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Save the Huts
Antarctica’s frozen wilderness has attracted explorers for generations. The race to be the first to the South Pole produced amazing tales of adventure and endurance.
Almost a century on, the huts used by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and the Norwegian Captain Borchgrevink still stand. But harsh polar weather has taken its toll and not surprisingly the huts and their contents left behind by departing explorers now urgently need an extensive programme of conservation.
The UK and NZ Antarctic Heritage Trusts are committed to preserving the historic huts constructed in the early part of the 20th century by Scott, Shackleton and Borchgrevink and it is one of the aims of ENDURANCE KAYAK to raise money towards the restoration of Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds, which is positioned within the New Zealand Territory on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Shackleton’s hut, Cape Royds
Listed in 2004 and relisted in 2006 on World Monuments Watch List as one of the hundred most endangered sites in the world, the hut contains a wide variety of Edwardian equipment and supplies left by Shackleton when he returned to the UK from his British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition (1907 – 09).
Nimrod and
near success on the Polar Plateau
Shackleton’s first expedition to Antarctica was as part of Scott’s team on the Discovery Expedition of 1901 - 03. While Shackleton and Scott were to become two of the most famous names associated with Antarctic exploration, this first trip to the region got them within 850 km of the South Pole after 93 exhausting days of manhauling sledges. It was a great achievement, but Shackleton suffered from serious scurvy and was sent back to Britain by Scott to recuperate. Shackleton vowed to return as he lived by his family motto ‘Fortitudine Vincimus’ – by endurance we conquer – and in 1907 raised the money to launch his own expedition. His primary goal – the South Pole before Scott.
Nimrod
On New Year’s Day 1908 Shackleton and his team left New Zealand in the Nimrod, a 40-year old converted Norwegian sealer (a boat used for hunting seals). The ship was dangerously overloaded and was towed south until the first icebergs were spotted to conserve fuel.
Thick sea ice prevented Shackleton from using his intended landing site and he was forced to head for McMurdo Sound and a site some 32 kilometers north named Cape Royds.
Shackleton and his men immediately set to work constructing their base in a sheltered area below a ridge of volcanic rock near the Adelie penguin rookery at Pony Lake. The basic construction of the hut, which had been prefabricated in London, was completed in just 10 days, although insulating it from the cold went on for another 3 weeks.
“It was made of stout fir timbering of the best quality in walls. Roofs and floors and the parts were all morticed and tenoned to facilitate erection in Antarctica. The walls were strengthened with iron cleats bolted to the main posts and horizontal timbering, and the rood principals were provided with strong iron tie rods.” Extract from the Heart of the Antarctic’ by Ernest Shackleton.
Various other structures were also built around the hut site using packing cases and canvas. These were used for stores, stables and a garage for the expedition’s Arrol-Johnston – the first motorcar to be used in Antarctica.
With the exception of Shackleton who had his own small canvas lined room (which also served as the library), the men lived in cubicles divided by canvas with names like ‘The Rogues Retreat’, ‘The Pawn Shop’ and ‘No. 1 Park Lane’.
Mount Erebus
Over the first summer season Shackleton’s men made the first ascent of Mt Erebus (3794m), the volcanic peak that dominates the Ross Island skyline after a rugged 5-day climb. They also tested their motorcar, finding it useful for transporting loads across the sea ice but not in snow.
The men then settled in for the long winter and when spring arrived the quest for the Pole began using pony teams to drag supplies. When the ponies died the men resorted to man-hauling their 1000 pound sledges up a new route up the Beardmore Glacier, named after the expeditions’ patron. The glacier was full of dangerous crevasses and ridges and nobody had any proper mountaineering equipment.
After nearly two and a half months of slipping and slithering their way through the snow and ice they had reached a point just 156 kilometers from the South Pole. Although the team could probably have made it to the Pole, with dwindling supplies and bad weather Shackleton knew they might not make it back and made the monumental decision to turn back with their goal almost in sight.
“We have shot our bolt, and the tale is latitude 88°23’ South… Homeward bound at last. Whatever regrets may be, we have done our best.”
Entry in Shackleton’s diary, 9 January 1909.
The decision has subsequently been called the finest decision made in the history of Antarctic exploration but it was the sort of judgment that typified the man known as ’the Boss’.
Shackleton and his team had beaten Scott’s furthest south point by 598 km and more importantly shown the way to the Pole for any explorer brave enough to follow them. The Nimrod collected the men in March 1909, the hut was locked up and Shackleton returned home a national hero and was knighted.
Endurance Kayak team
Today the hut stands in its magnificent setting on Cape Royds, a unique legacy of the heroic era of Antarctic exploration. Given its location, very few visitors will ever see the restored Nimrod hut but it is a project ENDURANCE KAYAK is proud to support in the hope that this incredible place is protected for future generations.
For more details of the conservation of historic huts in Antarctica or to make a donation visit: www.ukaht.org
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