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It was a bold undertaking for the courageous pair, who on their 1,089 km (677 mile) trek followed a route closely akin to that Shackleton would necessarily have taken in 1915, had he set out from the Caird Coast and the Weddell Sea and thus reached the South Pole from the Atlantic side on his Endurance expedition. Shackleton planned to complete a crossing by continuing to the Ross Sea on the New Zealand/Pacific side.
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While Richard made his name on the turf at Kempton Park, Ascot and Aintree, American Doug Stoup is a Cinematographer, Filmmaker, Environmentalist, Motivational Speaker, Climber, Snowboard Mountaineer, Senior Field Guide and highly experienced Expedition Leader. He has traveled, climbed, skied and snowboarded in some of the most remote regions on the planet. Doug was the first American man to ski to the South Pole, and has climbed three of the 'seven summits' (Denali, Kilimanjaro and Vinson Massif).
 med.jpg "The American explorer and pioneer Doug Stoup") |
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SAT 4 APRIL BBC2 8.40 P.M. 'TIMEWATCH - 'IN SHACKLETON'S FOOTSTEPS'
LANDMARK PROGRAMME TRACKING THE SHACKLETON CENTENARY EXPEDITION
On Saturday 4 April the BBC 'Timewatch' programme will focus on Sir Ernest Shackleton and his successors.
A century ago on his Nimrod expedition, Ernest Shackleton and his team of four made an attempt on the South Pole. In January 1909, just 98 miles from their destination, they turned back - and survived. Juyst two years later Roald Amundsen, the first to reach the South Pole, completed the journey. Captain Scott and his team, who made the journey only to discover they had been pipped to the post by the Norwegians, succeeded but died on the return.
This hour-long programme produced by Sean Smith traces the efforts of a team of Nimrod party descendants a century later to cross 900 miles of frozen wastelands and reeenact and complete Shackleton, Wild, Adams and Marshall's historic journey.
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Henry Worsley, Will Gow and Henry Adams left the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf on 29 October, as Shackleton and his team did a century earlier.
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A RESPONSE TO CRITICISM BY THE SHACKLETON EPIC EXPEDITION
SEBASTIAN COULTHARD OFFERS A ROBUST DEFENCE OF THE SPIRIT OF REENACTION
 Alexandra Shackleton running before the wind, close hauled, in Portland harbour 517 557.jpg "The Alexandra Shackleton running before the wind, close hauled, in Portland harbour") |
The entry read: 'Dear James Caird Society, I am surprised shocked and saddened to read that Shackleton's history book is to be re-written with a copy-cat boat sailing by Tim Jarvis sometime soon. Why is it being organised now? I thought the James Caird centenary was not until 2015 ? Is the James Caird Society trying to steal a bit of the Scott Centenary spotlight by organising it now?
Would Shackleton have wanted his epic boat journey recreated and repeated? No, I don't think he would. Can we not leave alone those magical special achievements of our past heroes to be treasured and untainted for all time. So will Tim Jarvis use GPS? or a sextant? Will he succeed? Ernest Shackleton will surely be shaking his head in disbelief...
On 15 April Sebastian Coulthard, of the Shackleton Epic Expedition, published a spirited response. An edited version appears on the Forum and the full version appears below.
Chris,
Many thanks for your observations with regard to the Shackleton Epic Expedition. Your comments were directed to the James Caird Society, who felt it fitting for a member of the expedition to answer your questions directly. I am delighted to do so.
I am PO Sebastian Coulthard, the Bosun aboard the Alexandra Shackleton. The lifeboat is the most accurate replica of the James Caird ever constructed. She's not a museum piece, but the only seaworthy replica in the world that will allow for unrestricted ocean sailing.
 Alexandra Shackleton undergoing 4th capsize test sm.jpg "The Alexandra Shackleton undergoing its fourth capsize test in Portland Harbour") |
Those watching at home will share the mind-crushing lows of solitude, the euphoric highs of laughter and the extreme moments of adventure filmed against the spectacular backdrop of the Antarctic and its varied wildlife. When we sail past pack ice for the first time, you will notice that the ice sheets have receded several hundred miles compared to when Shackleton entered the frozen waters of the Southern Ocean.
 Alexandra Shackleton all alone at sea (Photographed from a Royal Navy Lynx at 500ft asl) sm.jpg "The Alexandra Shackleton all alone at sea (photographed from a Royal Navy Lynx at 500ft)") |
Shackleton was trying to save his men from Antarctica; today we are trying to save Antarctica from man – an unfortunate irony.
For me personally, I wish to explore the human spirit - how do we become so resourceful when we are given the bare minimum to survive? How do people modify their behaviour in order to maintain harmony amongst a disparate group of people?
We are being very respectful of the challenges ahead. The Southern Ocean doesn’t differentiate between Olympian, or people in possession of a Day Skipper's yacht ticket. These are some of the most dangerous waters on Earth, not the sort of place for an armchair explorer. Only sailors who have mental robustness and a good sense of humour travel beyond 50° South in a 22 and a half foot wooden boat!
