.

The feature is named after the Spanish diplomat Alejandro Polanco Mata for his particularly significant contribution to the development of Bulgarian-Spanish logistics and scientific collaborarion in Antarctica.

Location

The peak is located at 62°38′18.3″S 60°14′50.4″W / 62.638417°S 60.247333°W / -62.638417; -60.247333, which is 525 m southeast of Burdick Peak, 3.125 km southwest of Bowles West Peak, 1.2 km northwest of the central summit of Pliska Ridge, and 750 m northeast of Burdick South Peak. British mapping in 1968, detailed Spanish mapping in 1991, and Bulgarian mapping in 1996, 2005, 2009 and 2023 from topographic surveys in 1995/96 and 2004/05), and data from the 2022 Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica (REMA).

Maps

• Isla Livingston: Península Hurd. Mapa topográfico de escala 1:25000. Madrid: Servicio Geográfico del Ejército, 1991. (Map reproduced on p. 16 of the linked work)
• L.L. Ivanov. Livingston Island: Central-Eastern Region. Scale 1:25000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 1996.
• L.L. Ivanov et al. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005.
• L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-954-92032-6-4
• Antarctic Digital Database (ADD). Scale 1:250000 topographic map of Antarctica. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Since 1993, regularly upgraded and updated.
• L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Smith Island. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2017. ISBN 978-619-90008-3-0
• A. Kamburov and L. Ivanov. Bowles Ridge and Central Tangra Mountains: Livingston Island, Antarctica. Scale 1:25000 map. Sofia: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2023. ISBN 978-619-90008-6-1