Cold, bleak and deadly: Antarctica is little changed since the days of Scott and Shackleton
Photo: Global Book Publishing Photo Library
From The Telegraph by Paul Rose (Base Commander of Rothera Research Station, Antarctica, for the British Antarctic Survey for 10 years)
In Antarctica, making the slightest
mistake can put your life at risk.
It is an unforgiving place.
Colder than cold, bleak, a vast wasteland of iciness, its deadliness stretches for thousands of miles.
It is an unforgiving place.
Colder than cold, bleak, a vast wasteland of iciness, its deadliness stretches for thousands of miles.
True, it has been explored and mapped.
Yet the minute you step out of your modern base, regardless of all your hi-tech equipment, you’re in exactly the same Antarctica that Scott and Shackleton travelled in.
It’s remote and it is hostile.
Yet the minute you step out of your modern base, regardless of all your hi-tech equipment, you’re in exactly the same Antarctica that Scott and Shackleton travelled in.
It’s remote and it is hostile.
That’s why Henry Worsley’s attempt to follow in Shackleton’s footsteps and travel across the Antarctic alone,
pulling his own supplies, was so impressive.
He was a formidable explorer: well-organised, determined and incredibly powerful – not one of those people who just goes off with a dream and not much of a plan.
His was a good expedition, and I followed him all the way.
It looked as if he was cruising it and sometimes he was even going like the clappers.
But you’ve got to remember those conditions.
Even walking outside at minus 40 degrees when you’re well-rested is a very, very cold, potentially deadly experience.
For Henry to face those conditions alone every day would have been incredibly tough.
Pulling a sledge full of supplies is brutal Photo: PA
The former Army officer turned explorer died just 30 miles short of his attempt to become the first person to cross the Antarctic alone
The final expedition:
A solo 943 mile
coast-to-coast trek across the Antarctic, pulling a sledge with
everything he needed. He collapsed 71 days into the anticipated 80 day journey, and later died of organ failure
Bear in mind that he had to carry everything he needed.
He couldn’t take anything that would add unnecessary weight – such as a spare pair of gloves.
And everything you do in those bitter conditions takes effort.
Say you’re thirsty and want to get some water out of your bag.
You’ve got to get the bag off the sledge and unzip it.
But you’re wearing thick mittens for travelling – warmer than gloves, but offering less dexterity – and you’ve got to take the outer mitten off to reach the zip.
Where do you put that outer mitten to make sure it doesn’t blow away?
Even the simplest task can be fraught with danger, and the only way to stay alive is with a severe amount of discipline.
It’s bloody hard at the end of a long day spent pulling that sledge.
All you want to do is get the tent up, get in and have a warm drink.
But the tent doesn’t go up by magic.
First you’ve got to secure the sledge, skis and poles so they don’t blow away.
You also have to bear in mind that the moment you stop you are instantly cold, so you have to put on a thicker, insulating down layer.
Then you find the tent and secure it – but it’s still just a shelter and minus 40 inside.
So you put the sleeping bag in, find the stove and melt some snow.
From stopping to getting a cup of instant soup takes an hour and a half.
Mornings are the worst, as you lie there, very hungry, tired and cold and have to force yourself to get up and start the routine over again: melt snow, make food, load sledge.
You love the sledge – because all that equipment is keeping you alive – but you are also beginning to hate the thing, the feeling of it rubbing on your hips as you struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
For all its harshness, though, Antarctica has something we love.Frank Wild, Shackleton’s right-hand man said that it calls you back with little white voices, and he was spot on.
Once you’ve worked there, it’s hard to resist its siren call.
Some people may say that Henry’s journey was foolhardy.
But it wasn’t.
For me it is only natural that we should want to explore new ground, no matter the dangers.
It is good for us to discover the “ground truth” of the planet for ourselves.
Henry’s was a tremendous journey and he very nearly made it.
For that, I salute him.
Links :
He was a formidable explorer: well-organised, determined and incredibly powerful – not one of those people who just goes off with a dream and not much of a plan.
His was a good expedition, and I followed him all the way.
It looked as if he was cruising it and sometimes he was even going like the clappers.
Antarctica from space (NASA)
But you’ve got to remember those conditions.
Even walking outside at minus 40 degrees when you’re well-rested is a very, very cold, potentially deadly experience.
For Henry to face those conditions alone every day would have been incredibly tough.
The former Army officer turned explorer died just 30 miles short of his attempt to become the first person to cross the Antarctic alone
He couldn’t take anything that would add unnecessary weight – such as a spare pair of gloves.
And everything you do in those bitter conditions takes effort.
Say you’re thirsty and want to get some water out of your bag.
You’ve got to get the bag off the sledge and unzip it.
But you’re wearing thick mittens for travelling – warmer than gloves, but offering less dexterity – and you’ve got to take the outer mitten off to reach the zip.
Where do you put that outer mitten to make sure it doesn’t blow away?
Even the simplest task can be fraught with danger, and the only way to stay alive is with a severe amount of discipline.
His lifelong hero was Ernest Shackleton and it was his journey across the Antarctic that Henry Worlsley was trying to recreate - with the huge, added challenge that Worsley was entirely alone.
Like Shackleton, his bravery and his willingness to endure endless, uncharted terrain led him into a desperate race for survival that ended in his death
The British explorer died of organ failure - tragically - when the end of the mission was almost in sight - just 30 miles remained of his 1,000 mile journey.
It’s bloody hard at the end of a long day spent pulling that sledge.
All you want to do is get the tent up, get in and have a warm drink.
But the tent doesn’t go up by magic.
First you’ve got to secure the sledge, skis and poles so they don’t blow away.
You also have to bear in mind that the moment you stop you are instantly cold, so you have to put on a thicker, insulating down layer.
Then you find the tent and secure it – but it’s still just a shelter and minus 40 inside.
So you put the sleeping bag in, find the stove and melt some snow.
From stopping to getting a cup of instant soup takes an hour and a half.
Mornings are the worst, as you lie there, very hungry, tired and cold and have to force yourself to get up and start the routine over again: melt snow, make food, load sledge.
You love the sledge – because all that equipment is keeping you alive – but you are also beginning to hate the thing, the feeling of it rubbing on your hips as you struggle to put one foot in front of the other.
For all its harshness, though, Antarctica has something we love.Frank Wild, Shackleton’s right-hand man said that it calls you back with little white voices, and he was spot on.
Once you’ve worked there, it’s hard to resist its siren call.
Some people may say that Henry’s journey was foolhardy.
But it wasn’t.
For me it is only natural that we should want to explore new ground, no matter the dangers.
It is good for us to discover the “ground truth” of the planet for ourselves.
Henry’s was a tremendous journey and he very nearly made it.
For that, I salute him.
Links :
- The Guardian : Henry Worsley and the psychology of endurance in life or death situations
- The Independant : Henry Worsley: Doomed explorers still have the power to capture our imaginations
- NYTimes : Henry Worsley and the Urge to Explore / Henry Worsley, a British Adventurer Trying to Cross Antarctica, Dies at 55
- GeoGarage blog : Scott's Antarctic samples give climate clues / Benjamin Leigh Smith: The forgotten explorer of the frozen north / Ernest Shackleton voyage to be retraced by modern-day Antarctic explorers / Shackleton Death or Glory - Rough Seas / Shackleton’s icebound survival story, up close
The Independant : This is the side of Antarctic explorer Henry Worsley that the media shies away from
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