Trip Reports

South Georgia Traverse - 24 Feb to 20 Mar '11

South Georgia Traverse
Trip Report

Written by Leader, May 2011

Team members: Mungo Ross (leader), Ian Johnston, Paul Toomey, Mike Price, Roger Smith and George Szwender

As part of Aurora Expedition’s “Shackleton’s Odyssey Expedition – March 2011" we had the chance to attempt a crossing of South Georgia ‘In the footsteps of Shackleton, Worsley and Crean.’

This is a truly iconic journey, not for the feint-hearted, which involved carrying large sacks over remote glacial terrain for long days, and was physically and mentally more challenging than any of us expected.

Day 1
Monday March 7

A day of getting ready, a day of waiting. The question on Monday March 7, will we be at the Head of King Haakon Bay in time to start our crossing? The answer is if it is daylight we are heading out, if only for a couple hours before dark. The ship must move on. So must we.

All is ready. There is feverish activity to load our gear in a separate zodiac and then we are off. Off for an expedition which for many, started up to a year or two year before, and probably most of us started back in the imagination, at one time only dreaming of being able to follow in the footsteps of this historic trek.

Just before 5pm, formality done, goodbyes are said to passengers ashore. The eleven of us head up to the glacial moraine. Some 95 years ago three slightly underdressed men set out a 3am from this very spot – Peggotty Bluff - on a desperate mission, life and death for a crew marooned on Elephant Island.

After a kilometre on the rocky moraine, we reach the foot of the glacier. We all put on crampons and head for our first destination of the day, Shackleton Gap. Our goal is to camp there. We proceed up a fairly straightforward route. The going is good. It is good to get going after 9 days at sea with several training exercises along the way. Nearing the rise a look back shows a setting sun, the Polar Pioneer down in the bay and a magnificent view of South Georgia.

Looking good I say to myself. At this rate this will be a fun walk and if the weather holds we will be in for a treat. Wow….there is never going be an easy South Georgia Crossing. But in the excitement of starting out and finally being on the move we are lulled into a false sense of levity for our task.

Around 7pm as the sun’s last rays glisten on the peaks we reach our goal while Tarn and Mungo find a suitable camp beside a rock face. We are sheltered, we are good. As we start to pitch our tents the wind is picking up. We get tents up and then heat up dinner, pasta and lunch sauce. After a bit of food everyone is quiet and gets bed ready. In hindsight it almost felt like we knew that tomorrow was not going to be nice 8 hours romp to the nunatuk. Our senses some how conveyed the message, rest, for tomorrow you will have your day full plus more….my tent mates David and Roger, flank me and as Roger’s gentle snore lull me I drop off to sleep

Day 2
Tuesday March 7

Flap,flap,flap,flap..........our band of alpinists woke on our glacial camp at 4:30am to the sound of the wind rushing past our tent flies. In the dimly lit mist we emerged from our tents and begin to stow our gear and have breakfast. The goal for the day was to push as far as we could across the classic South Georgia Shackleton Traverse, at worst our goal was the mighty Nunatuk on the far side of the Crean Glacier, at best we would complete the whole route and be in Fortuna Bay for dinner. Breakfast for some was warm water and museli – who’s idea was that? Others munched down breakfast and snickers bars. Sleeping bags and mats, tents, poles and cooking gear were packed away; harnesses, ropes, ice axes, ski poles and water bottles were made ready. Everyone industriously got ready to move; not much chatting, it was going to be a big day – much bigger than we expected as it turned out.

6:00am, we’re moving, a long string of eleven travelling in three rope teams walked single file up the glacier. First objective for the day was the Tridents. Tarn and Mungo, our guides, threaded a course through the snow covered crevasses up to the Murray Snowfield. From there we turned East and made for the Tridents. Conditions were great, the weather clear and everyone was in high spirits as we took a quick break to shorten the distance between team members by taking in some rope coils.

