| Scouting in the Antarctic | |||
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 Chilly Willy is the mascot of the Esperanza Base group | |||
Scouting in the Antarctic is maintained by a single troop of Argentine Scouts and also by visiting Scouts from other nations who are participating in expeditions and research projects.
The southernmost Scout unit of the world, the Grupo Scouts 1556 "Esperanza Blanca", is at the Esperanza Base at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula; it is affiliated to the Scouts de Argentina. Originally, the group belonged to the Asociación Diocesana de Scouts Católicos Argentinos Castrense (Diocesan Association of the Catholic Scouts of Argentina - Military Diocese), an independent Scout organization with links to the Union Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe. [1]
Charles Hoadley, who founded one of the first Scout Groups in Footscray, Victoria, Australia, [2] was a member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Douglas Mawson from 1911 to 1914. Hoadley was a member of the Western Base Party. Cape Hoadley was named after him upon discovery by the exploration party. [3]
James William Slessor Marr was one of two British Scouts who were selected from 1,700 Scouting applicants to accompany Sir Ernest Shackleton on the 1921 Shackleton–Rowett Expedition. The expedition was curtailed following the death of Shackleton, but Marr later joined the 1929 British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition. The other Scout, Norman Mooney, left the expedition en route due to illness. [4]
Paul Siple took part in two Byrd expeditions of 1928 to 1930 and 1933 to 1935, representing the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout. [5]
Following the example of Paul Siple, Eagle Scout Richard Chappell was selected to join the researchers of the United States Antarctic Program to mark International Geophysical Year in 1957–58. Mark Lienmiller was similarly selected to go to the Antarctic in 1978 for the 50th anniversary of Byrd's 1928 expedition. This was repeated in 1985 when Doug Barnhart was selected. These placements proved so successful that the National Science Foundation announced that once every three years, the National Science Foundation would sponsor an "Antarctic Scout" to join the Antarctic Program commencing in 1987, [6] with the aim of "providing students with opportunities to participate in research activities outside the college or university setting". [7]
 | This section needs to be updated.(January 2019) |
Three Scouts of Scouts Australia, Ian Brown, Keith Williams, and Peter Treseder, were the first Australians to walk unaided to the South Pole, and stood at the Pole with the World Scout flag on New Year's Day 1998. It took them 60 days to reach the Pole, pulling all their food and gear with them. "We gained our zest for adventure in Scouts. Scouting is fun and you learn to adventure safely," they said in a message broadcast from Antarctica to Scouts at the 1997/98 Australian Scout Jamboree. [8]
In January 2019 Joe Doherty, a member of Hampshire Scout Expeditions, became the first Scout in the world to ski to the south pole and kite ski back. It took 66 days and covered over 2000 km. The team originally consisted of 5 members, but due to injury and other commitments, Joe went on a guided expedition there and back. Joe skied with 1 guide and two clients to the pole and kite skied back with the guide, from Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE). They carried all their own supplies, weighing up to 120kg at times.
In December 2021 Venturing Crew 774 of Orange County Council, CA, USA (part of the Boy Scouts of America) is participating in an expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. They will be traveling aboard the Plancius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions. During the cruise they will be assisting with marine faunal collections, working with scientific divers from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, camping on the continent, kayaking, and working on rank advancement and leadership training. 20 youth supported by 19 adult volunteers will be participating.
In January 2022 a ten strong team of Scouts (8 from Kent and 2 from Scotland) sailed to the Antarctic Peninsular as part of the REQUEST2021 Antarctica Project. This was to commemorate the 1921 - 1922 Shackleton-Rowett "Quest" Expedition for which Scouts James Marr and Norman Mooney were selected as cabin boys by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
Paul Allman Siple was an American Antarctic explorer and geographer who took part in six Antarctic expeditions, including the two Byrd expeditions of 1928–1930 and 1933–1935, representing the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout. In addition to being an Eagle Scout, Siple was also a Sea Scout. His first and third books covered these adventures. With Charles F. Passel he developed the wind chill factor, and Siple coined the term.
Operation HIGHJUMP, officially titled The United States Navy Antarctic Developments Program, 1946–1947,, was a United States Navy (USN) operation to establish the Antarctic research base Little America IV. The operation was organized by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr., USN (Ret), Officer in Charge, Task Force 68, and led by Rear Admiral Ethan Erik Larson, USN, Commanding Officer, Task Force 68. Operation HIGHJUMP commenced 26 August 1946 and ended in late February 1947. Task Force 68 included 4,700 men, 07 ships, and 33 aircraft.
