Loitering within tent
The last storm has finally cleared sufficiently for me to make an inspection of my tent, and see how it held up to the hurricane-force winds of a true Antarctic blizzard. The verdict? Admirably, but not without injury. Had we been forced to spend the duration of the storm in the tent we would certainly have survived; just as certainly it would not have been comfortable. Although the tent stayed secured thanks to the multitude of pegs and two extra stays connected to snow-pickets, the flysheet and several poles could not survive the onslaught of 185 km/h wind:
Kudos where they are due however: despite the ferocious wind the tent was still standing, still pegged down and although there was damage to the flysheet the inner tent was unharmed. Part of the explanation is that there was significant built-up of snow between the fly and tent, which created a protective shell around the inner. Survival yes, comfort no; Antarctica 1, Tent 0.