By 9:30am we had reached the Tridents and peered over the side as we looked towards the now visible Nunatuk, some 8.5 kms away. Obviously in Shackleton’s day there had been more snow. We were met with a view down a broken and crevassed ice fall that would require a circuitous route to allow us to reach the Crean Glacier far below. We dropped our packs, took photos, snacked and rearranged our clothes as Tarn went on ahead to find us a route.

10:00am and we’re threading a line through the crevasses down the Tridents. Our long roped up line traversed the gully and zig-zagged down, at one stage requiring a fixed rope to be set up so the group could descend on steep ground with the aid of a prusik. A switch back in direction to the centre of the gully........”Crack”....”Sh!t”.....a block of ice about the size of a small car tire lets go from the ice fall, bouncing over the rope directly in between Mike and Ian; that was close......time to move a little faster and get out onto the Glacier.

Is it climate change, La Nina, the Atlantic Conveyor or just a bad year? Every problem solved leads to a new one and for every two steps forward we take one back. We’d had a break for lunch at 12:00pm on the lowest point on the Glacier, right at the merging of two ice flows. Amongst the sound of rushing water we had eaten salami and sandwiches packed the day before. We drank the pristine glacier melt water; it was like an endless supply of Dom Perignon. Following lunch we’d continued our course towards the Nunatuk. With each step the ground became more chopped up, all the snow cover had melted exposing crevasses and a turbulent glacial ice surface. Step up on an ice platform, look for the next crossing point, walk, step down and across, step up again, and repeat. Backwards and forwards, up and down, we ate into our time margin, energy and sanity. The labyrinth seemed eternal. Crampons, axes, knees and thighs were used to propel our bodies across the open voids, all the time with packs biting into shoulders.....nightmare.

The group fragmented a little as we all looked for a way through. Everyone drawing on experience and lessons from past trips, for most this was the most relentless glacier travel we had encountered. Finally the helicopter crash site was reached at 4pm by the first half of the group, we’d made it, 6kms in 6 hours; 6 hours of brutal glacier travel that had tested our knees and nerves. We were through now, surely it would fall into place from here. A little time for to look at the Falklands War Wessex helicopter crash site, still very much intact, and wait for the group to reform.

We needed to push on and get as far as we could; everyone agreed. We roped up again and made for the Nunatuk. Pulling alongside it at 6:00pm and cresting the shoulder at 6:30pm. The light was fading, we’d been treated to a great display of Alpenglow, turning the glacier pink as the sun faded. We pushed on until 7:30pm, 13 ½ hours on the go, until we made camp on an ice platform between two glaciers. The wind came up as we pitched our tents and secured them to the hard ice any way we could. Ice screws held as many as eight guys from two tents (no problem – I’d swing a car off one of them if the need arose). Water was put on the stove as sleeping bags were thrown into tents and tired bodies climbed in. Those outside still were rewarded with the clearest view of the night sky, intense stars with satellites crossing in front of them. The Polar Pioneer came into view as it moved along the coast to Fortuna Bay to anchor for the night. We could hear the laughter from the bar - or was it a dream?

Bed; a beating on the tent fly signalled Mungo’s merciful dinner service, dehydrated meals were handed out and helped to restore beaten and tired bodies. We ate as much as we could, even though the meals were a little crunchy and could have used a little longer to site – the great trade off do you eat it hot and crunchy or wait for it to hydrate properly but be stone cold. My head goes down onto my stuff sack “pillow”, the lads next door are already snoring, the tent fly flaps with the wind... Flap, flap, flap, flap.........

Day 3
Wednesday March 9

Tarn is up. It is 4:20am and the signal is given, pass it down the line, time to get up and break camp!!

Wow, I am sore. Yesterday we did 13.5 hours, from 6am to 7:30pm we were on the move. What a day! I can feel it in my feet, my back and my legs. I knew yesterday was a tough day, in the evening Tarn and Tim went past us to seek camp, I asked younger Tim, how he was, his answer was “I’m totally beat”. I did not feel better, I realized this crossing was knocking the stuffing out of many of us.

