Vale David Trail
| Station | Year | Season |
| Mawson | 1961 | Winter |
| Mawson | 1965 | Summer |
With much sadness, the ANARE Club advises the passing of David Trail on 17 February 2023.
The ANARE Club extends its condolences to David’s family and friends.
David was the wintering Geologist at Mawson 1961.
(Notified by email from Jim Trail on 4 March 2025)
DAVID SCOTT TRAIL, 1931 – 1923
David Trail
In December ’61, Dave Trail, Jim Seavers and Dave Keyser were poised on the northern margin of the uncrossed Fisher Glacier, in the Southern Prince Charles Mountains, with ten dogs and two sleds amid yawning crevasses. After the difficult glacier crossing, they were blessed with continuous sunshine during the survey of the Mt Menzies area. David, an experienced mountaineer, led the the first ascent of Mount Menzies, approximately 3228 m high at midnight on 19 December 1961. Their journey successfully completed the first geological observations on Mt. Menzies and Mt. Bayliss.
Looking across the Fisher Glacier to Mt Menzies. Photo D. Keyser
Looking across the Fisher Glacier to Mt Menzies. Photo D. Keyser
See also:
Commitment to the ANARE Club
David Trail was a member of the ANARE Club from 1962 until 2023
Contributions to Aurora Journal
| Month | YEAR | ARTICLE TITLE | AUTHOR | VOL | NO | PAGE | Journal / Link |
| September | 1988 | Dog Story | D. S. Trail | 8 | 1 | 7 | Aurora Journal Spring 1988 |
| April | 2017 | The way it was ……Three grand days in the Hills | Dave Trail | 36 | 3 | 15 | Aurora Journal Autumn 2017 |
Antarctic Service Recognition
David Scott Trail was awarded the Polar Medal in 1969.
Antarctic Place Names
Mount Trail – Named for D.S. Trail, geologist at Mawson in 1961. A mountain on the eastern side of the Auster Glacier, Enderby Land. Plotted from air photographs taken from ANARE aircraft in 1956. Named after D.S. Trail, geologist at Mawson in 1961. [Reference]
Trail Glacier – A broken mountain glacier on the southern side of Mount Menzies, about 4 km from the summit. It is about 9 km long and 6 km wide. It runs from a snowfield at about 2,750 m down a steep slope for at least 900 m vertically, then spreads out and merges with the ice cap a few km from the south side of the mountain. The glacier was partly photographed by ANARE aircraft in 1960. First visited by a field party led by D.S. Trail in December, 1961. Named after D.S. Trail, geologist at Mawson in 1961. [Reference]
