Trio left on Ice, 26 others end ‘successful’ trek

Press, 16 January 1986, Page 1

Trio left on Ice, 26 others end ‘successful’ trek

By

KAY FORRESTER

and DAVID WILSON

Three members of the British Footsteps of Scott expedition face another long, lonely winter in the Antarctic after being left behind yesterday when the main group was flown out.

Leaders of the expedition said they did not yet know how or when the trio would be taken off the Ice.

But, they said, the two Englishmen and one Canadian would definitely not fly out with the Americans when the McMurdo Base summer programme ended next month.

For one of the trio, a polar walker, Mr Gareth Wood, it will be his third consecutive winter on the Ice.

He and two members of the support team, Messrs Steven Broni and Tim Love-

joy, remained at Hayward Base with the expedition’s single-engine Cessna aircraft and several tonnes of equipment, while the other 26 in the group were flown from McMurdo Base to Christchurch in a United States Air Force Hercules.

Among those flown out were the two other polar trekkers, the expedition leader, Mr Robert Swan, and Mr Roger Mear. At a press conference after their arrival in Christchurch, Mr Swan said: “The three we have left behind are prepared to winter over

again to ensure we complete the final stage of the expedition, which is to ensure we do not leave any mess behind us.

“We intend to send a ship for them and the equipment, but at this stage no definite plans have been made,” he said.

“They don’t know how they’re getting out. They trust us and our aim is obviously not to leave them there.”

In spite of losing their support ship, four members of the expedition yesterday judged it a great success.

Messrs Swan and Mear, Captain Graeme Phippen, the master of the sunken Southern Quest; and the polar pilot, Mr Giles Kershaw, all said they were proud to have played a part in the Antarctic crossing. Mr Swan probably best summed up the feelings of all the expedition members when he held aloft the medal of Edgar Evans, a member of Captain Scott’s 1911 expedition. For all of the trek Mr Swan carried that medal as a good omen.