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Day to day navigation will be conducted using: sextant, chronometer, compass and astro tables. We will wear Burberry outer garments, woollen underwear and leather boots. Reindeer skin sleeping bags will be the only source of confort at night. Our water will be stored in two Kilderkin barrels, identical to Shackleton's specification. All canvas, sails and rigging are hand made using materials and techniques from 100 years ago. We've done our very best to maintain the essence and spirit of the original boat.
 Main block for controlling main sail canvas sheet (This block is 175 years old, and was fully refurbished by the UK's leading traditional sail maker, Mr Philip Rose Taylor of Weymouth, Dorset.jpg "Main block for controlling main sail canvas sheet. This block is 175 years old, and was fully refurbished by the UK's leading traditional sail maker, Mr Philip Rose Taylor of Weymouth, Dorset. Made from a single piece of ash in Portsmouth in 1837.") |
Personally, I think Shackleton would be very happy with our expedition and my fellow team mates. My boss Tim Jarvis, Captain Darren Naggs and Warrant Officer Barry Gray of the Royal Marines are the best mountaineers and sailors I know - we trust each other with our lives. This is a serious expedition, with serious goals and objectives – not another reality TV show/copy-cat expedition as you suggest.
 Julian Woodall and Warrant Officer Baz Gray RM cook hoosh using a Primus stove.jpg "AS (37) Julian Woodall and Warrant Officer Baz Gray RM cook hoosh using a Primus stove. They are braced against the sides of the hull with the stove secured between their feet as per Shackleton's description in his book") |
Today, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s greatest exploit, it is fitting that the public should become possessed with the kind of admiration that Shackleton enjoyed at the peak of his career. Museum exhibits, coffee-table book reprints of early expeditions, documentaries and even IMAX cinema productions, are beginning to retell the tales of the Endurance Expedition, the James Caird and other great journeys of exploration. An appetite for adventure stories, a search for worthy heroes, a need to find models of result-orientated leadership all help feed the resurgence of his popularity.
Shackleton seems a man for the present: people are searching for survivors, role models, optimists to shepherd us into a better era. The fact that we have launched our expedition during Scott’s centenary year has nothing to do with stealing the lime light.
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Bakewell, William - Able Seaman; Blackborow, Percy - Stowaway (later steward); Cheetham, Alfred - Third Officer; Clark, Robert S. - Biologist; Crean, Thomas - Second Officer; Green, Charles J. - Cook; Greenstreet, Lionel - First Officer; Holness, Ernest - Fireman/stoker; How, Walter E. - Able Seaman; Hudson, Hubert T. - Navigator; Hurley, James Francis (Frank) - Official Photographer; Hussey, Leonard D. A. - Meteorologist; James, Reginald W. - Physicist; Kerr, A. J. - Second Engineer; Macklin, Dr. Alexander H. - Surgeon; Marston, George E. - Official Artist; McCarthy, Timothy - Able Seaman; McIlroy, Dr. James A. - Surgeon; McLeod, Thomas - Able Seaman; McNish, Henry - Carpenter; Orde-Lees, Thomas - Motor Expert and Storekeeper; Rickinson, Lewis - First Engineer; Shackleton, Ernest H. - Expedition Leader; Stephenson, William - Fireman/stoker; Vincent, John - Able Seaman; Wild, Frank - Second in Command; Wordie, James M. - Geologist; Worsley, Frank - Ship's Captain.
These expeditions take about four years to plan, a year to execute, and another year to roundup. Documentary material has to be edited, books have to be written, photographs catalogued, scientific reports published. By the time we’re finished and the boat returns to her hailing port we will be in the year 2014, the Centenary year of the Endurance Expedition.
Some exact dates to help you:
1 Aug 1914 - The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition set sail from London
8 Aug 1914 - Shackleton received the famous ‘PROCEED’ telegram whilst lying at anchor in Plymouth Sound.
21 Nov 1915 - Endurance sinks after being abandoned for 4 weeks.
24 April 2016 - Shackleton sets sail from Elephant Island aboard the James Caird at 12:30 pm.
30 Aug 1916 - Sir Ernest rescues his remaining 22 men on his fourth and final attempt on the Chilean tug Yelcho.
If you’re feeling fit, Chris, perhaps you might join us for a day sail in Portland Harbour. I’ll supply the boat, you supply lunch. Exploration is after all the greatest gateway to the highest levels of learning – a once in a lifetime opportunity that will allow you to identify with the "magical special achievements of our past heroes".
Please e-mail the James Caird Society if you wish to obtain my contact details. Alternatively you can find more information on our website: www.shackletonepic.com
Kind regards,
Sebastian Coulthard FRGS
Petty Officer
Royal Navy
+44(0)7960479485
THE SHACKLETON EPIC EXPEDITION
www.shackletonepic.com
 Rudder blade and stock details aboard the Alexandra Shackleton (The rudder is controller by a yoke and stern sheets produced from Manila rope) sm.jpg "Rudder blade and stock details aboard the Alexandra Shackleton. (The rudder is controller by a yoke and stern sheets produced from Manila rope)") |
THE 'ALEXANDRA SHACKLETON' - THE REPLICA 'JAMES CAIRD'
SHACKLETON EPIC EXPEDITION NAMES ITS NEW BOAT
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The Alexandra Shackleton will begin sea trials in 2011.
