Ross James Walsh

October, 1947 to March, 2025

Casey Winterer 1979 and 1985

Ross Walsh had a lifelong interest in Antarctica and was an ANARE Electronics Engineer and Drilling Glaciologist on 4 expeditions spanning the period 1979 to 2001.  Ross graduated from UNSW in the 1970’s with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. He had previously acquired skills as a field surveyor working on projects around Australia.

Ross was wintering Electronics Engineer for the ANARE Glaciology traverse program in Wilkes Land operating out of Casey in 1979 and 1985 in the D5 tractor train era.  He was primarily engaged in ice thickness measurements using the Ice Radar.  The 1979 and 1985 traverses crossed some of the deepest ice in Antarctica, ~ 4 km ice thickness.  In 1979, the field program took the southern route Law Dome into the interior of Wilkes Land to their turnaround point at 74°S.  An almost 2000 km round trip.  In 1985, the field program traversed the eastern Wilkes Land traverse route out of Casey.  This route branched off the southern route at A028 and approximately followed the 2000 m surface elevation contour of the ice sheet to its most eastern point inland of Porpoise Bay, almost to Terre Adelie.  This traverse covered also a round trip distance of ~2000 km.  The eastern Wilkes Land traverse of 1985 successfully completed a new program of shallow firn-ice core drilling using hand augering and new electromechanical drilling equipment. Ross made significant contributions to improving the drilling equipment and retrieval of core.

Ross also participated in other national Antarctic programs; the Soviet Antarctic Expeditions, and the United States Antarctic Program, through the US Coastguard.  During the 1970’s and 1980’s the International Antarctic Glaciology Program (IAGP) focused national operations on glaciological and geophysical research in East Antarctica and particularly the Queen Mary Land and Wilkes Land regions.  In the Austral summer of 1980/1981, Ross was the Australian participant on the Soviet Antarctic Expeditions traverse from Mirny on the coast to Dome C, which is in the deep interior of the East Antarctic ice sheet.  On this traverse they travelled close to 3000 km round trip distance out of Mirny, the Soviet station on the edge of East Antarctica.  The Mirny to Dome C traverse passed the French Dome C drill site by 10 km.  The turn around point was about 50 km north-east of the Dome Concordia station, and about 70+ km north-east of the current Australian Million Year ice core drilling sites. On the Mirny to Dome C traverse Ross crossed the southern most section of the route he travelled with ANARE in 1979.  Whilst the traverse achieved its scientific goals, they also suffered tragedy with the death of the doctor in a caravan fire, on the return to Mirny.

In the Austral summer of 2000/2001, Ross teamed up again with glaciologist Ian Goodwin to conduct shallow ice core drilling around the Mertz Glacier in George V Land, then to the Balleny Islands, the Cape Hallett region of Northern Victoria Land, and then on to McMurdo Sound.  This drilling project was supported by the US Coastguard and the team spent the summer aboard the icebreaker, Polar Sea, flying ashore to drill ice cores.

Ross was a pleasure to work and live with on traverse.  He was a quiet achiever.  He always put the team first and contributed to all tasks whether they were scientific, mechanical, electronic or the many tasks that are required to keep an overwintering traverse progressing towards its goals, from refuelling, communications to cooking.  Ross was always keen to drive a dozer, and relished in driving D7 Jane for the year in 1985.  His automotive tinkering was a great skill to have on board and he was faithful to his beloved Saab car and Ford ute for all of his life.

Ross was fluent in French and Russian, and was widely read in history, current affairs and geopolitics.  Ross became a life-long friend to many of his ANARE and Soviet traverse colleagues, especially the 1985 ANARE team.  Post Antarctic-life Ross worked as an Engineer in the NSW Government, primarily engaged in the optimisation of transport networks.  In retirement he served as a volunteer in community activities in Australian and abroad, ranging from education support, to food delivery for the homeless, to services at the Sydney Olympics.  He is sadly missed and is survived by his sister, daughter and three adult grandchildren.  RIP RJW.

Ian Goodwin, Glaciologist

[ See Ross’s account of role in the Soviet traverse from Mirny to Dome C, published in Aurora No. 3, February 1982. ]