Tag: McMurdo

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The Winter Journey: Part XII

Frightfully Hard Pulling

When we left the men of the Crozier party yesterday they were in slightly better spirits as the temperature rose to a relatively balmy -50°F (-45.6°C). However, their arduous efforts were rewarded with a meager 1.66 miles of progress after several hours of pulling their sledges through dense fog. When the men turned out on the morning of July 8th, 1911, not much had changed:

Position: Camp 10

Time: 10:30

Temperature: -51.8°F (-46.6°C)

Wind Direction: SW

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -67°F (-55°C)

Sky Condition: Partly cloudy w/ stratus

Weather: Fog

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -59.3°F (-50.7°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

The journals of the men were fairly sparse with regard to the details of the men’s activities on July 8th, but all accounts mention the difficulty of navigating through the fog and finally getting on to some better pulling surfaces. Cherry-Garrard summarizes the changing snow surface:

On 8 July we found the first sign that we might be coming to an end of this soft, powdered, arrowrooty snow. It was frightfully hard pulling; but every now and then our finnesko pierced a thin crust before they sank right in.

The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 243

After another day of grinding relay work the men had a little bit more to show for their efforts, making 2.25 miles of progress towards the rookery at Cape Crozier. At the end of the day’s march, Bowers reported the following weather conditions:

Position: Camp 11

Time: 01:00 (July 9th)

Miles Made Good: 2.25

Temperature: -36.2°F (-37.9°C)

Wind Direction: N

Wind Force (Beaufort): 2 (4-6 knots)

Wind Chill: -56.5°F (-49.2°C)

Sky Condition: Overcast w/ stratus

Weather: Fog

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Progress of the Crozier party after 12 days

One of the things I found interesting about the day was that the temperature had risen to -36°F (-37.8°C), an increase of 40°F over the span of 48 hours. What makes this even more impressive is that it happened in the midst of the polar night, in the complete absence of incoming solar radiation (insolation). The temperature rise can only be attributed to the combined process of warmer, moist air being transported poleward (advected) from the Ross Sea and the greenhouse effect. The combination of the moist air from the Ross Sea flowing over the ice shelf and the cold air damming in the Windless Bight likely contributed to the density of the fog as well.

Will the Crozier party’s luck improve during the ongoing heat wave? Perhaps, but I wouldn’t count on it; this crew are the ultimate gluttons for punishment. What will Antarctica have up its sleeve tomorrow?

BT

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The Winter Journey: Part XI

The Vaguest Idea

When we left the men of the Crozier party yesterday they had just wrapped up their coldest day of the journey yet. Temperatures nearly dropped as low as -80°F (-62.2°C) and the crew only managed to make 1.5 miles of progress across bad pulling surfaces. At this point in the journey, Cherry-Garrard noted that routine camp work was taking upwards of nine hours per day due to the extreme cold (The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 242). The artificial lines between night and day are blurred during the polar winter, and the men’s sense of routine based on time seemed to fade with it. The Crozier party did not get started until after noon on July 7th, 1911, and the first weather observation of the day indicated that conditions had not improved much:

Position: Camp 9

Time: 14:00

Temperature: -67.3°F (-55.2°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

Weather: Light fog

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -74.8°F (-59.3°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

After stepping off in a light fog the men were reduced to relay work yet again, the cold still too intense for the sledge runners to glide along the snow surface. As the day dragged on the temperature began to rise a bit, and the fog began to thicken.

Bowers reading the meteorological screen at Cape Evans. Watercolor by Dr. Edward A. Wilson

By late evening, the men had to call a halt to the march as the fog had thickened to the point that they could no longer see where they were going. When the men pitched camp for the night they had made about 1.66 miles of progress.

Crozier party progress after 11 days

Cherry-Garrard documents just how tough the prolonged cold and sledging had been on the men’s bodies at this juncture:

Our hearts were doing very gallant work. Towards the end of the march they were getting beaten and were finding it difficult to pump the blood to our extremities. There were few days where Wilson and I did not get some part of our feet frostbitten. As we camped, I suspect our hearts were beating comparatively weakly and slowly.

