The circumstances of the expedition, after the depletion of the shore party following the loss of SY Aurora in May 1915, meant that Spencer-Smith was required for the main depot journey to the Beardmore Glacier during the 1915–16 summer season, irrespective of his physical limitations.
A supporting group, the Ross Sea party, would meanwhile travel to the opposite side of the continent, establish camp in McMurdo Sound, and from there lay a series of supply depots across the Ross Ice Shelf to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier.
glacier | Huron Glacier | Glacier | Kaliakra Glacier | Beardmore Glacier | William Beardmore and Company | Pine Island Glacier | Morton Glacier | Huntress Glacier | Ekblad Glacier | Beardmore | West Glacier, Montana | Union Glacier | Solun Glacier | Rutgers Glacier | Glacier Peak | Geikie Glacier | Fairweather Glacier | East Glacier Park Village, Montana | Drygalski Glacier | Depot Glacier | Baltoro Glacier | Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park | Wapta Glacier | Vulture Glacier (Azeroth) | Texas Tech Shackleton Glacier Expedition | Stancomb-Wills Glacier | Skelton Glacier | Schanz Glacier | Reusch Glacier |
The Queen Maud Mountains are a major group of mountains, ranges and subordinate features of the Transantarctic Mountains, lying between the Beardmore and Reedy Glaciers and including the area from the head of the Ross Ice Shelf to the polar plateau in Antarctica.
This expedition set out from Vahsel Bay, following a route which avoided the Beardmore Glacier altogether, and bypassed much of the Ross Ice Shelf, reaching McMurdo Sound via a descent of the Skelton Glacier.