Edward Atkinson's skis displayed in Scott exhibition

New visitors to Canterbury Museum’s Scott’s Last Expedition exhibition are being treated to a special addition to the show – Edward Atkinson’s skis.

It was Atkinson who assumed leadership of Captain Scott’s last expedition in Antarctica and who was the leader of the party that found the tent containing the bodies of Captain Scott, Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers.

The wooden skis, clearly etched with Atkinson’s initials, were retrieved from a pile of abandoned equipment at Scott’s Cape Evans hut in 1948 by a navy helicopter pilot Lloyd Tracy aboard USS Edisto, part of US Operation Windmill. Last month the skis were returned to the Antarctic Heritage Trust, exactly a centenary after the return of SS Terra Nova to Lyttelton, New Zealand from the Antarctic.

The Trust plans to return the skis to Antarctica, however, until then, they are being displayed for the first time in the Museum’s international touring exhibition Scott’s Last Expedition.

Museum Director Anthony Wright says the new exhibit adds a further dimension to the Scott story.

“The skis add another layer to the tragic tale of Scott’s last expedition to Antarctica, so it’s wonderful, and extremely timely, to be able to display them for our visitors to see during the last few months of our exhibition, Scott’s Last Expedition.