The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 242

One of the more interesting and somewhat surreal things from the day’s march was to read what the men had to say about the great sense of relief they got when the temperature rose into the -50°F (-45.6°C) range, as opposed to -70°F (-56.7°C) and below. I guess it’s all relative, right? At the end of the day, here is where things stood with the weather:

Position: Camp 10

Time: 01:15 (June 8th)

Miles Made Good: 1.66

Temperature: -56.7°F (-49.3°C)

Wind Direction: N

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -72.6°F (-58.1°C)

Sky Condition: Mostly cloudy w/ stratus

Weather: Fog

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

Will conditions improve tomorrow for the Crozier party? Check back to find out!

BT

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The Winter Journey: Part IX

Dreadfully Cold Work

When we last left the men of the Crozier party, they were holed up in their sleeping bags after snow and poor visibility forced them to take a day off. The temperature warmed up to a balmy -27°F (-32.8°C), and the men enjoyed the well-deserved rest after a string of extremely cold days and backbreaking relay work. Amazingly, some of the ice that had accumulated in their clothes and sleeping backs melted, though that may not have been for the best. On the morning of July 5th, 1911 the men found the following conditions:

Position: Camp 7

Time: 09:00

Temperature: -54.5°F (-48.1°C)

Wind Direction: NE

Wind Force (Beaufort): 2 (4-6 knots)

Wind Chill: -78.6°F (-61.4°C)

Sky Condition: Mostly cloudy w/ stratus

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -54.8°F (-48.2°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

All in all, the men got a one day reprieve from temperatures below -50°F (-45.6°C). As they would come to find out, the snow that fell on the day prior only made things worse. As Dr. Wilson described it:

At 7 a.m. we turned out and the surface was the worst for pulling on that we had yet had. We relayed for 8 hours and only advanced 1.5 miles in the day.

Diary of the ‘Terra Nova’ Expedition to the Antarctic 1910-1912, pg. 145

As mentioned in an earlier post in this series, the extreme cold prevents the runners of a sledge from melting the top layer of snow crystals to provide the thin layer of lubricating water to glide upon. Compounding the issue was the fresh snowfall; sharply faceted crystals from new snow increase friction along the surface of the runners as well (Solomon, The Coldest March, pg. 223). After eight hours of brutal relay work, the men of the Crozier party only had 1.5 miles progress to show for it at the end of the day:

Position: Camp 8

Time: 21:00

Miles Made Good: 1.5

Temperature: -59.1°F (-50.6°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Mostly cloudy w/stratus

Weather: Fog

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Crozier party progress after 9 days

The Crozier party has been able to get about two-thirds of the way through the Windless Bight after a week of heavy pulling. Will their luck improve once they get past Cape Mackay and back onto the windswept portions of the ice shelf? I wouldn’t count on it, but check back in tomorrow to find out!

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The Winter Journey: Part VIII

A Great Relief

After five days in temperatures below -50°F (-45.6°C), the men of the Crozier party are having a devil of a time. They’re barely able to make two miles of forward progress per day, and two of the men are suffering from frostbitten hands and feet. Ice accumulation in their clothing from sweat and breath has made their clothing as hard as boards. However, on the morning of July 4th, 1911 the men woke to a change in the weather pattern:

Position: Camp 7

Time: 09:30

Temperature: -27°F (-32.8°C)

Wind Direction: NE

Wind Force (Beaufort): 4 (11-16 knots)

Wind Chill: -56.4°F (-49.1°C)

Sky Condition: Overcast w/ stratus

Weather: Snow

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -64.4°F (-53.6°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

Quite the change from the last few days – and a rapid warm-up from the overnight minimum….almost 40°F! The change did not go unnoticed by the men either:

During the night of 3 July the temperature dropped to -65°F (-53.9°C), but in the morning we wakened (we really did wake that morning) to great relief. The temperature was only -27°F (-32.8°C) with the wind blowing some 15 miles an hour with steadily falling snow.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 239

Imagine that…the men felt a great relief when the temperature rose to ‘only’ -27°F (-32.8°C). To me, it speaks volumes of just how horrendous the conditions were leading up to July 4th. The combination of the darkness and the steadily falling snow prevented the men from sledging today, and they spent the day in their sleeping bags enjoying a well-deserved rest and basking in the relative warmth. The weather had not changed much by the time the men took their last weather observation of the day:

Position: Camp 7

Time: 21:30

Miles Made Good: 0

Temperature: -29.3°F (-34.1°C)

Wind Direction: ENE

Wind Force (Beaufort): 3 (7-10 knots)

Wind Chill: -53.8°F (-47.7°C)

Sky Condition: Overcast w/ stratus

Weather: Snow

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Progress of the Crozier party after 8 days – stuck at Camp 7 due to bad weather

Today’s post will be fairly short since the men of the Crozier party did not make any progress and largely spent the day snug in their tent. To all of my American readers, I wish you a happy Independence day! All the best to any readers abroad as well – cheers!

