The Hard Trek of the Shackleton Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1916
Lawrence (Larry) Koresko operates a wholesale brokerage consultancy, Insmax Insurance Brokerage, near Philadelphia. When he is not working with clients, Lawrence Koresko enjoys reading about adventures such as the arduous boat journey of the Shackleton expedition across the Antarctic ice pack. Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton had made two previous trips to the Antarctic, in 1901 and 1908. His experience spurred him to attempt a 1914 crossing of the entire continent via the South Pole, even though Roald Amundsen had reached the pole in 1911. Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, was crushed by drifting ice after landing and sank in November 1915, stranding 28 men and their supplies with no means of escape. Shackleton led 11 of the men through blizzards and subzero temperatures to Elephant Island in the South Shetland Islands, still beyond all possible contact. After resting, Shackleton set off with five others in the lifeboat James Caird toward a whaling station at South Georgia Island, 800 miles away and through some of the earth’s worst seas. The journey was horrific. The exhausted crew had to move boulders around to maintain ballast. Up to 15 inches of ice formed on the deck and frostbite set in. After a prodigious feat of navigation, the crew spent two days trying to land on South Georgia’s rocky, windswept coast. They finally made landfall - on the opposite side of South Georgia from the station. Shackleton and two others had to cross craggy, unmapped mountains as high as 4,500 feet. After numerous obstacles, they reached the station. In poor condition and in tattered clothes, they were unrecognizable - Shackleton had to introduce himself to the astonished station manager. As they recuperated, Shackleton pulled together a rescue party, setting out for Elephant Island and the wreck of Endurance. Not one man out of 28 was lost. Shackleton organized another expedition in 1921, and had returned to South Georgia when he died of a heart attack, at only 47. His death closed a heroic era.