Jökull - 01.12.2006, Page 81

Society report
Equipment belonging to Ian Harrison and Tony Prosser, lost on
Öræfajökull in 1953, recovered in July 2006
Jack D. Ives
412 Thessaly Circle, Ottawa ON K1H 5W5, Canada
email: jack_ives@carleton.ca
Abstract — Items of mountaineering and camping equipment were discovered by Eyjólfur Magnússon and
Alexander Jarosch on the surface of Skaftafellsjökull, 5.5 km from the terminus on 6 July, 2006. They were
identified as belonging to Ian Harrison and Tony Prosser, members of the University of Nottingham student
expedition, who disappeared on Öræfajökull in August, 1953; no human remains were recovered. The following
account attempts to explain the circumstances of the tragedy, describes the extensive, but unsuccessful, rescue
attempt, and catalogues the items recovered. A map of the locality of the discovery is included. Produced by
Matthew Roberts, it uses estimates of glacier movement to illustrate the approximate location of the final camp
of the two students.
INTRODUCTION
Following a reconnaissance in July and August 1952
by Harry Gleave and myself, the University of Not-
tingham student Exploration Society organized a ten-
person expedition the following year to Skaftafell in
southeast Iceland. The late Ragnar Stefánsson and
family, of Skaftafell, provided base and logistical
support. The Royal Society, the Royal Geographical
Society, the University, and many private companies
and individuals of the City of Nottingham provided fi-
nancial and material support. The scientific objectives
were developed under the guidance of the late Profes-
sor Sigurður Þórarinsson (University of Iceland) and
Mr. Vaughan Lewis (Cambridge University). The pri-
mary objective was a detailed study of the ogives,
movement, and mass balance of Morsárjökull, to be
extended to Skaftafellsjökull and Svínafellsjökull, if
time permitted. A geological component was map-
ping the bedrock geology of northwestern Öræfi, in-
cluding investigation of the Svínafell sedimentary
strata. A further expedition in 1954, with several
members of the 1953 group participating, continued
the survey of Morsárjökull and extended the glacio-
logical studies to the other two glaciers.
The glaciological results were published in the
Journal of Glaciology (Ives and King, 1954, 1955;
King and Ives, 1955, 1956). Also in 1954, Jim
Exley and Malcolm Mellor made the first ascent of
Skarðatindur from the site of the 1953 Ice Camp,
north of Miðfellstindur.
All of these positive results were eclipsed by the
disappearance of Ian Harrison and Tony Prosser on
Öræfajökull between 6 and 16 August, 1953.
As expedition leader, I and Ian Harrison, deputy
leader, had originally planned on an attempt to ascend
Hvannadalshnúkur from the expedition’s Ice Camp,
situated on Vatnajökull some two kilometers north of
Miðfellstindur. This was to have been a mountaineer-
ing adventure with scientific objectives: (1) to assess
the 1952/1953 snow accumulation as high as possi-
ble on Öræfajökull; and (2) to collect rock specimens
from any of the nunataks that proved accessible. Very
much at the last minute, I reluctantly decided to with-
draw from the Öræfajökull adventure and give prior-
ity to work on Morsárjökull, which had fallen behind
schedule. Tony Prosser leapt at the chance to replace
me as Ian’s companion.
JÖKULL No. 56, 2006 79