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♪
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(Snow crunches)
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Exploration has been the
greatest driving force in my
life, since I was young.
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00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:58,800
♪
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00:00:59,119 --> 00:01:01,599
And exploring this alien
landscape of Antarctica
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is a challenge unlike anywhere
else on Earth.
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Over 100 years ago, Antarctica
was more than just a challenge.
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It was the very limit of human
knowledge and scientific
understanding.
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The last unexplored continent
on Earth.
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It's the beginning of the 20th
century,
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the heroic era of polar
exploration.
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These are the astronauts of
their time,
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and Antarctica was their moon.
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DISTANT VOICE OF CONTROLLER:
Lift off, we have a lift off!
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Explorers from around the world,
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pit themselves against the
immense wilderness of
Antarctica,
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00:02:03,639 --> 00:02:06,679
in search of glory and
discovery.
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But this is a vast, cold,
isolated and entirely
unforgiving place.
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(Loud rumbling)
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What do you do when it
all goes horribly wrong?
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The journals and film recorded
by Sir Ernest Shackleton and
his crew of 27,
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answers that very question.
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AS SHACKLETON: The story of our
attempt, is the tale of the
white warfare, of the south.
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The struggles, the
disappointments and the
endurance of this small party
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00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,440
of Britishers,
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00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:54,320
make a story which is unique,
in the history of Antarctic
exploration.
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I ask myself, 'why on earth one
comes to these parts of the
earth?'
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(Loud crashing)
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(Radio chatter)
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I think we all have a sense of
adventure in us,
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and it manifests in
different ways with different
people.
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Life's true adventure is
understanding what the meaning
of it all is,
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00:03:47,199 --> 00:03:52,360
and I think that drives medical
research, it drives artistic
self expression,
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00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,159
it drives people's desire to
cross ice caps or climb
mountains.
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That has burnt brightly in me
since childhood, and I've never
grown out of it.
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00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,159
I've always just had that
desire to keep on discovering.
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And it's seen me go to the far
limits of human endurance
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and to the ends of the world as
a means to do that.
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VARIOUS NARRATIONS:
Environmental scientist Tim
Jarvis.
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00:04:14,599 --> 00:04:16,880
Australian explorer Tim Jarvis
lost more
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than 50 pounds of body weight,
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recreating the journey of Sir
Douglas Mawson.
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In doing the expeditions the
old way, essentially
disadvantaging yourself
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by using 100 year old
equipment, you get about as
close as you can
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to experiencing that which they
experienced 100 years prior.
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00:04:36,238 --> 00:04:39,279
At least I could honestly say
that I've
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00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,839
been served up the same sorts
of conditions as he had.
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REPORTER: Explorer Tim Jarvis
is the only man
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to have ever recreated the
harrowing journey of Ernest
Shackleton,
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using the same inadequate
clothing and equipment as they
had back in 1913.
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There have been many instances
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along the way,
some falls in the mountains,
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where you do wonder whether
it'd be the last move you make.
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♪
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I'm so excited about getting
down here, I mean,
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I feel I really come alive
when I'm in a place like this,
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you get much closer to the
spirit of the great man if
you're following
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in his footsteps, but also you
get closer to this more
resourceful version of you
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that emerges when you find
yourself in these places.
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They've been the theater for so
many
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fascinating journeys in the
past that you can't help but
be inspired.
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We are 830 nautical miles
southeast of the Falkland
Islands,
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headed to the whaling island of
South Georgia
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where Shackleton began his
imperial trans antarctic
expedition.
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SHACKLETON: There remained but
one great main object
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of antarctic journeyings, the
crossing of the south polar
continent from sea to sea.
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The distance will be roughly
1,800 miles,
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00:06:09,519 --> 00:06:10,880
and the first half of this,
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from the Weddell Sea to the
pole, will be over unknown
ground.
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00:06:16,079 --> 00:06:19,839
Every step will be an advance
in geographical science
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00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,238
and this report will prove of
great scientific interest.
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An expedition of this scale
would require a budget of
millions in today's money.
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To fund his dreams of the South,
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Shackleton would rely on his
ability to convince people of
the cause.
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Shackleton had this way of
getting people
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excited about what they
were going to know.
