South Georgia Heritage Trust

BSES 2008 South Georgia expedition

BSES Expeditions is a youth development charity that organises challenging scientific adventures for young explorers between 16 and 23 years of age. BSES has traditionally run polar expeditions but also goes exploring in jungle, mountain and desert environments. See www.bses.org.uk for more.

In 2008 Stephen Rawlinson joined the BSES expedition team to South Georgia. SGHT awarded Stephen a bursary in memory of its late founder, Brigadier David Nicholls RM, who lead BSES expeditions tor South Georgia in 2003 and 2005. Here is part of the story of the expedition as told by Stephen.

Southern Expedition Report by Stephen Rawlinson

"When people say the weather on South Georgia is changeable they aren’t wrong. For the next 4 days we left base camp and headed east to begin our science work. We awoke very early and were on the Morris glacier by 7am. As the morning progressed the cloud base dropped and the winds picked up. It was a slow slog up the slope to a col near a set of rocky peaks. This col was our way onto the Purvis glacier and towards Possession Bay. Even thought the visibility was poor, it was still amazing to see the rare glimpses of mountains and glaciers. It was nice to have a change of view!

On our descent down the Purvis glacier we were greeted with stunning hanging glaciers high up on the mountains to our left and the infamous Possession Bay in front. By the time we had chose on a campsite with a view (see picture on right) it was lunchtime. After a hot drink and some lunch we were able to get on with the necessary science work.

The following day we were met with a beautifully sunny day and the mountains around us glistened with snow. We had two science briefs for that day, one to complete the snout survey of the Austin glacier, and the other to locate a surveying cairn made in the 70’s. Our group was unsuccessful in locating a set of rocks in a larger set of rocks, so wandered over to the shoreline. The beach was densely packed with fur seals and pups, meaning there was more grey than white to this fine beach.
As all the science had been completed we picked on the idea of climbing a snowy peak above the Austin glacier. We went straight up and over the crevasses on the glacier and
zigzagged our way up a snow slope to a plateau below the summit. It was at this point that I was able to take my first lead on South Georgia. I headed for a gap between a bergschrund and a wind scoop, and then up onto the ridge. With each step you could see more and more of the island. We could even
see down into Possession Bay and the Purvis glacier.

The slope angle was about 60° so I made sure my steps were good and solid. At one point a snow petrel flew over my head and was so close you could touch it. The sun was blazing and there was little breeze, meaning the lead was very sweaty work. I made sure we didn’t go onto any cornices so kept traversing till I could go no more, and there it was with some simple steps we had reached the summit!
Even though the summit was only 700 metres high it was like no other I had climbed. The views were stunning! We could see most of the island from where we were and it truly summed up South Georgia, a place like no other, with glaciers and mountains as far as the eye could see. This was South Georgia and for some of us, myself included, it was quite an emotional moment. After many pictures were taken we descended slowly down the slope and back to our campsite."