A little later in the flight, I took this short video of the Beardmore glacier, flowing through the snow covered mountains. The glacier was discovered by Ernest Shackleton in 1908 during his failed attempt to reach the pole. The mountains on either side of the Beardmore contain a treasure-trove of dinosaur fossils and was one of the earlier study sites for paleoecologist Allan Ashworth who uncovered fossils in ancient lake sediments there.

The members of the Shackleton Centenary Expedition will be retracing the same route to the South Pole as the Nimrod Expedition in 1907-09. This will be a 900-mile long overland traverse over 80 days on skis and towing sledges, each weighing 150 lbs. The team members include leader Henry Worsley (in search of a link with Frank Worsley, Shackleton’s skipper on the Endurance), Will Gow, and Henry Adams (both great-grandsons of Jameson Boyd Adams).

Expedition members Worsley, Adams, and Gow from left to right. Worsley is holding a compass originally owned by Shackleton that was used on the Nimrod Expedition.

The team arrived at Hut Point, located just outside of McMurdo, mid-morning of day three of their journey. Their trip started at Shackleton’s Hut at Cape Royds on Ross Island. There was no formal presentation or speeches, just a short meet-and-greet to answer questions and to have the opportunity to wish them well on their long journey. Today, after all, will be their last physical human contact until they reach the point at which the original Shackleton expedition was forced to turn around, the Furthest Southerly Point. There, they will be joined by Patrick Bergel (great-grandson of Shackleton) and Tim Fright (great-great-nephew of Frank Wild) where they will continue to the South Pole and complete what the original Shackleton expedition was unable to do.

Worsley’s 150 lb. sledge that he will be towing across the continent.

One piece of information I found interesting was their daily caloric balance. Worsley estimated that they would each lose “about 1.5 stones”, or 21 pounds, along the journey. They will be burning 8000 calories a day, and they plan to take in 6000 calories a day. If you consider that the nutritional labels on all of our food are based on a typical 2000-calorie-a-day diet, that’s a lot of energy!

And now for a short history lesson to help put all of this in perspective. On August 3, 1907 Shackleton set sail for Antarctica aboard the Nimrod in hopes of making it to the then unclaimed South Pole. After spending the winter in huts on Ross Island, a four-man team that included Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, Eric Marshall, and Jameson Boyd Adams set off for the South Pole with four Manchurian ponies pulling sledges. By the time they had crossed Beardmore Glacier (a 140-mile long glacier named by Shackleton), they had already lost all four of the ponies and were pulling the sledges themselves. On January 9, 1909, due to exhaustion, food shortage, and weather, Shackleton made the decision to turn back, only 97 miles short of the Pole. Although they had not made it to the Pole, they had traveled further south than any other explorer, and this point came to be known as the Furthest Southerly Point. All four men successfully rejoined the rest of the Nimrod party on March 4, 1909 at Hut Point. Shackleton never reached the South Pole. A Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, was the first to reach the Pole in 1911.

Worsley heading away from Hut Point.

You can follow along with the expedition as they travel to the South Pole at http://shackletoncentenary.org/. We wish them the best of luck on their journey!

Expedition members head south away from Hut Point and head across the Ross Ice Shelf.

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– As the Delta drove away after dropping off our group for Happy Camper School, also known as “Snowcraft 1” and survival training, I had a distinct mix of adrenaline excitement and nervousness.

The Delta driving away after dropping our group off for Happy Camper School.

The day was cloudy and gray. The wind was up. And it was cold. But this was my first real Antarctic experience, the first time away from McMurdo Station. I was energized to learn survival skills to endure the frigid Antarctic night and help my group set up a camp on the Ross Ice Shelf.

We walked quite a long way to where we would start our training, each of us alone to our thoughts bundled against the wind. I was actually happy to leave the relative comfort of McMurdo Station. This was one of the things I was looking forward to most when I came down here, the opportunity to experience Antarctica.

Walking on the Ross Ice Shelf to Happy Camper School.

