Born in the International Geophysical Year (IGY)
Last year (2018) I had the great opportunity to visit New Zealand’s Scott Base in Antarctica, courtesy of Gateway Antarctica and Antarctica New Zealand. It is a really nice base and the people there were lovely. Pretty much what we have come to expect of New Zealanders. The base sits on the shore of McMurdo Sound and has been around for 62 years.
The base was started in 1957/58 during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) when 67 countries participated in scientific research in Antarctica and the man who first climbed Everest, Sir Edmund Hilary, was the person who set it up.
As part of the IGY, Vivian Fuchs decided to attempt a crossing of Antarctica. It had never been done before so he formed the Trans-Antarctic Expedition and set out from the Weddell Sea region to attempt the crossing using Snow Cats (tracked vehicles). Sir Edmund Hilary set out from the opposite side of the continent using converted Massey Ferguson tractors, laying depots along the way so that Fuchs could resupply fuel and food as he completed the crossing.
Hilary laid the depots and didn’t see any reason not to continue on so he continued on to the South Pole, becoming the first person to complete an overland journey to the Pole since Amundsen and Scott forty five years earlier. There he met with Fuchs who arrived later. Fuchs then continued on and completed the crossing becoming the first expedition to do so.
Scott Base’s first hut, known as Hut A or the Mess Hut is still there and has been fully restored, It is now known as the Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) Hut and was the start of Scott Base. When you go inside it is like stepping back into the fifties as everything from that era is still there.
The base is now of course much larger but it’s footprint is quite small, especially compared to the sprawling U.S. McMurdo Station three kilometres away. Unlike McMurdo, Scott Base is really a series of interconnected buildings so you never have to go outside to reach another part of the complex.
The base is comfortable, clean, warm and has a cafeteria, gym, library, bar, entertainment room, and labs, as well as having most of its power coming from wind turbines. The base is getting on a bit so it is about to be redeveloped and the new base should be pretty impressive, using the latest in sustainability and environmentally friendly processes .
New Zealand has done a great job with this base and I hope you one day get a chance to visit because the area around the base is steeped in Antarctic History.