RIP. I’m a huge Shackelton fan. His journey is an incredible story. It’s actually about five or six great stories wrapped into one. The initial journey, getting stuck in the ice, surviving under the lifeboats, leaving some of the crew and sailing one of the small boats to look for help through huge seas, and even the hike to the whaling station when they finally land are all epic and heroic tales by themselves. Again RIP to someone paying homage to a great explorer.
I am a huge fan of Shackleton as well. A nearly unbelievable story.
That they all survived, and in as good and nearly intact shape as they did (Physically AND psychologically) is a testament to the kind of leader Shackleton was.
And then, the 800+ mile journey in an open boat in Arctic winter from Elephant Island, with only three celestial bearings (done in a heaving small boat) and landing dead on at South Georgia Island (done mostly by dead reckoning) is a tale of navigation that ranks amongst the most monumental in human oceangoing navigation.
THEN, to try to go across the mountainous South Georgia Island, in boots that had screws taken from the boat to be driven inside out on the men’s boots to serve as crampons, is remarkable.
They had the boat at the Peabody Essex Museum a couple of years ago, and I can tell you, your respect for that accomplishment rises significantly when you see the size of that boat.
And we have to remember: Those guys back in 1912 weren’t wearing the best North Face gear...they were wearing woolens, and fur parkas!
They had a few guys try to replicate their journey across South Georgia Island with all modern gear, and I recall it took them a lot longer than three days...