Cape Denison Panorama

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914 established their base in the small inlet at far right, alongside Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay. To the left, the Antarctic ice cap stretches polewards.

The site was chosen by the AAE because it gave a rock base and was free of sea ice. Only after the base was established, in calm weather such as we experienced, did the true nature of the area become apparent. Extreme and near-continuous katabatic (cold air drainage) winds howled down from the plateau, while one blizzard followed another - leading Douglas Mawson, the expedition leader, to describe the place as "Home of the Blizzard". To quote Wikipedia. "It is listed in both the Guinness Book of World Records and the Eighth Edition of the National Geographic Atlas as the windiest place on Earth with winds regularly exceeding 240 kilometres (150 mi) per hour and an average annual wind speed of 80 kilometres (50 mi) per hour".

Panorama from stitched photographs. Mouse over the note at top left to view larger.