Castle Rock came into view, and again I was reminded of those who came before me. The early explorers didn’t have training on how to live in this harsh environment. They were the ones who, by trial and error, passed down the knowledge that we have benefited from today. They went out seeking to comprehend the world around them as we do now, but they wrote the lessons of survival that we now follow.

Castle Rock in the clouds.

I turned and looked behind me toward what was familiar and saw Mt. Discovery shrouded in clouds behind Scott Base, the New Zealand scientific research facility. I made the decision to actively be engaged in my training to absorb everything I could. There is a deep respect I have for the extreme weather which can and does occur in the Antarctic. In order to feel confident about my own ability to withstand the potential difficult moments, times that would require a clear mind and deliberate action if they teetered on the edge of life and death, I had to fully learn how to cope with my surroundings.

Mt. Discovery shrouded in clouds behind Scott Base.

One of the first lessons our instructors taught us was how to use and fix a WhisperLite stove. We would later use them to make water from melted snow and to heat the water for meals, hot drinks, and to fill a bottle to keep in our sleeping bags as we slept to keep warm throughout the night. These stoves are very well suited to be used in such a cold environment because they can be lit with almost any type of fuel.

Learning to use a WhisperLite stove.

A snow shelter we were taught to make was called a Quinzee. It’s different than an igloo because an igloo uses carefully placed blocks of snow in its construction. A quinzee is made by hollowing out compacted snow. We piled up all of our duffle bags that contained our sleep kits (sleeping bags, fleece liners, and ground mats) and shoveled about 1 foot of snow on top of it. This was packed down by smacking the backside of our shovels against it. We then let it sit for about an hour so the snow crystals would lock together to form a solid structure. A hole was dug into the side of it, and the bags were removed. And what was left was a hollow mound of snow that protected against the wind and elements. The inside was excavated to make a flat sleeping surface, and it was ready to use. I chose to sleep inside of this later in the night.

Constructing a Quinzee snow shelter.

Our sleep shelters were finally constructed and laid out. We had 2 orange Scott Tents, the Quinzee, and several blue and yellow Mountain tents. It’s very important how a camp be set up, and one of the most significant things is to determine where the dominant wind is coming from. This will likely be the direction from where the most severe weather would come. All of the entrances to the shelters were placed away from the wind.

Our camp with 2 Scott Tents, the Quinzee, and several blue and yellow Mountain tents.

The next thing our instructors taught us after our sleep structures were set up was how to excavate snow blocks. We would use these to construct walls around our camp to prevent the full force of the wind from getting to us. We put them around the Mountain tents and the area where we would be setting up the stoves to melt snow for drinking water.

Learning to mine snow blocks for a wind wall.

After all of our hard work, the clouds mostly cleared out and it became a beautiful evening. Our camp was set up. Everything was secure. We ate dinner and warmed up with hot drinks.

Mountain tents protected from the wind by the snow block wind wall.

I was really tired after being outside the whole day in the cold. I set up my sleeping bag in the Quinzee and got ready to spend my first night out on the Ice in Antarctica.

Sitting in front of the Quinzee ready to sleep.

With a full belly and a warm water bottle to help heat my sleeping bag, I turned and looked toward one of the last sunsets on the continent for the season. I was amazed. I had made it. I was now in Antarctica!

Mt. Discovery and Black Island at sunset.

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA– The last couple of days have been really busy down here at McMurdo. I’ve been going through a lot of training sessions and have had many meetings with our Team. We’ve been trying to get all of our equipment together for the long journey across the sea ice to New Harbor. It’s a really long process to make sure we have everything we’re going to need at the field camp.

But today I had some free time in the morning. The weather was incredibly clear and crisp. I took the opportunity to climb up Observation Hill.

Observation Hill.

Observation Hill is a large hill that is 750 feet tall next to McMurdo Station. It is commonly called “Ob Hill” by the people who live and work here. It is the most climbed peak in Antarctica. The hill was named by Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Expedition when they explored this area of Antarctica between 1901 and 1904. Members of Scott’s team would climb to the top to make weather observations.

