Editorials applaud adventurers

Press, 15 January 1986, Page 4

Editorials applaud adventurers

PA Auckland Editorial opinion in both daily newspapers in Auckland have applauded the three adventurers, Messrs Swan, Mear and Wood, on their trek to the South Pole. The “Auckland Star” offered its congratulations and also anticipated their critics would ask: “So what? You probably added nothing to the sum of scientific knowledge and spent a lot of money doing so.”

The “Star” said: “That’s not the point. The hackneyed phrase about climbing the mountain because it is there still has a certain validity.” It also noted: “Over recent decades the Antarctic has become the domain of Governments and scientific organisations... and there is a tendency for the guard-

ians to view the Antarctic as a private habitat. “Unfortunately, the generosity of spirit which once surrounded ventures by individuals into dangerous places has largely evaporated. Balance sheets, timetables and logistics now hold sway. Your effort pointed up one of mankind’s more appealing conditions — his joy and enterprise in undertaking risky adventures for no material gain. May it never be lost.” The “New Zealand Herald” supported the English adventurers, saying “the criticism being levelled... by New Zealand and American officials on the ice smacks of elitism.” “Worse still, such criticism, levelled also at the present Greenpeace expedition, suggests the official

custodians of the continent view it as a very private club,” the paper said. “The courageous feat deserves plaudits.” The “Herald” also said the Antarctic Treaty partners were particularly sensitive to the issue of the possibility of mineral exploitation. The official non-blessing, as Sir Ranulph Fiennes had described the accusations that he had been irresponsible and ill-prepared, might have as much to do with the club’s desire for exclusivity as with safety, the “Herald” said. "The United States confirms that it discourages private visits to the Ice. As Antarctica is now administered there seems doubtful justification for that. The continent belongs to every-

one.” Both editorials noted and approved of the thoroughness of the planning and preparations and the experience of participants. The success of the expedition is a reminder that the spirit of adventure is not dead, the “Evening Post” said in an editorial yesterday. However, it said that without the Americans having been on hand to rescue the crew of the Southern Quest, the odds are that the expedition would have ended in the same tragedy as did Scott’s ill-fated journey. “To walk and ski for a year, eating the same menu* of dried and instant food in a quest to reach the P01e... is an exercise in personal courage and endur-

ance. It has’a style about it that compels admiration.” At the same time, the team knew the Americans were nearby. “Unlike the tragic Scott team, Footsteps knew they could count on a larger force that, at whatever personal risk, would put their manpower and technology into any rescue attempt that was needed. “That rescue was needed, and it is a reminder that while there are degrees of courage pure heroism depends on taking absolute responsibility for oneself. “Challenges that depend for success on others being willing to risk their lives in rescue attempts do not quite come into that category. “Greenpeace, too, has set off on an icy jaunt in an illequipped ship. The ecology group wants to make the point that the Antarctic should be a world park and not be exploited by commercial forces.

“Expeditions whose members know from the start that they are not properly equipped for the worst weather can do, diminish their cause by depending on the courage and resource of others to get them out of difficulties which were predictable from the start.”

The “Bay of Plenty Times” said the time was approaching when “private enterprise” expeditions to the Antarctic should be sanctioned by signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, but only after they were satisfied that such expeditions were fully self-supporting, even in the event of an emergency. Unless such action was taken a tragedy in the area was almost inevitable.

Noting the loss of the Southern Quest, the paper said the Antarctic was “no place for enthusiastic amateurs.”