BREAKING THE ICE


Before the world had heard of Scott and Shackleton, another explorer hatched a plan to spend a year in Antarctica. He was Carsten Borchgrevink, and he and his team proved it was possible for humans to survive the Antarctic winter.

Southern Cross ship leaving Hobart, Tasmania
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The Southern Cross expedition

Carsten Borchgrevink and nine others spent a year in Antarctica, cut off from the rest of the world.

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Southern Cross expedition scientific staff
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The first people

Carsten Borchgrevink’s shore party were the first people ever to live on the Antarctic mainland.

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Cape Adare huts credit Richie Hunter
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The first buildings

Cape Adare is one of Antarctica's harshest places, but the expedition's buildings have survived for more than a century.

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Ole Must, William Colbeck and Persen Savio with puppies
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The first dogs

The Southern Cross was the first expedition to use dogs in Antarctica.

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Anton Fougner, Hugh Evans and William Colbeck at work in huts on Southern Cross expedition Cape Adare
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The first winter

The men of the Southern Cross lived through 72 days of total darkness.

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Louis Bernacchi taking readings during Southern Cross expedition
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Science

The Southern Cross scientists assembled data from a part of the Earth that was then largely unknown.

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Ridge above Cape Adare
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Exploration

The expedition's attempts to explore the ice taught them about Antarctica's deadly storms and fickle sea ice.

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Terra Nova Northern Party members Victor Campbell, George Murray Levick and Raymond Priestley prepare to leave Cape Adare, 1912
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A Second Team at Cape Adare

In 1911, Cape Adare became home to the Northern Party of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition.

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Torb Prytz at Cape Adare C AHT Lizzie Meek
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Antarctic Heritage Trust

Antarctic Heritage Trust is a New Zealand-based charity with a vision of inspiring explorers.

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