William Dyer is a geologist and a professor at Arkham’s Miskatonic University. After reading about a planned research trip to Antarctica, he feels the need to warn his fellow scientists not to go. He writes against his will and knows that people may not listen, but he hopes that people will simply judge his evidence on “its own hideously convincing merits” (1).

Dyer recalls his 1930 trip to the Antarctic to collect geological specimens. His colleague Professor Frank H. Pabodie has invented a special drill to help Dyer collect samples. They plan to spend a season exploring the mountainous region south of the Ross Sea, an area that was once tropical but is now covered in snow and ice. Dyer and Pabodie send home frequent reports via the radio, as do their colleagues Atwood (a physicist) and Lake (a biologist). Assisting them are seven graduate students, nine skilled mechanics, and two fully-manned ships. At the beginning, Dyer feels that they are well financed and equipped. They sail south from Boston in October and arrive in the Antarctic a month later.

Arriving at the “great unknown continent” (3), they are greeted by massive, snow-covered, windy mountains.