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The Winter Journey: Part V

A Succession of Shivering Fits

After two full days on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, the men of the Crozier party are really starting to feel the effects of the intense cold and heavy surfaces. Their third night would turn out to be especially bad as the temperature nearly fell to -70°F (-56.7°C). Apsley Cherry-Garrard describes the difficulties he faced:

It was a very bad night: a succession of shivering fits which I was quite unable to stop, and which took possession of my body for many minutes at a time until I thought my back would break.

The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 233

Poor bastard. The coldest ambient temperature I felt during my time in the Antarctic was about -40°F (-40°C), but I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing a wind chill factor at -75°F (-59.4°C). At these temperatures, just walking between the buildings on station can be a chore; I cannot even imagine being stuck in them for several days with the only respite being the heat used to cook meals. To me, it speaks volumes about the hardihood and dedication of these men.

What did the men wake up to on July 1st? The first weather observation from Birdie Bowers follows below:

Position: Camp 4

Time: 09:00

Temperature: -65.6°F (-54.2°C)

Wind Direction: NE

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -82.8°F (-63.8°C)

Sky Condition: Clear

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -69°F (-56.1°F)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

The men struck camp and set off shortly before 11 a.m., and faced another day of very heavy pulling. The very low temperature and poor snow surface forced the men to do relay work once again, and it took all of their collective might just to pull one sledge forward. Dr. Wilson and Cherry-Garrard also started to experience optical illusions with respect to their outbound tracks, making their footsteps appear like small hummocks in the snow (The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 234).

In total, the men only managed to cover 2.25 miles on their fifth day out from Cape Evans. In addition to the extreme cold, ice accumulation in the men’s clothing was becoming problematic. The men’s sweat and breath froze to their cold weather gear almost instantly; the end result being a coat that was nearly impossible to get in and out of at camp. When the men turned in for the evening, the temperature was still hovering near -60°F (-50.8°C):

Position: Camp 5

Time: 22:00

Miles Made Good: 2.25

Temperature: -59.5°F (-50.8°C)

Wind Direction: E

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -75.8°F (-59.9°C)

Sky Condition: Clear

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

Will the men of the Crozier party get a respite anytime soon? Check in again tomorrow to find out!

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The Winter Journey: Part IV

Degrees of Frost

When we last left the men of the Crozier party, they had just finished their first full day of sledging on the McMurdo Ice Shelf and they came to find it was a real drag. Temperatures hovered at or below -50°F (-45.6°C), creating a rough, sandy pulling surface for the men. A few of the men are already starting to suffer from frostbites, and sleep is hard to come by in the frigid tent at night. How were things on the morning of June 30th, 1911?

Position: Camp 3

Time: 10:00

Temperature: -54.5°F (-48.1°C)

Wind Direction/Speed: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

Overnight Minimum Temperature: Not reported

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

The party struck camp and started off to the east-northeast by late morning, using a sliver of daylight on the horizon to navigate. However, the men quickly ran into problems. The extreme cold and sandy snow surface prevented the men from pulling both sledges at once. As such, they were reduced to a grueling day of relay work, pulling one sledge forward and then returning to retrieve the other. In essence, the men had to cover 3 miles for every mile made good – talk about two steps forward and one step backward!

The cold only intensified as the day went on – Birdie Bowers recorded a temperature of -61.6°F (-52°) at lunch. Compounding the low temperature was the fact that the men were now entering an area known as the Windless Bight. This region along the southern fringe of Ross Island is known for it’s general lack of wind, owing to the complex terrain of the northwestern Ross Ice Shelf. The lack of wind allows loose snow crystals to gather in this area, and the deep, sandy snow is hell on sledge travelers. The manifold mesoscale and microscale wind patterns are outside the scope of this series, and probably deserve their own article in order to do them justice.

