Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

get some rock specimens from the south side of the ridge, but found it very icy and
tricky, so he came back empty-handed. And so we trudged across the frozen sea to
base after an enjoyable day.
4 August was a fine day and we decided to visit Reid Island, North-east across
the strait. We left base after doing the usual jobs, each of us on skis and carrying a
load: I took the theodolite, Derek the tripod and a rucksack, Ralph a rucksack and the
plane-table. We went skied across the sea-ice in a haze of tiny falling ice crystals,
which glittered and scintillated in many coloured points. Derek took a photograph
with my head silhouetted against the sun, so as to shut out the glare and gave me an
undeserved halo. Only the tops of the Coronation Island peaks were visible, but we
hoped it would clear; there was a fine double halo and mock-suns. Ralph dropped
some way behind and we had frequent halts to allow him to catch up. I was going
well and the heavy theodolite was no trouble, for I preferred it to the other loads,
although the others didn't. It took us about 2 hours to get to Reid Island. Signy was
lost in the haze - a peculiar formation - and a wind of force 4 (c.15 knots) blew up and
sent rivers of snow along the surface. The air temperature was -27.5°C and the wind
made it worse, but it actually felt quite warm due to our exertions. There were no
birds.
From Bare Rock to Reid Island the surface was a very broken in the consolidated
pack ice, but the going was good, especially in parts where there was no crust. When
we reached Reid Island I made a quick sketch: snow slopes and the peaks from
Mount Nivea (our new name for ‘Snow Mountain’) to Rime Peak Col, between Nivea
and the plateau. The route up Nivea looked feasible, though the crags to the east
were bad and there was a torturous icefall to the west. The northwest ridge of Nivea
looked impossible - heavily iced with bosses or towers, but it was later climbed, in
l956.
We decided to do the surveying while we were still warm from our exertions on
the journey, so we carried the gear up to the top of Reid Island, which is the same
height as Berntsen Point. Derek took angles with the theodolite, and I set up the
plane-table and got to work. Surveying at -28°C is an agonizing business and the
force 4 wind made it worse. It was necessary to remove gloves, sight and draw in the
line and make a note, by which time one's hands were numb, followed by a wait of 5-
10 minutes necessary to warm them up before continuing. As a result, in the 1 1 2
hours on the summit no more than about 15 sights were possible, but all were
valuable. An island charted by Discovery Investigations north of Reid Island was
seen not to exist. I got the upper end of Windscoop Buttress and the humps on the
ridge of Mount Nivea, Alasdair, the col, and plotted in the shape of the peninsula
north of Reid Island.
We came down and had a cup of coffee and Derek collected a few rocks. We had
arrived at 2 o’clock and set off again at 4.10 pm. Then Derek's binding snapped and
so I asked Ralph to go on ahead and waited until Derek patched it up. We set off
again, myself bringing up the rear, and soon caught up with Ralph. When the sun
went down we could actually see much more, because the visibility improved. We
experienced wonderful views of the Sandefjord Twins and the Cragsman Peaks (our
Cuillins), with a brilliant sunset sky silhouetting them. Derek and Ralph were tired
and I was now in front picking out the way, with frequent halts for them to catch up.
At the end of the broken area I pressed on to base which I reached about 6 o’clock. (I
198