Fascinating Antarctic Story... Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, NZ

Here's a fascinating story that I learned at the Sir Robertson Stewart Hall of Antarctic Discovery Center in the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch...

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton, when planning his Trans-Antarctic expedition stated "The first crossing of the Antarctic continent via the Pole, apart from its historic value, will be a journey of great scientific importance and one of the last great journeys left in the world." (Do you know what happened to Shackleton? I'll let you find that out on your own if you don't know about his famous journeys.)

45 years after Shackleton's statement, in the summer of 1957-58, the British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition set off to try.

Sno-Cat "Able" was one of the 4 vehicles the British used crossing the Polar Plateau from the Weddel Sea via the South Pole to McMurdo Sound. A party of 12 men left Shackleton Base on Nov. 14, 1957.

However, the British needed the help of the New Zealanders. They knew they would need fuel and food supplies after crossing the Pole in order to reach the other side. So, on Oct. 14, 1957, Sir Edmund Hillary (yup, the Kiwi who was the first to conquer Mt. Everest) and his team of 5 left Scott Base as the support team. (The Southern Tractor Party!). With 3 Ferguson tractors (which they had tried out on the flanks of Mt. Cook in NZ) and a tracked vehicle towing over 10 tons of cargo, they laid depots over a route from the Ross Island towards the South Pole. They reached the Pole before the British got there (due to the Sno-Cats inability to manage the ice and snow). Although the Brits were none too happy about this, the Brits did go on to be the FIRST to cross the pole the whole way. It took them 99 days to cross the 2,158 miles and finally realize Shackleton's dream.

One of the tractors was used at the Pole until 1960 when it was flown to McMurdo Station for use by the US Navy Squadron stationed there.

The Polaris Sno-Traveler "snomobile" in the pic was designed by the Hettan Hoist and Derrick Co. (later Polaris Corp. ) of Minnesota. It was the earliest motorized snow toboggan used by the USA Antarctic Research Program.