Watercolor on paper by Standish Backus: Six weeks during December and January comprise the Antarctic Summer, the season when expeditions from the north can break through the melting sea ice and reach the edges of the ice barriers or the continent itself. New Years Day 1956 found the ships of Operation Deep Freeze moored to the ice edge at the outer entrance of McMurdo Sound, some fifty miles from the site of the projected base at Hut Point. Fine weather prevailed at this time affording surprising pleasant hours for leisure groups out of the ice. - Commander Standish Backus