Simon Salter and I went into Z3 the day (well actually the night..) before it was permanently sealed by bulldozer during the '90-91 summer season. I think there was an unsuccessful attempt to find and reopen a shaft during the '91 winter. Entry was via one of the smaller shafts, and involved climbing under a precarious stack of frozen soft drinks cases. The base was in good condition, still with its rather strange just-abandoned feeling, and fantastic cup-shaped ice crystals hanging from the ceiling. The garage ramp armco tube had an alarming ridge along its base, with many of the bolts missing. After walking along this ridge for a few metres I thought that this might not be such a clever idea, as the remaining ones were probably under considerable tension, and my weight might just be enough to snap them... There were also some frozen penguins in the surgery.[30 May 2005]In what I believe is a time-honoured trick, Simon also scared the cr*p out of me by blasting me with one of the remaining CO2 extinguishers on the base.
Mind you, I guess one of the team sent to block the entrance may have been in after us...
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