WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Antarctic adventurer Peter Hillary, son of Mount Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary, narrowly escaped death in a blizzard with whiteout conditions, his two fellow ice trekkers said Sunday.
In a satellite telephone interview from his tent, Australian Eric Phillips described the panic he and fellow trekker Jon Muir felt when Hillary, who had fallen a short distance behind, "just disappeared.""We were hit by this horrendous ground blizzard," Phillips said, adding that the wind gusted to 55 mph and visibility dropped to about 30 feet.
"Peter was lost in the maelstrom . . . it was a scary situation."
Phillips said he and Muir, a fellow Australian, were in the lead when wind-whipped snow completely covered their tracks leading back.
"All you can do in these conditions is stop regularly and turn around. I turned my eyes back and hoped he would emerge from the murk."
Hillary continued walking in a straight path and appeared with his arms waving wildly.
Still nearly 125 miles from the South Pole, the trekkers were forced to shelter in their tents from Thursday through Saturday due to constant blizzards and extreme cold.
They are at least 10 days' walking distance from the pole, where they expect to be airlifted out.
New Zealander Hillary's near-disaster followed another scare on Wednesday, when Phillips' goggles and neckwear abruptly clogged up with ice -- rendering him blind and making him choke.
"My fingers and toes were freezing, and the others bundled me into a tent and warmed me up."
The extreme conditions confronting the trekkers on the polar plateau above the Shackleton Glacier have imbued the team with a deep respect for the achievements of Robert Falcon Scott, the British explorer whose exploits in 1911-12 they had been trying to reproduce.
Scott and his party reached the pole, only to find that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten them there. Scott and his men died on their return journey.
"They had to turn back after reaching the pole, they didn't have kites, or modern technology, and couldn't talk home," said Phillips, whose team has used special sail-kites and super-lightweight equipment to speed its progress. "We have immense respect for them."
The trekkers have faced strong winds or blizzards on more than 20 of the 25 days they have spent on the polar plateau so far. They have been tent-bound for at least 11 of those days.
On Tuesday, the 70th day of their journey, they failed in their attempt to ski-trek from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole and back without receiving airdrops of supplies or any other outside support. A helicopter dropped food to the trio, whose supplies had dwindled due to the delays.
"We have some bad moments, but morale is basically good," Phillips said.