Arctic exploration

Frank Hurley's photos were originally intended as scientific documentation of an unexplored continent. Instead, they recorded an epic survival story.

Just over a fortnight ago, RV Polarstern, a German research vessel, sailed back into port, heralding the end of the largest Arctic research project ever undertaken. The MOSAiC expedition, short for…

Well, winter is on its way. My mind has been drifting towards cold weather pursuits. I have a new ice axe coming in today, and have been eyeing a new set of Black Diamond crampons, which I am trying to resist very hard. Whenever I start thinking along those lines, I can’t help but admire the people who pioneered the techniques we use today, and marvel at what they managed to achieve with inadequate equipment, but with an abundant supply of willpower. Recently I ran across a few pictures I…

The geologist and explorer Douglas Mawson led the Australasian Antarctic Expedition from 1911 to 1914. Comprising 31 men, including photographer Frank Hurley, it charted large segments of the east Antarctic coastline, and investigated sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and the Southern Ocean. The party arrived at Commonwealth Bay in March 1912. Mawson lost two men – Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz – on an expedition to map part of the coastline, but survived an epic return journey alone to the…

Arctic explorers and scientists have a new home: the Nellie Cournoyea Arctic Research Facility, a transformational institute in the University of Manitoba’s Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environmen...