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For various reasons, instead of expensive Baltic pine planking on steamed oak timbers, European larch from Scotland has been used. Additional watertight bulkheading has been added for safety.
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The plank seams are caulked with cotton, as they were with the original James Caird, and the boat's seams are paid up with a mixture of putty and white lead paste. Originally McNeish & co. had to make use of George Marston's oil paints for this touching-up process!
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SHACKLETON EPIC EXPEDITION UPDATE
FULL DETAILS IN THE LATEST JCS NEWSLETTER (OCT 2010)
Tim Jarvis and his team-mate, Australian sailor Don McIntyre, are now in the midst of preparation and fundraising for the Shackleton Epic expedition, a retracing of Sir Ernest and his brave colleagues' lifesaving dash from Elephant Island to South Georgia and arduous crossing of the mountains - some 40 miles of perilous climbing and trekking - to find help for the marooned Endurance crew.
The reenactment is now scheduled to take place between March and May 2012.
At a gathering in London in September 2010 Tim outlined some of the extreme hazards for Antarctic explorers of Shackleton's era, as experienced by Tim himself on his own previous expedition following in Douglas Mawson's footsteps. These included:
Having to pull all your equipment, rations and shelter on a man-hauled sledge; chafing and frostbite accentuated by old Burberry clothes and leather boots; loosening and loss of teeth fillings. When sleeping in authentic reindeer skin bags, one's body heat melted the snow underneath, causing the bags to become sodden. It then froze during the day and became sodden again at night after a long day's journey.
Food was at a minimum, consisting of a starvation ration of pemmican (dried reindeer meat and lard), 5 boiled sweets, some meat 'jerky' (dried long slices) and a tea bag reused morning and night. A good way to lose several stone!
Don will captain the replica James Caird, which is to be named the Alexandra Shackleton, in honour of Shackleton's granddaughter, the President of the James Caird Society. He and his number 2, Dave Pryce, were both on the authentic and successful reenactment of the journey of Captain Bligh, following the Mutiny on the Bounty.
FEBRUARY 2010 ENVIRONMENTAL EXPEDITION TRACES SHACKLETON'S ROUTE
TEAM LED BY MICHAEL AW CHARTS SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF ANTARCTICA
The route of the 19-day Elysium Epic expedition roughly followed the track of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew after they lost the Endurance. This took them to the Weddell Sea, then across the treacherous Drake Passage and on to South Georgia.
One of the primary objectives of the expedition's leader, award-winning underwater photographer Michael AW, Director of the Ocean Geographic Society and founding director of the conservation charity OceanNEnvironment, and his team was to document faithfully, in present time, the sights and sounds of the region that those early 20th Century explorers would have experienced. It is, he said, "about extraordinary explorers using advanced imaging technologies to document the last wilderness on our planet. The aim of the project is to provide a visual library that documents the flora and fauna of Antarctica, and to produce a documentary feature and book to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the heroic legendary expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans Antarctic challenge in 1914b
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Their landing on Elephant Island was notable for the presence of fur seals at Cape Wild, which are recovering after man's depredations in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The glaciers draining the icecaps of the peninsula and surrounding islands are also shrinking. The thunderous calving of icebergs and rumble of avalanches were evidence of this. The abundance of wildlife on South Georgia was gratifying, and included reindeer roaming the hillsides. Among the birds in evidence were albatrosses and petrels.
The National Maritime Museum is exploring the possibility of hosting the world premiere of the Elysium Epic exhibition. The Elysium Epic book will be published in 2013, in time for the centenary of the Endurance expedition.
NEWS OF THE SHACKLETON EPIC EXPEDITION PLANS
SHACKLETON EPIC EXPEDITION NOW RESCHEDULED TO SET OUT IN 2013
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Shackleton's original goal had been to be the first to cross Antarctica. With the sinking of his ship the Endurance in the pack ice, it instead became a journey of survival, both for the 6 men in the James Caird and for the 22 men left behind on Elephant Island, whose rescue depended on their success...
To this day, no-one has successfully completed Shackleton's 'double' - the boat journey and the mountain crossing of South Georgia.
In 2013, Tim Jarvis will head up a team that will attempt the journey under the patronage of The Hon. Alexandra Shackleton, granddaughter and closest direct descendant of Sir Ernest.
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"Shackleton's leadership style is central to curricula at many business schools, with his management lessons remaining highly relevant today. Whether it be looking at environmental issues such as climate change, or the state of disarray in the credit markets, Shackleton's message of individuals putting differences aside and working to their strengths to collectively overcome problems, regardless of their scale, has real resonance."