Image credit: Lori Perkins, NASA Scientific Visualization Studio

After lunch, the little natural light the men had earlier in the day had faded, and the men navigated by a combination of candlelight and celestial bodies, sparking one of my favorite quotes from the journey:

It was the weirdest kind of procession, three frozen men and a little pool of light. Generally, we steered by Jupiter, and I never see him now without recalling his friendship in those days.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World

It took the Crozier party 11 hours to cover just over 3 miles for the day, marching a total of 10 miles to do it. The men pitched camp in the late evening and took the last weather observation for the day:

Position: Camp 4

Time: 21:00

Miles Made Good: 3.25

Temperature: -65°F (-53.9°C)

Wind Direction/Speed: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Crozier party progress after four days

Commentary

I can only imagine the men had to feel nothing more than abject misery on this march. The temperature was -55°F (-48.1°C) at the start of the day, and only got colder, falling to -65°F (-53.9°C) by late evening. The lack of wind surely led to the decrease in temperatures, with outgoing longwave radiation continuing unimpeded under the light wind and clear skies. How do the 1911 conditions stack up against today’s obseration? Much colder….the most recent temperature reported by the Windless Bight automatic weather station is -23.8°C (-10.8°F). I also came across an interesting weather term that I love…degrees of frost. Essentially, a degree of frost is calculated by finding the difference between the freezing point, 32°F (0°C) and the observed temperature. At -65°F, the Crozier party experienced 97 degrees of frost!

Will the men of the Crozier party get a respite from the intense cold? Check in tomorrow to find out!

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The Winter Journey: Part III

A Slow and Very Heavy Plod

After two days of manhauling, the Crozier party had managed to pull their sledges a distance of 17 miles from Cape Evans and establish a foothold on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. However, the first signs of trouble appeared as the temperature plummeted to -47°F and Cherry-Garrard’s fingers were frostbitten. Lets do our morning check-in with the guys and get the first weather observation of the day for June 29th, 1911:

Position: Camp 2

Time: 09:00

Temperature: -48.3°F (-44.6°C)

Wind Direction: E

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -63°F (-53.8°C)

Sky Condition: Few clouds (Cirrostratus)

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -56.5°F (-49.2°C)

Remarks: Aurora fairly bright, curtain to N, altitude about 45°

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

The first night on the ice shelf did not go very well for the men. Cherry-Garrard described the experience as “a baddish time,” and noted that the party spent a good deal of the night shivering in their bags (The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 242). The darkness of the winter night was also starting to take its toll, turning routine camp work into an hours-long ordeal.

As the men set off into the darkness from Camp 2, they were treated to bright auroral displays that lifted their spirits a bit. However, the decreasing temperatures and changing snow surface turned the days sledging effort into a backbreaking affair. The party only managed to gain 2.5 miles of ground before lunch, and could only muster another 2 miles after lunch. The temperature hovered around -50°F throughout the day, with Wilson and Cherry-Garrard both getting frostbitten on their feet. After 10.5 hours of heavy exertion in the brutal cold, the men called it quits for the day and pitched camp. The nighttime weather report from Birdie Bowers follows below:

Position: Camp 3

Time: 19:30

Miles Made Good: 4.5

Temperature: -49.7°F (-45.4°C)

Wind Direction: E

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -64.6°F (-53.7°C)

Sky Condition: Clear

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Crozier party progress after three days

Commentary

Why did the pulling become so hard for the men once they got onto the McMurdo Ice Shelf? Why could they only manage 4.5 miles? The main issue was the temperature and its impact on the snow surface. Susan Solomon notes this impact in The Coldest March

The key factor was the temperature, which determines how readily a thin film of liquid water can form as the runners of sledges or skis glide over the snow beneath them…Formation of an optimal liquid layer lies at the heart of skiing, and temperature is a critical factor in the delicate balance of forces that makes skiing or pulling either torturous or easy.

Susan Solomon, The Coldest March, pg. 35

At -50°F, it is essentially too cold for the runners of a sledge to maintain the lubricating layer of water as snow crystals resist melting and increase friction along the surface of the runners.

