Field trainingTraining for fieldwork begins back in the UK with a two-week conference in Cambridge, followed by a camping and mountaineering course in the Peak District. On arrival at Rothera we are briefed about camping, environmental issues, aircraft safety. We also meet our field general assistant, Ian Hey, who takes us through a full range on mountaineering skills, inside the field operations building. Next we take a vehicle onto Wormald Ice Piedmont to practice camping. The following morning, Ian decides to test us on a mixed mountaineering route, the crest of nearby Reptile Ridge. This involves a roped traverse, step-cutting in snow and simple rock-climbing – all against a backdrop of magnificent views. | |||
 Starting out from Rothera in a large snow-tracked vehicle. Such vehicles are usually used for long-distance traverses of ice shelves and the ice sheet. |  Two pyramid tents in the process of being pitched during a fine evening on snow-covered Wormald Ice Piedmont. |  At dusk we practice cross-country skiing with the mountains of Pourquois Pas Island and ice-covered Laubeuf Fjord in the background. |  Evening light catches the summits of mountains on Pourquois Island. |
 Roped traverse of Reptile Ridge, led by Ian Hey. Wormald Ice Piedmont lies to the left of the ridge. |  Here Bethan Davies tackles a rocky section of Reptile Ridge. |  Looking back along Reptile Ridge, here dominated by deep snow covering the odd crevasse. |  View across Laubeuf Fjord to Pourquois Pas Island from Reptile Ridge. |
 Maintaining mountaineering skills when fieldwork is on straightforward terrain is important for the field assistants. Here, Ian Hey is tackling a ridge of thrust-up lake ice at the edge of George VI Ice Shelf. | |||
| Photos Michael Hambrey, November and December 2012. | |||