By way of demonstrating Shackleton's ongoing popularity, Shackleton's Way by Margot Morrell has become a seminal management reference book, selling more than 300,000 copies worldwide.
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The expedition will furthermore start from Elephant Island, off the Antarctic peninsula, adjacent to where much of Antarctica's ice cap melt has occurred, several hundred kilometres from the infamous Larsen B Ice Shelf.
In his capacity as an environmental scientist, Tim Jarvis aims to document visually the status of Antarctic ice as part of ongoing interest in the field.
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THE SHACKLETON FOUNDATION
INSPIRED BY THEIR ANCESTORS 100 YEARS AGO
The successful launch and completion of the Shackleton Centenary Expedition (1909/2009) coincided with the launch of The Shackleton Foundation, which exists to support and encourage people who might not have the chance to reach their own Antarctic - especially those who are disadvantaged.
An introductory film was made to outline the aims of the Foundation.
SKIP NOVAK'S PELAGIC VESSELS
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| Visit Pelagic's website |
Both Pelagics are suitable for:
Climbing Project Support;
Scientific Field Research;
Adventure Sailing Expeditions;
Wildlife Cruises;
Dive Excursions;
Film-making Support;
Gap Year Adventure and Expeditions
Building Sea time and Experience on Delivery Trips
If your project is off the trade routes, Pelagic can suit your needs.
All Seasons - All Oceans
THE SHACKLETON EPIC EXPEDITION - LAUNCH AT DULWICH
MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORIGINAL LAUNCH OF THE JAMES CAIRD IN 1916
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24th April marks the anniversary of the day Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions embarked on the now legendary voyage of the tiny James Caird, crossing 800 miles of storm-tossed Southern Ocean from Elephant Island to South Georgia. There they climbed the unknown mountainous interior of the island and eventually rescued Shackleton's men from Elephant Island.
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The South Australian Polar adventurer also recently completed with a colleague the first unsupported crossing of Australia's largest desert, the remote Great Victoria Desert, spanning an area of almost 350,000km². The ABC and Channel 4 film Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica won film awards following Tim and colleague John Stoukalo's expedition to re-enact the polar survival journey of Sir Douglas Mawson using the same 1912 clothing, equipment and starvation rations as Mawson would have had. He has navigated through sub-zero Arctic temperatures on Spitzbergen and at the North Pole.
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Meanwhile the Shackleton Epic Expedition's plans are well advanced. A replica of the James Caird is presently being built. Tim's aim is to "do the double", i.e. complete both Shackleton's boat journey and Shackleton, Worsley and Crean's arduous 36-hour trek across the (then uncharted) mountains of South Georgia. There have been several not entirely successful attempts in the past to complete both undertakings exactly and in rapid succession.
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The Patrons of the Expedition are the Master of Dulwich College, Graham Able MA, and The Hon. Alexandra Shackleton, granddaughter of Sir Ernest and President of the James Caird Society.
Tickets to this special launch event are available and cost £25 (please makes cheques payable to The Shackleton Epic Expedition) and can be obtained from Anna Thomsen, 54 Bendermeer Road, Putney, London SW15 1JU. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope. (Donations are also welcome.)
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SHACKLETON'S NIMROD PARTY DESCENDANTS REACH SOUTH POLE
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF 900-MILE SHACKLETON CENTENARY EXPEDITION
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Only two previous expeditions, it pointed out, had succeeded in reaching the Pole along this route: Scott's in 1912 and Robert Swan's in 1986. Although the Beardmore route (which Amundsen - who made it first, in December 1911 - elected not to follow) is some 200 miles longer than the route usually taken by Antarctic explorers, the Shackleton descendants wanted to follow as closely as possible in the footsteps of their forebears.
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"Ever since I was a child, completing this journey has been my lifetime ambition. To stand here, with Shackleton's own compass, which never made it to this point all those years ago, is a humbling experience."
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.jpg "The three doughty veterans at the official welcome home do with a South Polar legend - explorer Robert Swan, who reenacted the Nimrod Group's Southern Journey in 1986 (see text) . Robert lent magnificent encouragement by acting as their chief fundraiser.") |
"The Foundation hopes that beneficiaries will develop or possess the personal qualities that define leadership: a fierce personal commitment to succeed, a willingness to take intelligent risks, and the ability to inspire and energise those around them to do their utmost towards worthwhile causes.
Sample from the Matrix Expedition's diary/records: DAY 52 (Sun 4 January 2009)
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"David Cornell and the 97 mile team are now in Puenta Arenas awaiting their flight to Patriot Hills and we should start receiving reports from them shortly."
