Observation Hill is a large hill (750 ft/230m) adjacent to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. We lovingly refer to it as “Ob Hill.” It is frequently climbed in order to gain a great vantage for views across the continent.
Robert Falcon Scott led a race to be the first to reach the South Pole and upon arrival found that Roald Amundsen had beaten him to the Pole by 5 weeks. Scott’s anguish is heard when you read from his diary of his arrival to the Pole: “Great God! This is an awful place.” They promptly began their 800 mile journey back with deflated spirits only to freeze to death just miles short of a food cache close to their base camp.
Robert Falcon Scott’s party was found by a search party led by the surgeon Dr. Edward Atkinson. They were found dead by the members of the base camp, who took their photographic film, scientific specimens, and other materials. They had to leave Scott and his men in their tent, and later parties could not locate the campsite, since that area had been covered in snow. So Scott's party eventually ended up drifting out to sea as part of an iceberg as the ice shelf made its way to the sea.
The search party then returned to what is now known as McMurdo and climbed Observation Hill. There they erected a large wooden cross, inscribed the names of the fatal party and a short quote from the Alfred Tennyson poem “Ulysses,” which reads “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Today was a perfect day to climb Ob Hill. Here I am after climbing the summit with McMurdo Station in the background. This certainly allows for the hill's true height to be discerned. The climb is near vertical at times.
The famous Ob Hill cross.
One of the priceless views of the Trans-Antarctic Mountain Range.
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
A challenge for us as Christians on this journey towards God's goodness.
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