5. GENERAL

The health of the party was excellent; "off" days being due solely to sprained muscles, or in the first few days to sore feet.

Before the expedition loft Scott Base for the field, members of the N.Z. Alpine Club kindly gave a short course of instruction on techniques of travel on snow and ice, with emphasis on safety precautions and procedures in the event of accidents.

The expedition was well equipped with field radios, having three portable and one larger set for use at base. Biweekly schedules were maintained with Scott Base, and originally daily morning schedules were maintained between field parties, with an emergency listening watch each evening at 2200 hours. After the accident to the government Sno-Cat party, D.S.I.R. issued a general directive instructing detached elements to make radio contact with field base at 12-hourly intervals. If for any reason a party did page 6 not come up at the appointed hour, a watch was kept each hour until contact was made.

The expedition had as its guest for two weeks Mr. Bob Rutford, a graduate student in Geology from the University of Minnesota. This summer he and his advisor Dr. Campbell Craddoch were in the Antarctic primarily to familiarize themselves with the problems of Antarctic geology. Next year they will he members of the University of Minnesota Expedition which will be going into the remote Sentinel Mountains in Byrd Land. Rutford was particularly interested in studying our field gear and techniques, and was so impressed with our equipment (i.e. tents, primuses, windproof clothing) and stores (i.e. meat bars, biscuits) that he plans to outfit the entire expedition in New Zealand.