Colin Monteath is a New Zealand-based polar and mountain photographer and writer. From 1973 Colin worked in Antarctica for 31 seasons, and in 1978 made the first descent into the Inner Crater on Erebus. In 1979 he helped co-ordinate the recovery work following the Air New Zealand crash. He has made numerous first ascents in the Transantarctic Mountains, and in 1993 became the first New Zealander to reach the highest summit in Antarctica, Vinson Massif. Founder of Hedgehog House New Zealand, a photography library and publishing house, he has worked on numerous book projects on the polar regions, including the Reader's Digest book Antarctica: Great Stories from the Frozen Continent (1985), Smithsonian Institution Press's Wild Ice: Antarctic Journeys (1990), and Antarctica: Beyond the Southern Ocean (1996).