TRANSANTARCTIC JOURNEY

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28270, 7 May 1957, Page 15

TRANSANTARCTIC JOURNEY

N.Z. Party Tp Set Up More Depots

mew Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON. May 6.

A request from Dr. Vivian Fuchs, leader of the party which will next summer attempt the first crossing of the Antarctic Continent by land, for the establishment of two further depots on the route from the South Pole towards the Ross Sea, was agreed to at a meeting of the Ross Sea Committee today, said the chairman of the committee (Mr C. M Bowden).

The depots, which will be established by members of the New Zealand party in the Antarctic under Sir Edmund Hillary, will be known as Depot 480 (80deg. south. 148 east) and Depot 700 (83deg. south, 146 east). The New Zealanders have already established and fully stocked two depots, at Skelton inlet and on the plateau at the head of the Skelton glacier. There was no intention, it was reported, of getting a New Zealand party to the South Pole.

The committee discussed proposals for field work to be undertaken by New Zealanders in the coming summer, in addition to the assistance they will provide in the continental crossing. This will include geographical work in areas at present unexplored. The Post and Telegraph Department, it was reported, had in hand the provision of three sledge radios, of a better type than those at present in use, for operations next summer.

Representations are also being made to the Post Office, on the recommendation of the executive committee, for another souvenir cover, to commemorate the date of the first land crossing of Antarctica.