The further I got up on Ob Hill, the better the views became. I could see all the way across McMurdo Sound. I could see Mt. Discovery (right), Black Island (left), Brown Peninsula (low, and in the middle), and the Royal Society Range of mountains (not shown) as they stretched to the north as far as the eye could see. The straight line on the ice was the roadway that I traveled on from Pegasus Field just a few days before.

Southwest view across McMurdo Sound looking at Mt. Discovery (right), Black Island (left), and Brown Peninsula (low, in the middle). The straight line across the ice is the road to Pegasus Field where we landed.

As I climbed higher and higher, it became windier and colder. Snow was blowing around and I was glad I brought my thick insulated gloves and my ski goggles with me. With the cloudless blue sunny sky above, I bundled up and continued up to the summit.

Almost to the top.

Finally I got to the top of Ob Hill. I gazed down on McMurdo Station 750 feet below me. It looked like a tiny town. There are fewer than 1000 people here now, with more on the way. The population will grow to nearly 2000 during the height of the summer season. I’m amazed at how efficiently this small community runs to support the lives and activities of the people who venture down to the white continent. Looking down at McMurdo Station from this vantage point reminded me just how isolated we truly are down here.

McMurdo Station from the summit of Observation Hill.

There’s a giant cross that was erected on the top of Observation Hill to honor Captain Robert Falcon Scott and the members of his expedition who died on their return traverse from the South Pole during their Terra Nova expedition between 1910 and 1913.

Observation Hill Cross.

Scott and his men got trapped in their tent on the Ross Ice Shelf during an unusually long storm. They were already very weak and they ran out of food. When they got trapped, they were only 11 miles from a depot where they had enough food to get back to their camp on Ross Island. On the cross that Scott’s men built is an inscription from “Ulysses” by Alfred Tennyson which reads: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” These words are inspiring to me. I will try to not cease my own efforts to understand future climate change. To do this, I am in pursuit of knowledge of the past climate on the continent of Antarctica.

This place is so stunningly beautiful. Everywhere I look away from McMurdo Station I see various shapes of dark grey rocky peaks covered with white snow and ice. That or the smooth, flat ice of the Ross Ice Shelf and the lumpy sea ice floating on the surface of the Ross Sea in McMurdo Sound. It’s easy to get lost in the sheer expanse and isolation of this wilderness. But focusing on the details of the shapes, the way snow blows over a mountaintop, or how the sun moves around the sky in a circle gives perspective on singular aspects of the beauty of Antarctica. I can’t wait to get out into the field, to be away from “civilization” in town, to see new views of this other world.

Looking northeast across the summit of Ob Hill to Mt. Erebus.

There are constant reminders here of past exploration. Looking to the north from the summit of Ob Hill I could see Hut Point at the end of Hut Point Peninsula. The peninsula sticks out 15 miles to the southwest like a little finger off of the side of Mt. Erebus. There, a cross memorializing another fallen explorer and Scott’s Discovery Hut.

Looking north to Hut Point and Scott’s Discovery Hut.

As I descended Ob Hill to get back into the warmth of my room, I snapped one more photo of the wind-swept Mt. Erebus. The smoke and vapor coming out of the top of the volcano, and the snow and ice crystals being blown across the landscape show me how dynamic this environment is.

A windswept Mt. Erebus.

The glorious day turned into an amazing night. Seeing the sun dip behind the Royal Society Range around 11pm was a rare picturesque treat. Our last sunset here will be on October 21st. After that we’ll just watch the sun circle around the sky, neither rising nor setting. It will just roll around the heavens all day.

Sun setting across the Royal Society Range.

Tonight’s vivid scenery was accentuated by thin wispy clouds illuminated by the setting sun behind Mt. Discovery. I had to go outside and take some photographs. I could get used to this place!

Sunset behind Mt. Discovery.