Main Trio Day 57 (Fri 9 January 2009 - arrival at Shackleton's 'Furthest South' exactly a century after Shacklteon, Wild, Adams and Marshall reached there):
1. Sitrep No 57 as at 0735 hrs GMT 09 Jan 09
2. Distance Covered Today : 11.6 nm
3. Total Distance Covered : 700.5 nm
4. Hours travelled: 6
5. Daily Average to Date: 12.29 nm
6. Distance to Pole: 97.00 nm
7. Altitude: 10244 ft ASL
8. Total Raised on Justgiving: £6050
9. Total raised in last 24 hours: £2050
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Ernest Shackleton's diary for January 4th, 1909 (from Heart of the Antarctic:-
"The end is in sight. We can only go for three more days at the most, for we are weakening rapidly. Short food and a blizzard wind from the south, with driving drift, at a temperature of 47° of frost, have plainly told us today that we are reaching our limit, for we were so done up at noon with cold that the clinical thermometer failed to register the temperature of three of us at 94°.
"We started at 7:40 A.M., leaving a depot on this great wide plateau, a risk that only this case justified, and one that my comrades agreed to, as they have to every one so far, with the same cheerfulness and regard-lessness of self that have been the means of our getting as far as we have done so far.
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"This, I consider, is a clear indication of our failing strength. The main thing against us is the altitude of 11,200 ft. and the biting wind. Our faces are cut, and our feet and hands are always on the verge of frostbite. Our fingers, indeed, often go, but we get them around more or less. I have great trouble with two fingers on my left hand. They had been badly jammed when we were getting the motor up over the ice face at winter quarters, and the circulation is not good. Our boots now are pretty well worn out,.. our stock of sennegrass is nearly exhausted, we are on short rations of the ordinary allowance of thirty-two ounces.
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Five days later, on 9 January, the four men reached their furthest point possible and turned back.
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HURLEY'S DESCENDANT TO SKI-SAIL ACROSS THE GREENLAND ICECAP
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and also: www.crossinggreenland.
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THE PERILS OF ANTARCTICA: ILL-HEALTH AND EXHAUSTION
MEMBER OF THE THREE-MAN PARTY AIRLIFTED TO SAFETY
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Unfortunately James Fox was feeling the ill-effects of the altitude and strain plus an adverse reaction to the dehydrated food, and was forced to abandon the expedition and be picked up by plane. Having had to clear a runway for the plane on the 20th December (and therefore having travelled only 1 km on that day), the team had their hopes dashed when the plane seemed almost to touch down before heading off into the sky again, the pilot stating that conditions were not safe to land.
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Richard and Doug set off in earnest on Christmas morning, Richard also doing several interviews that day, including Sky News, Sky Sports and Radio 5 Live. With increasing altitude and the fresh snow, which creates more friction on the runners of the sleds, it has been very challenging. Whiteout conditions have developed and they have had to cross more crevasse fields, as well as encountering some energy-sapping climbs. The only way to replace the vast amount of energy they are expending is to eat: Richard has already lost about a stone and a half.
Temperatures around Christmas were relatively mild, around minus 23 degrees. The pair simply can’t afford to lose any further weight through sweat. The conditions at altitude, however, have caused them to suffer from coughing and headaches. The team has climbed to an altitude of around 2400m (7800 feet, or about a mile and a half). The South Pole is 2835 meters above sea level; so Richard and Doug were at that point a mere 400 metres (1200-1300 ft)from their objective, the polar plateau.
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 and Doug passing the 88th parallel.jpg "6th week: Doug photographs Richard Dunwoody crossing the 88th parallel. Link through to Doug's 9 January report") |
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THE INTERCHANGE SHACKLETON SOUTH POLE EXPEDITION
THREE INTREPID MEN SLOG IT OUT ON THE FIRST HALF OF SHACKLETON'S PLANNED POLAR CROSSING
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The team hopes to reach the Geographic South Pole at at 90 degrees South in 60 days, or less, travelling totally unsupported and dragging 250 lb (113 kg) sleds over 660 miles (1,062 km).
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The expedition began in earnest on 1 December: a mammoth 660 mile trek across the vast expanse of Antarctica to the South Pole.
Crossing the vast expanse of Western Antarctica: the team trekked nearly 50 km in their first four days (1-4 Dec), crossing crevasse fields, climbing upwards in sub-zero temperatures with windchills of -23 degrees and colder. Each day their sleds get lighter as they gradually consume provisions, while their endurance improves. They were now skiing up to 9 hours a day.
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By 14 December they had trekked more than 200 kilometers over some of the most treacherous terrain on the planet, and moved 2 degrees closer to the Pole (leaving 8 degress to go). Avoiding numerous crevasses and dragging full sleds uphill in whiteout conditions and sub-zero temperatures has become their daily routine. But despite these gruelling conditions, the team is on schedule; and should eventually get ahead of schedule.
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Next will come the 'Great Crevasse Field' which has never been crossed on foot. Two 2 weeks is the estimate, bringing the team close to Christmas Day, by which time they hope to have completed the toughest and technically most taxing part of our expedition. Once through the crevasse field they will have arrived at the Polar Plateau and should be able to complete the expedition on the blue ice, reaching the Geographic South Pole at 90 degrees south.
