Skis used during the most famous polar expedition in history are on sale for £20,000.
Frank Vernon Browning was part of Captain Scott’s fatal attempt to be the first to the South Pole between 1910 and 1913.
Browning was one of only two men handpicked by Scott for the Terra Nova Antarctic Expedition of 1910 to 1913.
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Captain Scott and his team made up The Southern or Polar Party.
Browning was chosen as a member of The Northern Party.
In January 1912 they were transferred to an area within the vicinity of Evans Cove and were due to be picked up six weeks later, as reported by What’s The Jam.
But heavy pack ice and bad weather prevented the pick up and the group were forced to build an ice cave and see the whole winter out on Inexpressible Island.
In their summer clothes and with just six weeks of rations, they were forced to live off animals they could hunt.
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During the hardship Browning killed a predator seal whose stomach contained thirty-six edible fish, gaining the plaudits of all his comrades.
He also received praise for creating the entrance to the tents using ski sticks, as well as making an ingenious alarm clock using a candle, cotton thread and a bamboo spring to start the gramophone, thus waking the next duty watch.
After surviving the brutal winter, the group left their base camp on 30 September 1912 to trek 200 miles back to the Terra Nova which included crossing the treacherous Drygalski Ice Tongue.
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They finally made it to the ship on 7 November only to be told that tragedy had befallen Scott and his team.
The incredible survival story of Browning and his team is one of the greatest survival stories of all time.
But it was overshadowed by the loss of Captain Scott and his team.
Browning’s knowledge of weather patterns and geology are still in use today and two significant landmarks in the Antarctic are named in his honour – Mount Browning on the coast of Victoria Land and Browning Pass, a mountain gap through which ice flows and feeds the Campbell glacier.
He donated the skis he used in the expedition to the Constitutional Club in his home town of Torquay, Devon.
The Constitutional Club became the Conservative Club.
A copy of the Club Magazine from June 1954 said: “In 1930 Mr Browning gave a lantern lecture and presented the club with a set of skis and staves used by him.
“These now adorn the walls of the club billiard room, and a tablet to his memory may be seen in Torquay Town Hall.”
He died aged 48 of double pneumonia believed to be linked to the hardship he suffered in Antarctica.
The skis and ski poles are being auctioned in Exeter, Devon on 12 January by Adam Partridge Auctioneers and Valuers.
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