| Antarctic Expedition, ANTARCTIC adventure, Antarctic |
Sample Passage from South Pole: 900 Miles on Foot
Pages 185 to 187
... On the morning of June 4 we entered McMurdo after erecting our tent just out of sight at Hut Point. While I searched out the winter officer in charge, Lieutenant Commander Rachko, Steve and Tim walked over to Scott Base to begin booking our radio calls. Rachko appeared quite happy to meet me but was careful to offer no assistance beyond asking how we were and if I would like to consult Dr. Dalton about my leg. Dalton removed several pieces of dead flesh from my wound before dressing it again, but there was little more required.
Peering outside on the morning of June 6, 1 knew that we were going nowhere. Driving snow had reduced visibility to zero. I slept until 3:00 p.m. when I got up to read. Air currents within the tent, however, made lighting the lantern impossible; the lamp glass had been shattered the day before. I finally managed to light it in the protection of the stove box. By this time the walls were bellying heavily under fierce gusts. After reading awhile I extinguished the lamp and drifted restlessly back to sleep.
At 11:00 p.m. I was jolted awake by something covering my face. I panicked momentarily, my arms windmilling to ward off whatever was trying to suffocate me. Sitting up quickly, I realized what had happened - the tent wall had collapsed. Either the guy had given out or the windward tent poles had inverted under the tremendous pressure of the wind. I suspected the latter - the same thing had happened in the wind tunnel in London when we were testing the tent.
"Get dressed now. Put everything on," I yelled to the others above the banshee screech of the wind. "Steve, you first. Tim, put your back against this wall while Steve gets ready."
Taking turns supporting the collapsed wall we rapidly dressed in our Gore-Tex windproof salopettes and down jackets. I crawled out to assess the situation. As I rose, the full force of the blast struck me, forcing me down onto all fours. The ice stung my eyes, blinding me. With my headtorch on, visibility was no more than a foot or two. Groping my way around the outside of the tent, I found that one of the stakes had pulled out, slackening a guy. The poles on the windward side had then inverted, bringing down the wall. The nearness of McMurdo had made me sloppy. The best site available for the tent on the rocky point was a wind-scoured scoop. It was impossible to dig the tent in and the pegs would only penetrate six to eight inches before hitting gravel. I should have built a wall of rock and ice around the windward side for protection.
I thought of tying a rope from the sledge to the collapsed wall, but after trying unsuccessfully to get the rope from the sledge, I abandoned the idea. The others were shouting at me unintelligibly, their words whipped away by the wind.
"We'll collapse the tent, weigh it down and make for the Discovery hut," I yelled directly into Steve's ear. The hut could not have been more than 50 yards away.
We had just started to loosen the still-secure guys on the windward side when the tent was torn from our grip. I grabbed the nearest corner and was dragged over the sledge before being forced to release it; the tent tumbled off into the dark and windswept night.
"Hold hands and don't let go. We're going for Discovery hut. Follow me," I screamed at the others.
I led them into a partly protected gully about 20 yards wide, but once we crested the ridge the gale forced us to our knees. The wind drove steel-hard ice crystals into our eyes until we were forced to shut them tight. My hood, ripped back by the blast, exposed my head to the cold and the accumulating snow froze into my hair and over my eyes. Every few feet I was forced to stop and clear the ice from my eyes. If we missed the hut, we were in trouble. I knew that the Discovery hut was surrounded by a chain and post enclosure and once we were inside that we would be safe...
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Sample Passages:
· The Beardmore
· Leopard Seal Attack
· Hut Point
· Epilogue
Independent Book Reviews:
· Sir Ranulph Fiennes
· Lincoln Hall
· Gregory Strong
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