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The Winter Journey: Part X

Dante Was Right

So thought Apsley Cherry-Garrard on the 6th of July, 1911 as the temperature in the Windless Bight dropped below -70°F (-56.7°C). As he wrote in The Worst Journey in the World:

The temperature that night was -75.8°F (-59.9°C), and I will not pretend that it did not convince me that Dante was right when he placed the circles of ice below the circles of fire.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 241

After their ninth frigid night on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, the men of the Crozier party were greeted by a cold even they could not fathom. Birdie Bowers took the following observation at 09:30

Position: Camp 8

Time: 09:30

Temperature: -69.4°F (-56.3°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

Weather: Patchy, low-lying fog

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

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

The cold only intensified as the day went on. By noon, the temperature had fallen to -76.8°F (-60.4°C). Although their frostbites and equipment spoke to the severity of the cold, the men were a bit incredulous when taking the readings after swinging the thermometer. Bowers noted in the meteorological log that Dr. Wilson had double-checked his readings for the day and confirmed the observation. After three hours of relay work, the men only had a half mile of progress to show for their efforts. Bowers took another temperature reading at 17:51 and noted that the temperature had fallen to -77.5°F (-60.8°C). After another three hours of sledging, the men were able to tack on another mile of progress. Upon camping for the night, the men took their last observation of the day:

Position: Camp 9

Time: 21:00

Miles Made Good: 1.5

Temperature: -68°F (-55.6°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Clear

Weather: Patchy low-lying mist to W and NNW

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
Crozier party progress after 10 days

I cannot imagine the conditions these men faced on this day, and cannot feel nothing but inspired by their fortitude. They have been in temperatures below -50°F (-45.6°C) for eight days, their clothing is as hard as iron from all of the ice, any patch of exposed skin they may have will freeze within seconds, and their running on little sleep while dragging enormously heavy sledges across an impossible surface. How they managed, I do not know.

Reading the journals and stories of the men, I can’t help but be struck by the contrast in style. Dr. Wilson’s journal is very matter of fact, which is something I appreciate as a man of scientific bent. However, I thoroughly enjoy Cherry-Garrard’s The Worst Journey in the World, so much that it has become my favorite book. In addition to the exposition he provides, I can’t help but be fascinated with the human touch he brings to the expedition. His work certainly inspired the more romantic notions I developed about the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration and the Antarctic experience in general. I’ll end tonight’s post with his words about his experience and the two other men in the Crozier party:

More than once in my short life I have been struck by the value of the man who is blind to what appears to be a common-sense certainty; he achieves the impossible…We were quite intelligent people, and we must all have known that we were not going to see the penguins and that it was folly to go forward. And yet, with quiet perseverance, in perfect friendship, almost with gentleness those two men led on.

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 241

If that is not #squadgoals material, then I don’t know what is! Will the men ever reach the penguins at Cape Crozier, or are the perils of the polar night too much? Find out more tomorrow!

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 VII

A Beastly Cold Business

At this point in the journey the men of the Crozier party have been out from Cape Evans for six days, half of which have been at -50°F (-45.6°C) or colder. The last few days have been particularly trying, with temperatures dipping below -60°F (-51.1°C) in the overnight periods and the days filled with exhausting relay work that nets little in the way of forward progress. Not much had changed when the men emerged from their tent on the morning of July 3rd, 1911:

Position: Camp 6

Time: 11:00

Temperature: -51.5°F (-46.4°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Few clouds (cirrostratus)

Overnight Minimum Temperature: -64°F (-53.3°C)

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

By this point, the specter of doubt was foremost in the minds of the men. The cold was intense and unrelenting, and simple tasks like lighting matches and getting into and out of sleeping bags required the utmost patience and effort. Cherry-Garrard felt that the party didn’t have the “ghost of a chance” of reaching the rookery at Cape Crozier (The Worst Journey in the World, pg. 237).

The men were able to navigate by what little light was present on the horizon early in the day, and by moonlight into the late afternoon. The surface over the Windless Bight was very heavy again, and the men were only able to advance about 2.5 miles through grueling effort. At the end of the day’s march, Bowers observed the following conditions:

Position: Camp 7

Time: 22:00

Miles Made Good: 2.5

Temperature: -57.7°F (-49.8°C)

Wind Direction/Force: Calm

Sky Condition: Partly Cloudy w/ cirrostratus

British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913, Meteorology, Vol. III Table 69
The Crozier party’s progress after 7 days

As far as today’s conditions in the Windless Bight, it is far, far warmer than it was this time 109 years ago. The most recent observation from the Windless Bight automatic weather station indicates the temperature is -7.6°F (-22°C). The conditions over the greater Ross Ice Shelf region have been fairly turbulent over the last few days, with high winds contributing to mixing of the boundary layer. However, satellite imagery shows skies are starting to clear and model data is predicting mostly clear skies and lighter winds, which will allow things to start cooling off again.

Day/Night Band (DNB) Image from the VIIRS instrument onboard the Suomi NPP satellite (via NASA Worldview). The greater Ross Island region is featured here.

Will anything break the cold snap the Crozier party is facing? Or will the deep freeze continue?