McMurdo Day 52: Hillary's Hut

A second hut tour: Hillary's Hut at Scott Base. Read along for the history of Sir Edmund Hillary's 1956-58 expedition to the South Pole.

The goal of the 1955-1958 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE) was to accomplish the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. No expeditions had reached the South Pole overland since Amundsen's and Scott's expeditions in 1911 and 1912. An American base was being built at the South Pole in 1956, using planes to transport people and cargo.

Hillary's bright yellow and orange hut (so you could see it even in a blizzard). The modern bright green Scott Base is to the right.

There were two main teams: Vivian Fuchs (a British explorer) would lead the main party 2158 miles across the continent, starting at the Weddell Sea, passing the South Pole, and finishing at Ross Island. Sir Edmund Hillary (a New Zealand explorer) would lead the support team from Ross Island. Hillary's team was not intended to make the entire trek; they would build a New Zealand base on Ross Island and set up food/fuel depots for Fuchs' team along the route towards the South Pole.

The New Zealand party supporting the expedition, with Sir Hillary's giant face in the center.

An old map of Scott Base and McMurdo on Ross Island.

Hillary's team finished building the first Scott Base in 1957. It consisted of Hillary's Hut (which you can now visit), connected to 10 other buildings with interior walkways (which have since been torn down to make room for the modern base). Hillary's Hut housed the kitchen and rec room, a small radio room, and Hillary's bedroom.

The fire alarm system for the original Scott Base.

The communications room in Hillary's hut.

Instructions on how to use the radio. They end with "P.S. Its easier to use the telephone."

The hut was restored in 2016-2017 by the Antarctic Heritage Trust. The Auckland University of Technology created a VR experience of the hut, if you can't go there in person (like I did!).

The giant mixer in the kitchen.

Food from 1957. Should still be edible, right??

Hillary's team tested three large Fergusson tractors at Cape Crozier, and modified them by adding tracks over the wheels so they could move better in the snow. They attached the tractors to sledges, loaded up with supplies, and left the newly-established Scott Base on Ross Island in October 1957.

The emergency exit in the hut is high up on the wall, above the piano, in case snow drifted so high they couldn't open the door.

Along the way, Hillary's team was supported with air dropped supplies from planes flying overhead, but they still had to manage in the sub-freezing temperatures, snow storms, intense winds, and deep crevasses of Antarctica.

Mmmm, "Meat Bar".

"Children consume unbounded energy and should take Glucose"

Hillary had just completed the first (confirmed) ascent to Everest in 1953 (there's some minor controversy if Mallory and Irvine actually reached the summit of Everest first in 1924, but that's a story for another day). So maybe Fuchs should have known better than to just expect Hillary to lay supply depots and turn around before reaching the South Pole.

Bookcase of maps and papers in Hillary's room. There are no pictures of his original bedroom, so the group restoring the hut left it mostly empty.

Hillary had planned the whole time to continue on to the South Pole after laying supplies for Fuchs' team. He saved up fuel and food for his party along the way, even though he was told repeatedly not to attempt it. But Hillary ignored everyone telling him not to, and completed the third overland crossing to the South Pole (after Amundsen and Scott in 1911 and 1912) in early January 1958.

The clock setting the time standard.

Hillary even had the nerve to call Fuchs' team and suggest that Fuchs fly home once they reached the South Pole, because his team was making such slow progress. Fuchs did not take too kindly to Hillary beating him to the South Pole on an unplanned trip, and then suggesting that he give up on the Trans-Antarctic crossing. Fuchs continued on, reaching Scott Base and completing the first overland crossing of the continent in early March 1958, 99 days after starting.

A map showing the path Fuchs' team took across the continent.

A map projection with Antarctica at the center. I like this projection because you can see how close Palmer station (on the peninsula) is to South America, and why we fly through New Zealand to get to Ross Island.