Motor sledges in the Antarctic

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Swithinbank, Charles
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1962
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Shackleton; Antarc*; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400053195; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400053195

Antarctic travellers have long dreamed of motor sledges as the successor to dog teams and man-hauling. Shackleton adapted an Arrol-Johnston motor car in 1907 by putting runners under the front wheels, and Scott used two fully tracked motor sledges in 1911. Owing to mechanical troubles, success came slowly. But by 1942 the Eliason motor sledge was patented and working in Sweden. Two kinds of motor sledge are now used in the United States Antarctic Research Program: the Eliason Model K-12 and the Polaris Model K-95.