How are things in the area of Camp 3 today? The most recent observation from the Willie Field automatic weather station (AWS) is -29.2°C (-20.6°F) – about 30 degrees warmer than what the men reported in 1911. The weather pattern has been fairly stormy across the Ross Ice Shelf as of late, and the increased wind has largely mixed out the coldest near-surface air.

How will the Crozier party fare during their second night on the ice shelf? Will they manage to stave off frostbite and get some rest, or will they spend another night shivering in their bags? Check in tomorrow to find out!

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The Winter Journey: Part II

A Very Keen Wind

After the first day, the Crozier Party managed to pull their sledges almost 10 miles out onto the sea ice and set up camp along the western side of Hut Point Peninsula. Now the really hard work begins….let’s check in and see how the weather was on the morning of June 28th, 1911

Position: Camp 1

Time: 07:45

Temperature: -24°F (-31.1°C)

Wind Direction: SW

Wind Force (Beaufort): 1 (1-3 knots)

Wind Chill: -35°C (-37.2°C)

Sky Condition: Mostly Cloudy w/ cirrostratus

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -25.5°F (-31.9°C)

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

After striking camp, the men continued to pull southward over a rough sea ice surface, only managing a 1 m.p.h. pace. The party reached Hut Point around 13:30, and stopped to have lunch at the eponymous Discovery Hut.

Scott’s Discovery Hut

After lunch, the men set out to the southeast in a -26°F (-32.2°C) temperature and rounded Cape Armitage (the southernmost point of Ross Island), enjoying what Cherry-Garrard described as “the only good bit of good pulling we were to have.” After two miles of sledging, the men encountered the edge of the McMurdo Ice Shelf. The sea ice surrounding Hut Point Peninsula had largely broken out near Cape Armitage in the previous autumn, giving the ice shelf edge a cliff like appearance. In a rare stroke of good luck for the men during this journey, they were able to find a snowdrift slope up to the top of the shelf fairly quickly.

However, this stroke of good luck was soon tempered by a painful setback for Cherry-Garrard:

We had therefore had to find a place where the snow had formed a drift. This we came right up against and met quite suddenly a very keen wind flowing, as it always does, from the cold Barrier down to the comparatively warm sea-ice. The temperature was -47°F (-43.9°C), and I was a fool to take my hands out of my mitts to haul on the ropes to bring the sledges up. I started away from the Barrier edge with all ten fingers frost-bitten.

The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 229

Ouch. Only two days in to what is supposed to be a six week journey and one of the party member’s hands are already stricken with frostbite. After hauling the sledges up on to the ice shelf, the men were able to tack on another half mile of pulling before pitching camp for the night. As the men settled in for the night and finished dinner, Birdie Bowers recorded the following observation in the meteorological log:

Position: Camp 2 (17 miles from Cape Evans)

Time: 21:10

Miles Made Good: 7.25

Temperature: -46.5°F (-43.6°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Partly Cloudy w/ cirrostratus

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Crozier Party progress after two days sledging

Within a few hours of pitching camp, painful blisters developed on each of Cherry-Garrard’s frostbitten fingers; the Antarctic has a way of extracting a heavy toll for even small mistakes.

Commentary

Even though the men encountered some rough surfaces and rapidly dropping temperatures, they still managed to turn in a respectable 7.25 miles of pulling. The sudden drop in temperatures was not out of the norm, however. There is almost always a fairly pronounced temperature gradient that exists from the eastern side of Hut Point Peninsula to the western side. I’ve observed a gradient on the scale of 10-15°C quite frequently during the Antarctic spring. A modeled surface temperature chart produced by the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) illustrates this temperature gradient quite nicely.

AMPS WRF 0.89km Resolution Surface Temperature Chart. Red star denotes approximate location of Camp 2; yellow star denotes approximate location of the Discovery Hut.

As seen in the chart, there is approximately a 10°C gradient from Camp 2 to Hut Point, with even colder air located further east on the Ross Ice Shelf. How do conditions today stack up against those recorded in 1911? The closest automatic weather station (Willie Field) reported a minimum temperature of -34.2°C (-29.6°F) before rapid warming occurred with a storm sweeping across the Ross Island region. Current wind speeds at Willie Field are ranging from 35-40 knots, with the temperature hovering at -17.6°C (0°F) – an increase of 30+°F in just a few hours! The unique combination of orography, temperature gradients, and localize wind patterns make forecasting in the greater McMurdo/Hut Point Peninsula region a vexing endeavor at times.