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He offered them things
that money couldn't buy.
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So if you were a wealthy
benefactor
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thinking about maybe putting
money into a polar expedition
Shackleton could
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00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,559
name a mountain range or a
coastline after you and you had
immortality guaranteed.
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00:07:00,599 --> 00:07:02,678
So it was a clever way of doing
it.
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♪
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00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,519
This wasn't Shackleton's
first attempt to make history.
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In 1907, he was hired to lead
the Nimrod expedition to the
Antarctic.
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The mission was to be the first
to reach the south pole.
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00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,599
Although they set a new record
for the most southerly point
ever reached,
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they were forced to turn back
just 97 nautical miles short of
their target.
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00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,039
Shackleton and his men,
starving and exhausted,
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00:07:34,079 --> 00:07:37,960
returned to base inspired by
what they'd seen,
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00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,480
but frustrated with how close
they'd come.
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It would take Shackleton almost
seven years to raise the funding
and plan this expedition,
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personally putting
everything on the line this
time.
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The stakes couldn't be higher.
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SHACKLETON: Long days of
preparation were over, and the
adventure lay ahead.
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00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:10,280
I gave the order to heave
anchor at 08:45 a.m.
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00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,639
on December 5 1914,
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and the clanking of the
windless broke for us, the last
link with civilization.
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(Dogs barking)
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00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,239
The fate of the expedition
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now rested on the shoulders
of the 28 crew of the Endurance.
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Shackleton was a consummate
leader of men
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in those days on those early
expeditions, a leader of
people.
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And he got about 3,000
applicants for the 27 places on
the expedition team.
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And his recruitment process
involved interviews that
involved him throwing
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00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,640
really curly, interesting
questions at people, just to
see how they would react.
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And if there was someone who
was too rigid in their
thinking,
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00:09:00,479 --> 00:09:05,960
perhaps again they weren't the
kind of person who had the
capacity for lateral thinking
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00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,880
and problem solving ability
that he was looking for.
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00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,920
He always wanted people who saw
a positive in any situation,
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00:09:13,479 --> 00:09:20,479
and you need that for
successful expeditioning, or
indeed, life.
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00:09:22,319 --> 00:09:25,559
And in the end, how relevant
those skills turned out to be.
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00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:33,880
The crew seemed a strong one,
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00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,559
and as I looked at the men,
I felt confidence increasing.
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(Birds squawking)
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The Weddell Sea was
notoriously inhospitable,
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and already we knew that its
sternest face was turned
towards us.
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00:10:02,039 --> 00:10:06,119
What welcome was the Weddell
Sea preparing for us?
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00:10:10,078 --> 00:10:12,840
♪
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00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,000
To navigate these southern
waters,
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00:10:26,078 --> 00:10:28,279
timing is everything.
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00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,119
In the relative warm months of
summer, the sea is less frozen
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00:10:34,159 --> 00:10:38,039
and large lanes of open water,
provide passage to the
continent.
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00:10:46,239 --> 00:10:50,399
I'm just staring out on a scene
of brash ice and pancake ice.
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00:10:50,439 --> 00:10:53,239
Pancake ice is when the surface
just
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starts to freeze over,
and that's what we're starting
to see.
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00:10:56,078 --> 00:10:59,239
And it's the beginning of the
formation, of course, of pack
ice.
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00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:07,679
As Endurance went south, they,
of course,
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00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:11,559
started to experience pack ice,
initially probably very much
like this,
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00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:13,679
and then, of course,
became thicker and thicker and
thicker.
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00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:17,640
Worsley on board Endurance was
a wonderful
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00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:19,720
skipper and Shackleton
was no slouch himself.
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00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:21,239
So between them and some of the
other sailors on board,
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00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:23,760
they knew what they were
doing in terms of getting
through pack ice,
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00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,520
but you're really pushing
through leads, which are the
gaps between
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00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:31,439
the bits of larger pack, and
you try to force the ship
through there,
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00:11:32,078 --> 00:11:33,760
push the pack ice apart.
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00:11:34,199 --> 00:11:35,199
(Cracking)
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00:11:41,039 --> 00:11:45,159
Expedition cameraman Frank
Hurley, recorded the efforts of
the crew
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00:11:45,239 --> 00:11:49,640
as they navigated
their way through the ice.
