FUCHS REACHES POLE

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28490, 21 January 1958, Page 10

FUCHS REACHES POLE

Determined To Press On

[From DENIS WEDERELL, "The Press" Correspondent with the U.S. Antarctic expedition.)

SOUTH POLE, January 20. . Huge orange snocats churning snow beneath their tracks and throwing it to either side, bearded men, their faces dark with grime and sunburn above their whiskers, flags flying from every aerial and mast—the Union Jack, the expedition’s and those of the Royal Air Force, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the City of Bristol—and George Lowe in a panama hat. . . . These were some immediate impressions of Dr. Vivian Fuchs’s party when it was met by Sir Edmund Hillary and RearAdmiral George J. Dufek a mile out from the South Pole station at 12.50 p.m. today. Dr. Fuchs, climbing down from the leading snocat, was rather taken aback by the size of the welcoming party. He grasped Sir Edmund Hillary’s hand and then took Admiral Dufek’s as the admiral congratulated him on his 950-mile trek.

“Well, I’m damned glad to see you, anyway,” the British leader told the New Zealander. Dr. Fuchs will press on. There is no doubt in his mind that he will reach Scott Base—with reasonable luck before the Endeavour departs. “If we don’t reach Scott Base, and have to winter that’s hard luck, that’s all,” he said.

Afer the first greetings, Sir Edmund Hillary and Admiral Dufek climbed aboard Dr. Fuchs’s snocat for a ride to the station.

Mr Palle Mogensen. the scientific leader at the Pole, who helped to blaze the 600-mile tractor train trail into Marie Byrd Land, had one word to describe his impression of the trans-Antarctic train —“tremendous,” but added: “I don’t know now they’re going to get all the way down the other side with their fuel.” The British leader sat down with his 11 men at the Pole station for a late lunch of hamburgers, cheese, creamed corn, spinach and diced potatoes. Celebration Cake To celebrate the occasion, Lewis DeWitt, the United States Navy cook at the Pole station, had baked a huge cake iced with a map of Antarctica showing the route of the trans-Polar trek. The icing was red, white and blue. Dr. Fuchs’s bushy red eyebrows lifted when he saw this. The redbearded scientist-explorer with the iron-grey hair was obviously elated at his reception at the Pole. The party will spend two days at the Pole on regular . vehicle maintenance before pushing on to Depot 700. “I am quite satisfied we can reach 700 with our present vehicles—four snocats and one weasel—provided they stand up,” Dr. Fuchs said. “We have ample fuel and food.”

He will leave two teams of dogs here to be flown out, “thanks to the kind offer of Admiral Dufek,” he said. “They were keeping our daily mileage down, and are badly tired. “With lighter loads, no dog teams and fewer vehicles—four of the slower ones, including weasels, have been junked already —we should make a steady 30 miles a day over the 1250 miles to Scott Base. “I never considered for a moment concluding the present season’s work at the Pole,” he said. “We were delayed in the spring by the weather and since by dogs, crevasses and vehicle trouble, but we have now broken the back of the trek.” / Science and Adventure

Asked whether he placed greater importance on adventure or on science, Dr. Fuchs replied: “We came with the object of being scientists, and that was the reason for the journey; but obviously there is a spirit of adventure. “We would like to know if the people who suggested we pull out here and continue next summer would be willing to pay for such expenses and delay,” he added.

Geoffrey Pratt, the seismologist who has been making shots every 30 miles, said he had already discovered several major submerged mountains. Only 25 miles from the Pole, the land rose to 5000 feet above sea level. One hundred miles from the Pole the land rose to 7000 ft, only 2000 ft below the ice-cap. Indications are that the land is above sea level all the way from Shackleton Base. Dr. Fuchs was prepared to take seismic shots every 40 or 50 miles if necessary over the last stages. The land at the Pole is only 800 ft above sea level, but it is topped by 8000 ft of ice. “Relatively Mild” “The weather since we left South Ice has been relatively mild,” said Mr Hannes La Grange, the South African meteorologist. “It was five degrees there and then zero, and recently it was minus ten to 15 degrees. On two days we had gale force winds. Advantage was taken of the bad weather to work on the vehicles.”

Later, Dr. Fuchs sat down to discuss his future plans with Sir Edmund Hillary. After his talk, he said there was no need for the New Zealanders to risk wintering at Scott Base. “We should be able to make it,” he said.