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In February 2007, Gordon Macdonald is returning home to Vancouver after spending six weeks in the Antarctic, where he was the only Canadian member of a small international team of experts assigned the task of preserving and restoring Sir Ernest Shackleton’s hut. The hut, built in 1908 at Shackleton’s base camp on Ross Island at Cape Royds, is on the list of the World Monuments Watch’s 100 most endangered sites.

“Until now, Shackleton’s hut has been considered one of the world’s most-at-risk architectural treasures,” said Gordon. “With the conclusion of our work this season, I’m confident that the huts will endure for future generations to enjoy.”

The project, sponsored by New Zealand’s Antarctic Heritage Trust, will conserve the wooden huts erected by the Great Antarctic Explorers; Carstens Borchgrevink (1899), Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1902 and 1911) and Sir Ernest Shackleton (1908). This is the conclusion of the third year of work at Shackleton’s Nimrod hut at Cape Royds. Preparations are now underway to conserve Captain Scott’s Terra Nova Hut at Cape Evans.

“The conservation of historic buildings in polar regions is an incredibly challenging business due to the extreme environment and complex logistics, but we’ve had good luck with the weather this year and enjoyed a highly productive season,” said Gordon.

In late January, Gordon guided Sir Edmund Hillary and New Zealand Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, on a tour of Shackleton’s hut. Sir Edmund was guest of honor at a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of Scott Base and the launch of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, which officially gets underway March 1, 2007.

“Sir Edmund Hillary has been a hero of mine since I was a boy, and having the opportunity to meet him on site this year was a definite high point for me!”, said Gordon.