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00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,600
The fearless Australian would
perch himself
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00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:59,760
almost anywhere, to capture
the dynamic imagery he was so
famous for.
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00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,359
The last 250 miles had been
through close pack,
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00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,840
alternating with fine long
leads and stretches of open
water.
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00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,559
Under the boughs and alongside,
great slabs of ice were being
turned over
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00:12:16,479 --> 00:12:19,880
and slid back on the flow, or
driven down and under the ice
or ship.
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00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:25,078
In this way, the Endurance
would split a two foot to three
foot flow
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00:12:25,119 --> 00:12:26,679
a square mile in extent.
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00:12:29,199 --> 00:12:30,199
(Cracking)
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00:12:31,479 --> 00:12:33,760
It was important that we should
make
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00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,359
progress towards our goal
as rapidly as possible.
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00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:40,840
(Wind whistles)
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00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,679
In order to keep the expedition
on schedule,
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00:12:47,359 --> 00:12:52,199
Shackleton had to make land
before the ocean froze over
for winter.
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00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,159
When the pack ice starts to
form on the surface of the
sea,
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00:13:06,479 --> 00:13:09,439
ultimately it forms an apron
around Antarctica, which
actually almost doubles
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00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,439
the size of the continent,
which is incredible when you
think of it.
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00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,119
The ice can be anything from 20
cm thick
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00:13:16,239 --> 00:13:18,679
all the way through
to three or 4 meters thick.
159
00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:20,439
And of course, the further
south you go,
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00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:22,559
the thicker it gets,
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00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:24,520
and it comes a point where you
need
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00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,119
to make a judgment about
whether you're prepared to keep
the engines running
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00:13:29,159 --> 00:13:34,439
and push further south, or try
and push further south
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00:13:34,479 --> 00:13:36,800
into this incredibly thick ice,
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00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,359
all the while thinking, how are
we going to get home at the
end of this?
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00:13:45,279 --> 00:13:50,239
I was anxious, for certain
reasons, to winter the
Endurance in the Weddell Sea.
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00:13:50,279 --> 00:13:54,078
But the difficulty of finding
a safe harbour might be very
great.
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00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:57,960
It was as though the spirits
of the Antarctic were pointing
us
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00:13:58,119 --> 00:14:02,760
to the backward track, the
track we were determined not
to follow.
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00:14:03,359 --> 00:14:06,039
Our desire was to make easting
as well as southing,
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00:14:06,439 --> 00:14:10,359
so as to reach the land, if
possible,
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00:14:10,399 --> 00:14:14,600
east of Ross's, farthest south
and, well east of Coats Land.
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00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,600
The unusually abundant sea ice,
ground their progress to a
crawl,
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00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:26,520
with the rapidly freezing
seawater trapping them time
after time.
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00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,319
The ice was only getting
thicker and open water
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00:14:29,359 --> 00:14:30,800
was slowly disappearing.
177
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,279
They were reaching dead ends,
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00:14:40,319 --> 00:14:45,520
having to turn around, chip
their way through the ice, sit
and wait it out sometimes,
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00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,000
when they became completely
stuck,
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00:14:47,039 --> 00:14:50,119
for the ice to open up again,
break up and move.
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00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,600
And it was a pretty torturous
process trying to get through.
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00:14:56,199 --> 00:14:58,640
♪
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00:15:02,279 --> 00:15:05,840
The name of the game was to
keep pushing south as best one
could,
184
00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,359
and sometimes open leads of
water in amongst the pack ice,
185
00:15:09,399 --> 00:15:11,920
would force you to go left
and right,
186
00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,119
not doing much in
the way of southerly travel,
187
00:15:14,159 --> 00:15:18,920
but you were constantly
focused on trying to get south
as best you could.
188
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,840
The situation became dangerous
that night.
189
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,560
We pushed into the pack in the
hope of reaching open water
beyond,
190
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,520
and found ourselves after dark
in a pool which was growing
smaller and smaller.
191
00:15:38,039 --> 00:15:41,680
Ultimately, they reached a dead
end.
192
00:15:43,479 --> 00:15:45,760
Pack ice closed in around the
vessel,
193
00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,640
and no more leads were
opening up.
