out the heavy tasks easily but the weather at Shackleton was colder and much windier than had been anticipated. When the skeleton of the hut was complete, the men positioned the crates containing the wall and roof panels around the building site. Then a blizzard began, and lasted for more than a week. The temperature dropped to and the drift around the base made it impossible to do any work outside. The men sheltered in their crate and slept in their tents which were constantly in danger of getting buried by the drift. When finally the wind subsided the giant crates of wall panels had all disappeared under many feet of drift and the unfinished hut itself was full of snow. The bay ice had broken off taking all the remaining stores with it. Much food and fuel, a couple of huts and a tractor had all gone to sea. The men tried to retrieve the crates by tunnelling under the snow; the tunnels proved to be useful kennels for the dogs protecting them from the unexpectedly severe winter conditions at Shackleton. The party of eight survived the winter with some difficulty, but in reasonably good health, and finally completed the building of the hut except for one hole in the roof, the panel for which was never found. While the hut was being constructed they lived by day in the tractor crate and slept in their tents, two men to each tent. The winter temperatures often fell well below , and Shackleton proved to be a very windy place, which made work outdoors unpleasant. All stores lying in the snow tended to get buried and there was a constant danger of them getting lost. They managed to take a number of journeys to collect seals for the dogs and to scout a route to the south. They used dogs and the Weasel tractor, and four Tucker Sno-Cats. Expedition In December 1956, Fuchs returned on Danish Polar vessel Magga Dan with additional supplies, and the southern summer of 1956–1957 was spent consolidating Shackleton Base and establishing the smaller South Ice Base, about inland to the south. After spending the winter of 1957 at Shackleton Base, Fuchs finally set out on the transcontinental journey in November 1957, with a 12-man team travelling in six vehicles; three Sno-Cats, two Weasel tractors, and one specially adapted Muskeg tractor. En route, the team were