Their distance covered over the first week (to 6 Dec) was 70.4 km (81.07 South) and in the second week, 127.6 (82.04 South). Full details, including distance and time charts and audio reports from members of the expedition, can be found at their website, www.beyondshackleton.com
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SHACKLETON CENTENARY EXPEDITION
RECREATION OF THE NIMROD EXPEDITION SOUTHWARD PARTY
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It includes an outline of the purposes of the Shackleton Foundation, inspired by the idea that 'any truly determined individual can make something remarkable happen, and inspire others to do the same.'
You can listen to the wax cylinder recording of Shackleton speaking, enumerating his key men of the 1907-9 expedition, find out about the South Polar Times, read a summary of the Nimrod expedition, the ascent of the Beardmore Glacier and the failed attempt on the Pole (which this centenary party plans to rectify), read of a rare, splendidly illustrated book about The Endurance and the James Caird_, learn about an ancient lake that lies hidden more than two miles beneath the frozen surface of Antarctica, look up the account by Max Worsley (aged 13) of his father's preparations to follow in Shackleton's footsteps.
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Fascinatingly, the party will approach the Ross Sea and Ross Island not by ship from Lyttelton, New Zealand, but by plane from Punta Arenas, Chile. The site also reveals that they will begin their ordeal by climbing Mt. Erebus, repeating Shackleton's first ever climb in 1907.
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Travelling unguided on skis, we will cross the Ross Ice Shelf, individually hauling our expedition supplies in sledges. We will then ascend the seldom-crossed Beardmore Glacier, en route collecting blue ice samples for scientific analysis back in the UK. Then it's on to the Polar plateau, 400 miles towards the Pole itself.
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Donations are welcome to the Shackleton Centneary's immensely deserving appeal.
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SHACKLETON AND CLOSE COMRADE'S HEIRS LAUNCH 'SHACKLETON CENTENARY EXPEDITION 2008'
THE JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY SPONSORS SHACKLETON AND ADAMS GREAT-GRANDSONS, AS THEY CELEBRATE THE 'NIMROD' EXPEDITION 100 YEARS ON, AND SHACKLETON'S 'FURTHEST SOUTH' WORLD RECORD IN 1908-9
- E.H.Shackleton.
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In October 2008 a group of five men (all of whom are descendants of Heroic Age explorers and including Shackleton's great-grandson and great-nephew) will embark on a commemorative expedition to celebrate the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship the Nimrod, used on Shackleton's 1907-9 expedition.
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The 'Shackleton Centenary Expedition' will cost £300,000. Some £20,000 has also to be found for training in Greenland in April 2007. The website is shortly to be launched: www.shackletoncentenary.org will from March 2007 be carrying full information about the expedition.
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Funds will also be allotted to the New Zealand Heritage Trust for their conservation work in the Antarctic, which includes Shackleton's hut in Cape Royds.
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Henry Adams is a shipping lawyer by profession. He is the great-grandson of Jameson Boyd Adams, Shackleton and Wild's solidly buit, sturdy companion on the 'Furthest South' trek in 1909. Henry has trekked extensively throughout South America and Africa and is a passionate kite surfer and sailor. Since boyhood Henry has dreamed of reliving his great-grandfather's polar experience.
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Patrick Bergel works in advertising. Patrick is the great-grandson of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the grandson of Lord Shackleton and the elder son of the Society's President, the Hon. Alexandra Shackleton. Patrick will support the fundraising effort and intends to meet the ice team at the "Furthest South" Point reached by his gradfather in 1909, from there to complete the last 97 miles to the South Pole.
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BRITISH SCHOOLS EXPLORATION SOCIETY
EXPEDITION TO SOUTH GEORGIA
From December 2003 to January 2004 the British Schools Exploring Society under the leadership of Brigadier David Nicholls (Royal Marines retired) took a 30-strong expedition including 21 Young Explorers aged 18 to 24 to Chile, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The expedition was supported by HMS Endurance. Their aim including a noble attempt to locate Shackleton's cooking pot abandoned during his crossing of South Georgia with Worsley and Crean, the climbing of four Virgin peaks, detailed scentific research, in the course of which they also contributed to the upkeep of the South Goergia whaling stations and cemeteries.
Further details are posted on the 'Young Caird' news page, and the full story can be found on the official South Georgia website.
RECENT EXPEDITIONS : FOLLOWING IN SHACKLETON'S FOOTSTEPS
S ARIS - IRISH ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE
The Irish South Aris Expedition, of which Frank Nugent was joint leader, attempted in January 1997 to repeat Shackleton's crossing from Elephant Island to South Georgia. They were forced to scuttle their boat - christened the Tom Crean - when they ran into a sustained Force 10 storm, which capsized them three times in 30 hours. Frank Nugent went on in February l997 to complete a re-enaction of Shackleton's South Georgia traverse from King Haakon Bay to Stromness.
THE SHACKLETON MEMORIAL EXPEDITION 2001
'If you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore. If you are a brave man you will do nothing, if you are fearful you may do much...' These words from Apsley Cherry-Garrard served as a motto for the Shackleton Memorial Expedition 2001, which has also just completed a crossing of South Georgia.