Tonight’s post was powered by music from amiinA and Julie Fowlis…definitely helped me get in a groove!

Tune in tomorrow as the Crozier party really starts to feel the cold…but just how cold did it get?

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The Winter Journey: Part I

A New and Bold Venture

Winter Journey Sledge Weights
Expendable Storeslbs
‘Antarctic’ biscuit135
3 cases for same12
Pemmican110
Butter21
Salt3
Tea4
Oil60
Spare parts for primus, and matches2
Toilet Paper2
Candles8
Packing5
Spirit8
Total370
The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 223
Permanent Weightslbs
2 9-ft sledges, 41 lbs. each82
1 Cooker complete13
2 Primus filled with oil8
1 Double tent complete35
1 Sledging shovel3.5
3 Reindeer sleeping bags, 12 lbs. each36
3 Eider-down sleeping-bag linings, 4 lbs. each12
1 Alpine rope5
1 Bosun’s bag and 1 Bonsa outfit (repairing material and tools)5
3 personal bags, 15 lbs. each45
Lamp box with knives and steel21
Medical and scientific box40
2 ice axes, 3 lbs. each6
3 Man-harnesses3
3 Portaging harnesses3
Cloth for making roof and door for stone igloo24
Instrument box7
3 pairs skis and sticks (discarded before departure)33
1 Pickaxe11
3 Crampons, 2 lbs. 3 oz. each6.5
2 Bamboos for measuring tide if possible4
2 Male bamboos4
1 plank to form top of door of igloo2
1 Bag sennegrass1
6 Small female bamboo ends and 1 knife4
Packing8
Total420
The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 224

The three men of the Crozier party stepped off into the darkness from Cape Evans around 11 a.m. on June 27th, 1911 hauling two sledges bearing approximately 757 lbs. of gear (ski gear was left behind at the last moment). The men were not able to fit all of the supplies on a single 12-ft sledge, and so opted to bring two 9-ft sledges. At first, the men were assisted by 5 other members of the Terra Nova Expedition, boosting them through the hummocky sea ice near the Erebus Glacier Tongue before turning back. The first partial weather observation was taken at 13:15, near the edge of the glacier tongue:

Off Glacier Tongue

Temperature: -14.5°F (-25.8°C)

Remarks: Breeze came away from E, Force 3-4

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

At this point, Apsley Cherry-Garrard noted that his sweat was already starting to freeze within his clothing. After the men pulled for another mile, they stopped and pitched camp for lunch at 14:30. This was the first time the men would set up camp in the dark, and Cherry-Garrard referred to the experience as an “education.” All three of the men were experienced sledge travelers, but none had yet had the distinct pleasure of pitching camp in total darkness with a stiff breeze in their faces. Another issue that would plague the men in the weeks to come also presented itself during this first lunch camp – the accumulation of ice in the tent. The act of cooking released a significant amount of water vapor, which would then freeze along the interior liner of the tent. As Dr. Wilson noted in his journal:

The lowest third of our tent, as a matter of fact, became badly iced up, but the upper parts we managed to keep clear of ice.

Diary of the ‘Terra Nova’ Expedition to the Antarctic 1910~1912

In addition to the enormous weight the men were already pulling with their supplies, the weight of accumulating ice was something they would also have to contend with. The men would later encounter additional trouble with the accumulating ice, but that is for later posts in this series.

After removing as much ice as they could from the interior of the tent, the men struck camp at 16:00 and got back in harness. After pulling for another 3 miles, the men decided to pitch camp for the night in the shadow of Castle Rock. At 21:30, Birdie Bowers took a full weather observation:

Position: Camp 1

Miles Made Good: 9.75

Temperature: -15°F (-26.1°C)

Wind Direction: ESE

Wind Speed: Force 5 (17-21 knots)

Wind Chill: -44°F (-42.2°C)

Sky: Clear

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69

That the men managed to pull 757 lbs. almost 10 miles in complete darkness was a feat in itself. The men did not know it yet, but this would be their best sledging effort with respect to mileage until the last day of the journey.

Crozier Party Progress after Day 1