The Worst Journey in the World · Chapter
Glossary explained
This chapter provides definitions and explanations of key terms used throughout the book, including Antarctic weather phenomena, ice formations, sledging equipment, and measurement units.
What happens
This chapter provides definitions and explanations of key terms used throughout the book, including Antarctic weather phenomena, ice formations, sledging equipment, and measurement units.
Key passages
“An Antarctic blizzard is a high southerly wind generally accompanied by clouds of drifting snow, partly falling from above, partly picked up from the surface.”
An Antarctic blizzard is a strong wind from the south that carries both falling snow and snow lifted from the ground.
Definition of blizzard
“There is no doubt that a blizzard has a bewildering and numbing effect upon the brain of anyone exposed to it.”
Being caught in a blizzard is known to disorient and dull the mind.
Psychological impact of blizzards
“Sastrugi The furrows or irregularities formed on a snow plain by the wind. They may be a foot or more deep and as hard and as slippery as ice: they may be quite soft: they may appear as great inverted pudding bowls: they may be hard knots covered with soft powdery snow.”
Sastrugi are wind-carved ridges and grooves on snow surfaces, varying greatly in hardness, depth, and shape.
Description of sastrugi