Their plan was to attempt a traverse of the island retracing Shackleton's route - Peggotty Camp, Shackleton Pass, Trident Ridge, Crean Glacier, Fortuna Glacier, Fortuna Bay and Stromness. 'No man had ever penetrated a mile of coast of South Georgia at any point, and the whalers, I knew, regarded the country as inaccessible', wrote Shackleton.
Following a landing on Elephant Island, the party - Neil Laughton, Trevor Potts, Lewis McNaught, Peter Oldham, Martin Hartley and Rebecca Harris - was transported by icebreaker to South Georgia to begin the climb. Unable to put in at King Haakon Bay owing to force 10-ll gales (as ferocious as those Shackleton and Worsley faced tacking in aboard the James Caird) the expedition made for Possession Bay, round the top of the island, and launched its climb from there.
The Expedition took three and a half days to traverse South Georgia's treacherous mountain terrain. Linking from Possession Bay with Shackleton's original route from King Haakon Bay, they thereafter navigated a path through the same mountains, glaciers, and crevasses that Shackleton crossed, before reaching the now deserted whaling station at Stromness. They encountered atrocious weather and perilous climbing conditions, with blizzards and white-out for most of the time, wading through snow up to their thighs.
For one member of the five-man climbing team, Trevor Potts, the expedition represents the second leg of an amazing journey. In 1994, keeping touch with Harding Dunnett, Alexandra Shackleton and the publicity team at the London Boat Show at Earl's Court - the Shackleton event which provided the spur to the formation of the James Caird Society - Trevor and his three companions completed the 800 mile sea-crossing from Elephant Island to South Georgia - the first expedition to do so - in his boat the Sir Ernest Shackleton, an exact replica built by McNulty's shipyard on Tyneside of the original 23 foot James Caird. The Sir Ernest Shackleton was flown down to the Falkland Islands by the Royal Air Force specially for the Expedition.
The Shackleton Memorial Expedition's climb over South Georgia has enabled Trevor at last to fulfil his long-held dream of recreating both the sea and land sections of Shackleton's heroic journey.
With the James Caird Society's President, the Hon. Alexandra Shackleton, as Patron, it also raised money for two important charities - The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust and The Shackleton Scholarship Fund. Any donations would be most welcome to : The Shackleton Memorial Expedition, Wades Cottage, Slindon, West Sussex, U.K., BN18 ORA.
SHACKLETON'S STEPS EXPEDITION 2000
Three climbers, Jock Wishart, Duncan Nicoll and Jonathan Chastney, set out in November-December 2000 to retrace the route across South Georgia taken by Shackleton, Worsley and Crean in l9l6. Members of the Shackleton's Steps Expedition wore replicas of Shackleton's original Burberry gabardine clothing as they sought to rechart his treacherous route over ice-bound peaks, glaciers and snowfields They recorded film footage for the TV production company Tiger Aspects, which is developing a documentary about the crossing for global broadcasting.
Wishart was previously a member of the first team to walk unsupported to the Geomagnetic North Pole in 1992, and in 1996 made a televised trek to the Magnetic North Pole. Chastney, an accomplished mountaineer, sailor and explorer, was a member of the team that made the first ascent of Mount Katherine-Jane on Smith Island, Antarctica, in l995. Nicoll, six times UK national champion in quads, doubles and single sculls, set a world record rowing from London to Paris in l999, and in l997 rowed across the Atlantic in 60 days in a 24ft open rowing boat - roughly the same length as the James Caird.
Although they succeeded in reaching the Shackleton Gap, the Murray Snowfield, and all four passes of the Trident Ridge, the three climbers were thwarted at every stage by bad weather (low pressure, gale force winds and a dangerous build up of avalanching snow above the descent to the Crean Glacier). Their experience of such severe conditions brings to mind those that must have threatened Shackleton and his two intrepid colleagues, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean.
WGBH NOVA EXPEDITION TO SOUTH GEORGIA
Conrad Anker, Reinhold Messner and Stephen Venables reconstructed Shackleton, Worsley and Crean's crossing of South Georgia for inclusion in the WGBH/Nova/White Mountain Films IMAX film Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. It was Anker, who has climbed in Alaska, Antarctica, Russia and Patagonia, who discovered George Mallory's body on Everest shortly before mounting has own attempt on the summit.
Messner was the first to conquer Everest solo, and without oxygen. In l989-90, inspired by Shackleton, he effected a crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. He was also the first to climb all the world's 8,000-metre peaks (those over 26,400 feet).
Stephen Venables is a mountaineer and writer, best known for his part in the Anglo-American-Canadian Everest expedition (up the Kangshung face of Everest), when he was also the first Briton to reach the summit of Everest without oxygen. During 14 visits to the Himalayas, he has made many first ascents including Kishtwar Shivling, the Solu Tower and Panch Chuli V, a remote peak on the borders of India, Nepal and Tibet, where he sustained a nearly fatal fall. He started climbing whilst reading English at New College, Oxford. His first book, Painted Mountains, won the Boardman-Tasker Prize for mountain literature; Everest - Alone at the Summit was runner-up in 1989 while the most recent, Himalaya Alpine Style, a seminal work on modern Himalayan climbing, won the Banff Mountain Literature Festival Grand Award. Everest Kangshung Face told the story of the 1988 expedition.
