I may write more about navigation that far south another time Mike, yes we used Silva compasses pre set with the correct magnetic deviation which if I remember correctly was 12 deg for that latitude.
During my year at a previous base which was located on a featureless iceshelf we never went out without a compass in your pocket.
Hand drawn maps were suprisingly useful as they'd be accompanied with noted geographical features, little use in very poor visibility of course but as on other trips I did in Antarctica, if the visibility deteriorated then we'd pitch a tent and stay put although pitching on sea ice is a last resort so we'd find some land for a lay up.
Great read. I remember in Greenland the deviation was about 30 degrees which seemed plain wrong when adjusting from grid!
Taking a break and looks like we were eating high calorie 'sledging biscuits'.
Tim, thank you for sharing an insight in what was a very adventurous life part of your life. I wonder if the sledgehammer that broke was due to the cold temperatures? I know that many Scandinavians warm an axe before use,at temperatures not as low as you experienced.
In today’s world of risk assessments and all things health and safety it is refreshing to read about decisions that have to be made ,not to ‘tick’ a box, but because you cannot afford to get it wrong.
Fantastic pictures Tim even better in black and white adds to the atmosphere Its like a scene from the THING
Yes, but like they say...it's good fun until it isn't.
I'll not go into here but during my time there I lost 3 friends, 2 of them in a crevasse accident, a few months after I left 3 lads were travelling on sea ice never to be seen again.
When I can bring myself to see any video or photos of what's going on down there now, I see people working in Hi Vi and hard fucking hats!! I think travel is much restricted these days which of course is a shame but on the other hand there have been hardly any fatalities.
Ha ha. Only occasionally did I get 'spooked' but when you do it's hard to to shake off.
In lonely places there's often an overwhelming feeling you are not in fact alone.......
Glad you liked the black and white photos, here's a couple more I found yesterday at my Dad's that I'd completely forgotten about, this time making camp on 3 week long trips with two 9 dog teams.
Now I could be the richest guy on the planet but still wouldn't be able to experience this in Antarctica these days as all dogs have been long gone