Explorers set to redo 1914 South Pole quest
Source: Agencies |
December 4, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A GROUP of intrepid explorers are readying themselves for the first-ever recreation of the epic voyage made by British explorer Ernest Shackleton on his ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole in 1914, on an exact copy of Shackleton's lifeboat.
Shackleton's boat, the Endurance, became trapped in the Antarctic ice and was eventually crushed and sank. His attempt to raise the alarm is considered by many to be one of the greatest journeys ever made.
Shackleton took a small party from his crew and rowed 1,287 kilometers on the lifeboat James Caird from Elephant Island to South Georgia, where they knew they could get help from a whaling station. Their journey took from 1914 to 1916.
The British and Australian team, led by Australian explorer and environmentalist Tim Jarvis, will row the same route and then cross the mountainous, glacial interior of South Georgia to reach the north coast. They will use no equipment that was not available in Shackleton's time.
The Shackleton Epic team will depart from South America in early January, rowing an identical copy of Shackleton's 6.85-meter lifeboat.
The journey will not be without danger. The replica boat, named the Alexandra Shackleton after the explorer's granddaughter, has no keel and capsizes easily.
"It's amazing to think that (after) 100 years, with all of our modern thinking, we've ended up with exactly what Shackleton had," he said.
Shackleton's boat, the Endurance, became trapped in the Antarctic ice and was eventually crushed and sank. His attempt to raise the alarm is considered by many to be one of the greatest journeys ever made.
Shackleton took a small party from his crew and rowed 1,287 kilometers on the lifeboat James Caird from Elephant Island to South Georgia, where they knew they could get help from a whaling station. Their journey took from 1914 to 1916.
The British and Australian team, led by Australian explorer and environmentalist Tim Jarvis, will row the same route and then cross the mountainous, glacial interior of South Georgia to reach the north coast. They will use no equipment that was not available in Shackleton's time.
The Shackleton Epic team will depart from South America in early January, rowing an identical copy of Shackleton's 6.85-meter lifeboat.
The journey will not be without danger. The replica boat, named the Alexandra Shackleton after the explorer's granddaughter, has no keel and capsizes easily.
"It's amazing to think that (after) 100 years, with all of our modern thinking, we've ended up with exactly what Shackleton had," he said.
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