Hillary's Antarctica

This is a recent publication (rare for me to get near a new book, but it was gifted to me) and is far from the first to tell the story of Sir Ed Hillary and his exploits in reaching the South Pole overland (1957/58), somewhat controversially ahead of the team he was supposed to be laying supplies for.

Hillary is quoted as later saying “If an explorer in the field always waited for permission from his committee at home then nothing would get done it it would be done too late. Time spent sitting around at depots was just time wasted. With a grunt I put the message aside.” The message in question was a directive from the Ross Sea Committee that he was not to proceed beyond D700 (the depot 700 miles from Scott Base, 500 miles from the pole).

Of course he did carry on to precede Bunny Fuchs's arrival from the other direction by around 16 days, thereby stealing some of the glory, and straining the relationships of the two teams.

Hillary's journey, in the three Ferguson tractors, is well documented in this book, but unlike other books on the TAE (Trans-Atlantic Crossing), we have only the cursory details of Fuchs journey (which is indeed the TAE, as Hillary ended at the pole, whereas Fuchs carried on to Scott Base - Hillary's starting point). This book is written solely as Hillary's story, but it covers much more than that.

Also covered is the establishment of the New Zealand Antarctic Base - Scott Base. It explains the selection of the site, the design and construction of the buildings, and their eventual (recent) refurbishment. It also explains the dogsled teams, and their input into the depot creation, but also their own tasks, which they carried out while Hillary carried on to the pole. These tasks were primarily surveying, and made a massive contribution to the known geography of Antarctica at the time. And it also talks a lot about the rest of the team. It discusses not just those on the tractors, and the dogsled teams, but also those who wintered over during the establishment of the base, and their contributions.

Finally, there are of course the photos. Jane Ussher is a well known New Zealand photographer, who has gained access to the many relics of the base and expedition held by the Canterbury Museum, and the personal items kept by the relatives of those men on the expedition; and of course of the base itself. There are historic photographs used, but the majority are Ussher's photos - and they are very good. It is great to get a feel for the details of the base, to accompany the explanations.

Overall, a very readable book, which is also easy to flick through without going in-depth.

4 stars.