Venables has increasingly been drawn to the mountains of the far south : The Andes, Antarctica, South Georgia and Tierra del Fuego, where he climbed a new route on Monte Sarmiento. He earns his living as a writer and lecturer, living with his wife and two children in Bath. His most recent book, A Slender Thread, is shortlisted for this year's mountain literature award and the Boardman-Tasker Prize. His latest excursion was a climb of the Matterhorn in tweed suit and nailed boots for a BBC documentary about the first ascent.
'When I first came to South Georgia,' says Venables, 'we were exploring the southern end of the island and making first ascents of the large peaks towards the southern tip; so I hadn't actually been on the terrain of Shackleton's traverse at the northern end. But I've experienced the island and its incredible blizzards that just seem to hit you from nowhere. That reinforced my respect for what Shackleton, Worsley and Crean achieved. But I understood too that sense of Providence which they mentioned in their accounts : Providence for once smiling on them and giving them thirty-six hours of clear weather - the only clear weather break that entire winter - which enabled them to make their crossing safely. It was a combination of incredible determination, experience, leadership and that vital bit of luck at the crucial moment.
'We covered the entire route Shackleton's party took in May l9l6, except for allowing ourselves one short cut - we omitted part of Breakwind Ridge. Our sequence is just a small part of the film, which covers all of the Endurance expedition : NOVA/WGBH have done a remarkable job seamlessly incorporating Hurley's original film into wonderful new colour footage, and using some stunning aerial photography, shot by helicopter, which add a whole new dimension.
'The climb up to the first big transverse ridge was longer than I expected, the crevasses bigger and more threatening than I had ever imagined. But it was thrilling to see the four notches in the ridge, described so precisely by Frank Worsley all those years ago, and the huge windscoop at the side of the glacier, which he said would easily swallow up two battle cruisers. Unlike Shackleton, we chose the third, not the fourth notch, and set off down the east side. It must have been nearly 1,000 feet down to the Crean Glacier. As Reinhold Messner pointed out, 'we were effectively trapped'.
'Later, after we had sniffed out a descent, looking back up at the slope which Shackleton and his companions had glissaded down, we knew that if we had tried to slide the same way, all three of us would have been killed. Even allowing for the fact that glacial recession has made the slope much more fractured, we were still amazed by Shackleton's boldness in 1916, launching himself with Worsley and Crean down that huge slope, without being able to see the bottom.'
Stephen Venables' striking account of the mountain crossing can be read in the catalogue of the Dulwich Exhibition Shackleton, the Antarctic and Endurance.
NORWEGIAN AND AMERICAN WOMEN SKI ACROSS ANTARCTICA
In February 2001 Norwegian polar traveller Liv Arneson and her colleague, American Ann Bancroft, successfully completed their attempt to become the first woman's team to ski across Antarctica.
They hauled 250lb (112 kg) sleds 2,400 miles (3,860 km) across the frozen wastes, enduring temperatures averaging 30 degrees below zero and minus 35 degree winds (gusting up to 100 miles per hour), and ascending to 11,000 feet (3,300 metres). When conditions permitted, the pair sped up their journey by 'sailing' across the ice on skis, attached by harness to a flying kite-sail.
Liv Arneson (47), born near Oslo, is no stranger to difficult climes and terrain. In l993 she led the first unsupported women's crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap. In 1994 she became the first woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole, following which she wrote Snille piker går ikke til Sydpolen (Good Girls do not Ski to the South Pole), a book about her expedition (1995). She subsequently attempted the north face of Everest. Minnesota-born Ann Bancroft (45) has comparable polar experience : in l986 she drove a dog sled from Canada to the North Pole as the only female member of the Steger International Polar Expedition. In 1993, she led the American Women's Expedition to the South Pole, becoming the first woman to reach both poles.
Both explorers had dreamed of travelling to Antarctica since they were 12, and were inspired by Alfred Lansing's book Endurance about Shackleton's 1914 attempt to lead the first transantarctic crossing. Both have previously been to the North and South poles.
The pair reached the South Pole (9,300 ft, 2835m) on Tuesday Jan 16th. Having ascended the Titan Dome (9,856 ft), by Jan 20th they were l00 miles (160 kilometers) from the start of their descent of the Shackleton Glacier - a river of ice cutting through the Transantarctic Mountains - to the Ross Ice Shelf, which lies at the bottom of the glacier and marks the formal completion of their crossing, a distance of about 132 kilometers (82 miles). The courageous pair reached McMurdo, their destination (a further 488m/782km) on February 11 2001, completing their Antarctic Odyssey four days ahead of schedule.