It is January 1933 in Greenland, the weather is bad, and there is twelve feet of snow outside the expedition hut. "We had to keep tunnels open to the coal and to the stream from which we got our water supply," writes the young Spencer Chapman in Watkins' Last Expedition (1934), his account of the adventure in which, in August 1932, the explorer Henry "Gino" Watkins lost his life.
"When the periodic thaws and rain came, careful draining was necessary to prevent the water flowing in at the door. The snow level was well above the eaves of the hut but we had to keep a space dug out in front of the door. Sometimes in the morning on opening the outer door (all doors in snowy countries must open inwards) the drift would have completely filled the doorway with close-packed snow like a sheet stretched tightly across. The cold from the outside froze the moisture which condensed on the window panes, so that throughout the winter it was impossible to see through the windows, and in dull weather so little light came through that artificial light would be needed throughout the day. Although the hut seemed warm enough, it was usually freezing down by the floor. Water would condense on the walls and, running down, turn to ice as it got near the floor. This was most annoying." One night, the narrator slept so far up his bunk that his head touched the wall. "Next morning when I tried to sit up my hair was frozen solidly to the wall of the hut."