The wind was howling last evening, but after the day we had, some relaxants in the tent, I slept deep and well. Problem now is getting out of the bag and getting sorted, the tents are tight for three people so we will have to dress in shifts. Everything’s a bit cold and clammy, so dressing is performed quickly. Muesli and hot water do not appeal, so I settle on a cup of soup and handful of nuts. We pack tents, clear camp and we are ready to head out. We rope up immediately and after a team discussion, Tarn indicates the Polar Pioneers is in Fortuna Bay only 6.2 kilometres away. If we follow the plan and schedule we should be there by 10am! Ah..the dreamer.

The going is fairly easy, for about 200 meters. We soon reach a zone where the crevasses are perpendicular to our path of travel, so we have to find our path through them in a zig-zag pattern. It is immediately clear we will not simply stroll downhill to the ship. We are heading for a head wall of rock to the right of the glacier tongue, that tongue descends into Fortuna Bay. At this point Tarn grabs two quick travellers, Tim and Dave and decides to go ahead and try to find the best path . This makes tremendous sense, for many of us to keep zig-zagging without a clear route is going to be difficult, and if the weather were to change downright dangerous. Luckily the pressure has held and we have the most glorious day, sunshine, warm and if we were not in such a tight spot a magnificent day to enjoy the sunshine!

Tim, Dave and Tarn ahead we follow behind. We are making our way to what appears to be the middle of the headwall of the glacier. Tarn hopes to find a route from there. We are getting a bit tired of all the narrow crossings and going back and forth. Sometime (now after 8am) Tarn indicates us to stop. The route they were on appears to be impassable. We hold where we are as Tarn and crew retrace their steps. We talk to the ship who state there appears to be clearer path down near the headwall. Tarn, Tim and Dave cross to our left below, and then Tarn tells us to retrace our steps back and then down more directly a head. So we need to go over the difficult ice for more than an hour, an hour of hard work wasted….but no choice. At this point we are not sure just how we are to get off!

The going gets really bad as we move further down. Now my mantra is, trust the crampons, trust the rope…we do not have the luxury or even choice to find an easy route. We go back and forth over some wide crevasses, looking for bridges, looking for the way…after another hour or so we see Tarn, Tim and Dave below. They say make our way to them. We do, and now what? There is still no clear route out but Tarn and Co. forge ahead, already they have saved us a lot of time and energy if we had all gone the previous route we would be in dire straits. As it is the weather is brilliant but the going is tough. This has to be a crossing with some of the best weather yet worst surface that I can recall.

After another hour of wending our way to through the maze, Tarn signals from ahead, a way is found. We spot Tim and Dave off to the right and take aim for them. Tarn is on a snow slope off to the left and we start going there. Roger, Paul, Mike and Ian tag on to our group of Mungo, Doug Gabi and myself and we start what is hopefully the final leg.

We finally travel on a sickle-shaped table top of ice between two crevasses that leads us closer to our goal. It is a relief to know we can get out, tired but now elated to know we will not be left behind…the last bit to the slope with Tarn and then with great relief with can actually see the ship.

The final descent to the ship is actually such a contrast after the mega-crevasse-fields we went through earlier. A last walk on the moraine and we are on the beach…to be welcomed by fellow passengers and Aurora staff. What started out as an adventure meant that and more as we dug deep to finish, We travelled for over 25 hours, and much of that over difficult terrain where adrenaline maintained our alertness.

And then relief, and we realized how tired we were. But what an accomplishment?

After a quick change on the Polar Pioneers we dropped packs and started out on the last leg of the historic journey. We cross over the pass into Stromness. The view from the col is brilliant, but we did not the whistle from the whaling station as Shackleton had. The going is pleasant, and we’re walking now in sneakers and a light pack - what a joy! We have a very pleasant and leisurely walk, tired as we are it is almost a joy to know we have all completed the journey, the final piece of the Shackleton Odyssey. We arrive on the beach in Stromness to welcoming passengers and staff.

We are done, we have completed the journey….

It will take a few days to let the enormity of our achievement to sink in. We completed the iconic journey, but each of us in our own way suffered to do it, it was not a ‘piece of cake’ and that is what made it so special!

Report compiled by various members of the group and edited by Roger Smith and George Szwender « | Next report »

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