Antarctic Crossing

A documentary of the first successful expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. New Zealand's Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay climb Mount Everest in 1953.

Presented by explorer Frank Hurley in his final film appearance, this documentary chronicles Australia's role in the scientific exploration of Antarctica and the hardships the pioneers endured. Using archival footage, this film spans from 1911, following Sir Douglas Mawson's first expedition, to Phillip Law establishing the continent's first permanent research station in 1954.

"Filmed by George Lowe and taken on the New Zealand Alpine Club’s 1954 Expedition to the Barun Valley in Nepal. Ed Hillary was the leader of the expedition. It was a large expedition involving a number of New Zealand’s best mountaineers at the time. Roland Ellis did a great deal of organising for this expedition and I think in the end, as a keen amateur film buff, also financed the movie. He edited it and organised Ed to be the commentator."