146

“Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey”

The Antarctic continent remains one of the last frontiers of human exploration. Today, enormous steel icebreakers are the few travelers to brave the outer waters of Antarctica, dodging razor-sharp icebergs and hurricane-like storms. There are no permanent residents of Antarctica, only scientists and researchers scattered across the ice and snow for various periods of time.

For hundreds of years men have been entranced with the thought of this final frontier of Earth. Since the eighteenth century, explorers have tried to set foot on the continent. Their wooden ships, makeshift sleds, and poorly knit clothing hardly stood a chance against the deadly elements. Yet, their technological deficiencies made their journeys even more remarkable feats of human strength and will. One such story is Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic exploration in 1914.

Shackleton was one of the greatest leaders of men—the famous explorer who lost not a man during one of the most trying journeys in human history. His fellow Antarctic explorer Raymond Priestley once said, “When disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.” Below is a retelling of Shackleton’s daunting journey, one that almost killed him and his entire crew. Men, like Shackleton and his crew, will often choose the hard path in life, believing rightly that often more will be gained from it.

In 1902, Ernest Shackleton undertook his first mission to the South Pole. Battling the extreme cold and foreign elements, Shackleton broke down with sickness and was sent home on an earlier ship. His trip was discouragingly short-lived.

Undaunted, Shackleton returned to Antarctica in 1908 on the Nimrod Expedition, determined to reach the South Pole. This time, he and his team reached a record south latitude, only 112 miles from the South Pole. Fighting starvation, Shackleton and his team survived on a mere biscuit a day toward the end of the trip. He returned to England a national hero.

After jump-starting a race for conquest of the South Pole, in 1914 Schackleton plotted his own ultimate voyage, an expedition across the Antarctic continent, infamously dubbed the “Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.” He would use two ships: the Endurance and the Aurora. The Endurance would take the main team into the Weddell Sea to the Vahsel Bay where a team of six, led by Shackleton, would commence their crossing. On the other side of the continent, the Aurora would approach the Great Ice Barrier laying depots [sic] of food and fuel for Shackleton’s crew to use once they got close to the end of their journey.

147

Shackleton’s voyage did not go as planned.

The Endurance departed on December 5 and became frozen solid in an ice floe deep in the Weddell Sea by the middle of January. Shackleton hoped that the ship would drift with the ice and break loose in a spring thaw; however, months ticked by and nothing loosened. Finally in November, the ice took its toll and broke a hole in the ship. Shackleton and his men abanonded the ship and remained stranded, floating on ice floes hoping to reach shore. In April, the ice floe broke in half and Shackleton ordered his men to embark in their emergency lifeboats for the nearest land.

After five harrowing days at sea, the men reached Elephant Island. According to Shackleton’s diaries, this was the first time they had touched solid ground in 497 days.

However, for Shackleton and a few of his men their stay was short-lived as Elephant Island was cruelly inhospitable. The men set their sights on South Georgia Island, a small island with whaling stations where they could find food and shelter. With hypothermia and starvation setting in, they set sail in the James Caird, a craft no better than a small sailboat. They packed very few supplies knowing that if they didn’t make it to South Georgia they would surely die. Thanks to uncanny navigation and miraculous fortune the men survived hurricane-force winds, floating ice, and nearby rocks until they finally reached the south tip of South Georgia.

Now all that stood between the men and rescue was the mountainous island of South Georgia. Shackleton took two of his men and made a death-defying thirty-six-hour journey over unknown and uncharted terrain until he and his small team finally reached the nearest whaling station. Shackleton was saved but he wasted no time outfitting a ship to return to Elephant Island to rescue his remaining men. After more than a year at sea, the crew was rescued.

Throughout the entire journey, Shackleton never lost a man in his own crew. He never reached the South Pole or completed his transcontinental expedition, but his story remains a remarkable beacon of human strength and survival. His audacity changed the course of Antarctic exploration and spurred on an entire generation of pioneers.

148

Before he embarked on this storied journey, Shackleton placed the following ad in a London paper looking for men to accompany him on his mission:

“MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.”

The ad was answered by many more times the number of men than were needed. Men need bread, water, and warmth. They also long for honor in their work.