Hellbent For The Pole: An insider’s account of the ‘race to the South Pole’ 1957-58

On 20 January 1958, Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary met at the South Pole amid a blaze of controversy. It had been intended that Fuchs would be the first to reach the Pole – the halfway point of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition’s crossing of the frozen continent — but Hillary and his tractor-driving support team decided to make an audacious and ‘hellbent’ dash for the Pole, beating Fuchs and his team in their more sophisticated Sno-Cats. This is a behind-the-scenes, insider’s account of the expedition by the journalist who covered for the New Zealand Press Association, The New Zealand Herald and The Daily Telegraph in London, illustrated dramatic photographs taken by the author.