French Antarctic trek

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33092, 6 December 1972, Page 1

French Antarctic trek

The 10 Frenchmen who are now on the last stage of their 1000mile, two-year traverse of Wilkes Land to the Russian Vostok Station had completed 193 miles of the journey on Saturday. Led by Marcel Renard, the party set out on its traverse from Carrefour, a small advance base 25 miles inland from the main Dumont D’Urville Station, on November 11 after being delayed from departing by bad weather for 10 days. Dogged by sastrugi up to sft high and other difficult

surface conditions the traverse party had reached the 124-mile mark by November 19. On November 21 a United States Navy ski-equipped Hercules dropped the first field supply of fuel. A second supply drop is due next week. The party pushed on from the 124-mile mark on November 27 after being held there by bad weather and temperatures of down to minus 43deg C. The traverse was forced to stop again, after proceeding only six miles, to repair a broken track on one of the two vehicles. The Frenchmen reported that the American Hercules which crashed while making a jet-assisted take-off from

the ice-cap on December 4 last year was half buried by snow but was still visible. This summer the scientists intend to study an under-ice dome found last year between Vostok and the point from where they resumed the last stage of the traverse. The traverse is part of the International Antarctic Glaciological Project, planned by France, the United States, the Soviet Union and Australia. Unfavourable ice conditions off the Adelie Land Coast are expected to affect the progress of the French supply ship, Thala Dan, which was tb have left Hobart on Monday. Satellites have revealed a compact, fast icebelt about 62 miles wide.