Antarctic Prelude

In this 1956 reel, Sir Edmund Hillary and colleagues describe their mission to set up bases in advance of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Ed meets Everest mate George Lowe in Uruguay to board The Theron, and they smash and use explosives to blast their way through ice, then unload supplies (including the soon-to-be-famous Ferguson tractors). Sections of the footage were shot on 16mm film by Hillary himself. Lt Commander Bill Smith and Dr Trevor Hatherton narrate pathfinding with sledges in McMurdo Sound, on the other side of the continent.

Then we rolled on south, keeping our eyes open to see our first glimpse of the ice. George and I hadn't seen the Antarctic ice before, and it was quite a thrill to get amongst it. I think at first I was bit disappointed with the Antarctic ice: it seemed so widely spaced and so easy. But later on we got into much heavier pack ice, and things became much more difficult and interesting.

– Edmund Hillary

Key Cast & Crew

Edmund Hillary

Camera, Narrator

Trevor Hatherton

Narrator

George Lowe

Narrator

Bill Smith

Narrator

Bill Hartigan

Camera

David H Fowler

Editor, Writer