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Antarctic Heroic Age, 1897 - 1922
Historic Huts still standing

The first overwintering hut in Antarctica was erected at Cape Adare in 1899 by the British Antarctic Expedition led by Carsten Borchgrevink. It was a large wooden structure supplied as a kit for speed and ease of erection, it was the first time a building had been erected on Antarctica, perhaps surprisingly it still stands and so is the only remaining example of a surviving first building on any continent.

It set the pattern for Antarctic buildings for the next fifty years or so of wooden huts designed to be erected quickly during a short summer season that will at some time be interrupted by adverse weather conditions.

While the buildings were only needed for 2-3 years at most, they had to be very strong and sturdily placed to withstand the relentless onslaught of the elements. Along with cold temperatures in Antarctica resulting in a slow rate of decomposition of the wood the huts were built from, this means that there are a number of huts that are still in existence today in pretty good condition for their age.

Some are real "time capsules" full of equipment and the belongings of the men who occupied the huts on their expeditions. They are still slowly decaying however, and there are now dedicated restoration activities to remove and preserve some the artifacts found in the huts before they are lost forever, they may be returned to the huts to be seen in situ or taken to museums in other countries if they are too delicate to last much longer.

Some of the huts over the years had some significant ice and snow build up inside them due to ill fitting or broken doors and windows which has buried the contents leading to surprise finds such as five cases of specially blended whisky taken by Shackleton in 1907 that were found in 2007 (more) and in 2017 a lost painting by Edward Wilson has been rediscovered in another hut here.

  Visiting the Huts

Surviving historic Antarctic huts from the heroic age can be visited in the Ross Sea region, on the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Orkney Islands or at Commonwealth Bay, East Antarctica. All of the surviving huts are in relatively difficult to access and less frequently visited regions of Antarctica.

Ross Sea Region - The best area to see the huts with surviving examples in good condition from Scott's two Antarctic expeditions, Shackleton's Nimrod expedition and the first ever Antarctic building which still survives at Cape Adare. A cruise to the Ross Sea region will allow access to all of these though landings and visits to each are not guaranteed as this depends on ice conditions at the time of the visit. Trips to the Ross Sea region involve a sea voyage of about a week in each direction and an overall voyage of about 30 days, there are no commercial flights.

• Cape Evans Hut - Scott - Terra Nova, 1910-13, also used by Ross Sea Party of Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17
  
  
• Hut Point - Scott - Discovery, 1901-04, also used by Ross Sea Party of Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17
  
  
• Cape Royds Hut - Shackleton - Nimrod, 1907-09
  
  
• Cape Adare - Borchgrevink - Southern Cross - 1898-1900
  
  
• Cape Adare - Campbell - Terra Nova - 1910-13, Scott's northern party, (remains)

Commonwealth Bay - Also in Eastern Antarctica, a visit to Mawson's Hut built for the 1911-14 Australian Antarctic Expedition, will be part of a longer trip of 25-30 days.

Antarctic Peninsula - Fewer huts are found here, most  of which are ruins.

• Laurie Island - Bruce - Scotia, 1902-04. Part of the South Orkney Islands which are little visited by tour ships due to frequent and extensive ice.
  
  
• Paulet Island, Hope Bay, Snow Hill Island - Antarctic, 1901-03. Three huts used by different groups of the same expedition, two are ruins, the region where they are found is frequently avoided by all but ice strengthened ships or ice breakers, so while there are cruises that visit, they are not as common as to the more predictably ice free western side of the peninsula. If you do travel to this area, you will probably encounter more sea ice and see Emperor penguins too.

  Huts of Eastern Antarctica

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Commonwealth Bay Hut, Cape Denison
Mawson - Aurora, 1911-14.

Built by the Australian Antarctic Expedition led by Douglas Mawson, there are two connected huts of 24x24 feet and 21x18 feet, the smaller one was a workshop. In the winter large wind tails of snow form around the hut, burying it with only the pitched roof visible, snow tunnels provided access to the outside as did a skylight in the roof, much easier than trying to keep the exterior doors free of snow. There were 18 men overwintering.

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  Huts of the Antarctic Peninsula

Notes

* Prices are per person. the lowest price is usually for triple occupancy in a basic cabin, the highest for double occupancy in the best available suite.

Options such as kayaking are usually booked when the cruise is booked, they may be at additional cost and have limited availability - it may be too late once the cruise has started.

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