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

dawn. We were tired that morning, the gale continued, and the falling snow cut the
visibility down to 200 yards. We had a leisurely breakfast and talked about various
topics, while drying our socks and clothes over the primus stove.
At 1 o’clock the weather abated and we chose to go over to the crags of Wave
Peak to collect rocks. We went on ski, and roped up in case there were crevasses
underfoot, but came without incident to the foot of the steep snow slope leading up
to the crags. We collected our specimens - quartz schist with thin veins of secondary
quartz in microfolds - and went down again. We then had a very unpleasant
surprise: when we came to open a 7 lb tin of corned beef, we found it was black and
uneatable; a second tin was all right, the rations were ample and we could not finish
our helpings. However, we were annoyed that we had had to pull excess weight up
to the col. How good it would be to have proper sledging rations, but as Signy was
not supposed to be a sledging base I suppose we couldn't complain. We had a good
view south into Stygian Cove, Signy Island and saw that a large lead had formed
around the island from north-northeast to south-southwest. The usual lead at Cape
Vik was still open and large, but otherwise the sea ice appeared to be quite firm.
Next day also began with very low visibility and drift snow and wind. We
breakfasted at 8 o’clock and then began packing just before the weather cleared.
Derek did most of the packing and I resected our position on the plane-table and got
rays to a number of landmarks. We also built a cairn and left a visiting card. I did a
sketch of the Cragsman (Cuillins) Peaks from ‘Bruach na Frithe’ around to ‘Sgurr
Alasdair’ (our unofficial names) and the scarp - on two pages of my sketch book.
When the mists and low cloud lifted we had dramatic clear views all around us. We
set off pulling the sledge at noon and reached the erratics below Thrust Plane
Buttress in an hour. I took photos while Derek examined, but did not collect, rocks -
epidote schist and a reddish schist. I sketched what we called the ‘abominable snow
men’ - two rock outcrops on the ridge to the east. Then we went on again, reaching
Wave Peak Buttress just before 2 o’clock.; we climbed a 45° slope (which seemed very
steep to us). Derek went on up to collect rocks - quartz-rich gneiss with a good deal
of contortion and mica inclusions - while I did a sketch of Wave Peak Buttress.
On again then, pulling on foot over an undulating rotten surface and avoiding
the obviously crevassed areas. We had superb views of Wave Peak from this
unfamiliar angle and saw and heard numerous avalanches from the ice cliffs above
on Wave Peak and the scarp. We kept high up, insofar as it was possible, in order to
avoid losing height. The last pull up to the col between the Cragsmen Peaks and the
main ridge was the worst, but with one pushing and the other pulling we made it
and pitched camp just about 80 ft below the crest of the col on a small flat area. Derek
put his foot into a crevasse near here, fortunately only a foot across. But there were
strong winds and snow flurries, and in these conditions it took us 45 min to pitch our
small tent and ensconce ourselves within. We were inside just after 5 o’clock when it
was already dark.
Both my feet were badly frostbitten, due to my totally unsuitable leather boots.
(They were undersized Army ‘snow boots’ with hob- and clinker-nails that
conducted the cold through the soles to my feet and, because my feet were cramped,
circulation was restricted). My boots had been frozen stiff all day and were more or
less immovable at first, until they thawed out a little in the tent. Because of the storm
I had not been able to remove them outside, when I first felt the problem beginning,
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