Antarctic Adventure

Short Film (Full Length) – 1957

This NFU documentary chronicles a major milestone in NZ's presence in Antarctica: the building of Scott Base. Members of the Commonwealth Polar Expedition leave Wellington in December 1956, and sail through storms and pack ice. Led by Sir Edmund Hillary, they construct Scott Base, meet some local wildlife and begin preparations to support a British team led by Doctor Vivian Fuchs. After wintering over, Hillary would, in January 1958, controversially reach the South Pole before Fuchs — only the third party after Scott and Amundsen to do so overland.

(Pram Point) had everything we wanted, suitable hut sites on volcanic rock; easy access to the Ross Ice Shelf, and a large area of snow-covered bay ice for our aircraft. It would make an admirable Scott Base.
– Sir Edmund Hillary in his 1999 book View from the Summit, page 177