Esperanza Base is a permanent, all-year-round Argentine research station in Hope Bay, Trinity Peninsula. It is one of only two civilian settlements in Antarctica. The base's motto is Permanencia, un acto de sacrificio.
Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rocks or on ice that are fixed in places.
John Robert Francis Wild was an English sailor and explorer. He participated in five expeditions to Antarctica during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, for which he was awarded the Polar Medal with four bars, one of only two men to be so honoured, the other being Ernest Joyce.
The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition (1921–22) was Sir Ernest Shackleton's last Antarctic project, and the final episode in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
James William Slessor Marr was a Scottish marine biologist and polar explorer. He was leader of the World War 2 British Antarctic Expedition Operation Tabarin during its first year, 1943–1945.
Religion in Antarctica is largely dominated by Christianity, with churches being the only religious buildings on the continent. Although used regularly for Christian worship, the Chapel of the Snows has also been used for Buddhist and Baháʼí Faith ceremonies. Some of the early religious buildings are now protected as important historical monuments.
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipodally on the opposite side of Earth from the North Pole, at a distance of 12,430 miles in all directions. It is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface.
Siple Station was a research station in Antarctica, established in 1973 by Stanford's STAR Lab, to perform experiments that actively probed the magnetosphere using very low frequency (VLF) waves. Its location was selected to be near the Earth's south magnetic pole, and the thick ice sheet allowed for a relatively efficient dipole antenna at VLF frequencies. John Katsufrakis of Stanford University was the "father" of the station and the VLF experiment sponsored by Stanford.
Quest, a low-powered, schooner-rigged steamship that sailed from 1917 until sinking in 1962, is best known as the polar exploration vessel of the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition of 1921–1922. It was aboard this vessel that Sir Ernest Shackleton died on 5 January 1922 while the vessel was in harbour in South Georgia. Prior to and after the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, Quest operated in commercial service as a seal-hunting vessel or sealer. Quest was also the primary expedition vessel of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition to the east coast of the island of Greenland in 1930–1931.
The Instituto Antártico Argentino is the Argentine federal agency in charge of orientating, controlling, addressing and performing scientific and technical research and studies in the Antarctic.
Ellsworth Scientific Station was a permanent, all year-round originally American, then Argentine Antarctic scientific research station named after American polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth. It was located on Gould Bay, on the Filchner Ice Shelf.
Mount West is a somewhat isolated mountain 9 nautical miles (17 km) southeast of Mount Woodward, surmounting the ice-covered ridge between Hammond and Swope Glaciers, in the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land. Mapped by the United States Antarctic Service (USAS), 1939–41. The name was applied by Paul Siple, commander of the West Base of the USAS, for James E. West, the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. Siple's first visit to Antarctica was as a member of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition (1928–30), having been selected as an Eagle Scout for that venture.
The Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal is a Congressional medal established by an Act of Congress in 1930 to commemorate the Byrd Antarctic Expedition of 1928–1930. Presented in gold, silver and bronze, the medals were awarded to 81 individuals associated with the expedition, for a total cost of $6,560.
The City of New York was a steam barquentine best known for being Richard E. Byrd's flagship on his 1928–30 exploration of Antarctica, mistakenly for the rescue of Shackleton in 1915, and most infamously for possibly being the ship that failed to come to the aid of the Titanic in 1912. Her name was changed several times; originally named Samson (1885–1914), she was renamed the Jacobsen (1915–1919), and then the Belsund (1919–1926), and back to Samson (1926–1928), before being finally dubbed the City of New York in 1928.
International competition extended to the continent of Antarctica during the World War II era, though the region saw no combat. During the prelude to war, Nazi Germany organised the 1938 Third German Antarctic Expedition to preempt Norway's claim to Queen Maud Land. The expedition served as the basis for a new German claim, called New Swabia. A year later, the United States Antarctic Service Expedition established two bases, which operated for two years before being abandoned. Responding to these encroachments, and taking advantage of Europe's wartime turmoil, the nearby nations of Chile and Argentina made their own claims. In 1940 Chile proclaimed the Chilean Antarctic Territory in areas already claimed by Britain, while Argentina proclaimed Argentine Antarctica in 1943 in an overlapping area.
Paul Allman Siple saw the first light of day on December 18, 1908, in Montpelier, Ohio. ...
