Madigan leaning on the wind |
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| Title : | Madigan leaning on the wind |
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| Creator : | Mawson, Douglas, Sir, 1882-1958 | ||
| Source : | The home of the blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, vol. 1, opposite p. 122 | ||
| Place Of Creation : | London | ||
| Publisher : | Heinemann | ||
| Date of creation : | 1912 | ||
| Additional Creator : | Hurley, Frank, 1885-1962 | ||
| Format : | Book | ||
| Contributor : | State Library of South Australia | ||
| Catalogue record | |||
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| Description : |
The main base for Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-14 was at Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay, Adelie Land, and was known as the Home of the Blizzard. The winds were so strong that even daily tasks outside the hut were dangerous. For Cecil Madigan the walk to the meteorological screen was a daily but necessary ordeal. As Mawson recorded "The climate proved to be little more than one continuous blizzard the year round." Katabatic winds poured down the slope from the plateau behind the base. It was essential to wear crampons at all times when going outside the hut, and even then men could be hurled flat on their face. Those who were regularly required to work outside because of their duties became experts at 'hurricane walking' or 'lying on the wind'. The average wind-velocity for the first year proved to be approximately 50 miles per hour. The two meteorological screens were both secured with wire stays that could take a weight of one ton: even these broke from time to time in the winds. They were only 400 yards away from the hut, but there was no protection from the winds en route for the meteorologists. The temperature was always well below freezing and changing the records was a painful occupation for frost-bitten fingers. In calm weather the work would be done in 5 minutes but it took them under these conditions an hour. |
| Subjects | |
| Related names : | Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Madigan, C. T. (Cecil Thomas), 1889-1947 |
| Coverage year : | 1912 |
| Place : | Antarctica |
| Further reading : | Mawson, Douglas, The home of the blizzard: the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 Kent Town, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 1996 Mawson, Douglas, Sir, Mawson's Antarctic diaries edited by Fred Jacka & Eleanor Jacka Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1988 Hall, Lincoln, Douglas Mawson: the life of an explorer French's Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland, 2000 C.T. Madigan: a personal reflection by Michael Madigan in Geonews, vol. 4, no. 3 (July/August 1997), p. 5-12 |
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