194
00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,600
The weather was getting colder
and it was
195
00:15:51,199 --> 00:15:54,239
very clear that that was
where they would remain.
196
00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,640
I could not doubt now that the
Endurance was confined for the
winter.
197
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:16,560
The abandonment of the attack
was a great disappointment to
all hands.
198
00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:21,680
The men had worked long hours
without thought of rest, and
they deserved success.
199
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,600
But the task was beyond our
powers.
200
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,760
The land showed still in fair
weather on the distant horizon,
201
00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,159
but it was beyond our reach,
now.
202
00:16:44,439 --> 00:16:45,439
(Metal whirring)
203
00:16:55,079 --> 00:16:56,079
(Wind blowing)
204
00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:58,800
Much like the endurance,
205
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,279
we've reached as far south
as the ice will allow us.
206
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,319
When it's clear, the Endurance
is not going to go any further
south,
207
00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,439
it was one of those real
defining moments of the
expedition where I think you're
208
00:17:16,479 --> 00:17:18,359
hopeful, always right to the
end,
209
00:17:18,398 --> 00:17:21,199
that you could just push,
find a lead,
210
00:17:21,239 --> 00:17:25,398
push far enough to actually
make landfall on the continent
and set up your winter camp,
211
00:17:25,439 --> 00:17:29,840
to be prepared for the land
crossing of the continent the
following summer,
212
00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:34,520
so the decision to ultimately
stop short and set up winter
camp on the ice
213
00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:36,279
must have been a really
difficult moment.
214
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,880
Life is all about playing
a bad hand of cards well,
215
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,359
and I think that sums
it up fairly accurately.
216
00:17:44,398 --> 00:17:48,439
You've got to look positively
at any situation you find
yourself in.
217
00:17:50,039 --> 00:17:51,359
In many people's minds,
218
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,600
many of the expedition team
felt, well, that's it, that's
the expedition gone,
219
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:57,800
the rest is all about survival.
220
00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,520
And Shackleton managed to keep
them motivated through a sort
of combination
221
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,840
of suggesting that things
could still improve,
222
00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:06,039
the ice might break up,
223
00:18:06,079 --> 00:18:11,600
there might be an opportunity
to push south, as the ice began
to thaw.
224
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,000
But in the meantime he had them
doing
225
00:18:14,039 --> 00:18:18,640
language lessons and gathering
food and playing soccer matches
on the ice.
226
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:23,479
And these are all sort of
things that you don't do, if
you're expecting to die.
227
00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:30,159
And it was clever because the
men felt that Shackleton had
the measure
228
00:18:30,199 --> 00:18:32,680
of the circumstances
in which they found themselves.
229
00:18:36,159 --> 00:18:38,439
The flat flows and frozen leads
230
00:18:38,479 --> 00:18:42,039
in the neighbourhood of the
ship, made excellent training
grounds.
231
00:18:42,079 --> 00:18:44,398
Hockey and soccer on the flow
were our chief recreations,
232
00:18:44,439 --> 00:18:48,880
and all hands joined in many a
strenuous game.
233
00:18:50,239 --> 00:18:52,439
Worsley took a party to the
flow on the 26th,
234
00:18:52,479 --> 00:18:58,000
and started building a line
of igloos, and dog loos around
the ship.
235
00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:02,640
The dogs seemed heartily glad
to leave the ship,
236
00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:07,840
and yelped loudly and joyously,
as they were moved to their new
quarters.
237
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,560
The sun, which had been above
the horizon for two months,
238
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,880
set at midnight on the 17th.
239
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:33,479
And although it would not
disappear until April,
240
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,398
its slanting rays warned us of
the approach of winter.
241
00:19:43,279 --> 00:19:45,760
Pools and leads appeared
occasionally,
242
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,560
but they froze over very
quickly.
243
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,560
♪
244
00:19:59,079 --> 00:20:03,920
Psychologically, the unending
nature of Antarctica is always
difficult to deal with
245
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,119
but more so when you've got
the darkness of winter to deal
with,
246
00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:09,600
so the sun disappears, quite
literally for,
247
00:20:10,279 --> 00:20:14,119
when you get further,
further south to the pole
itself,
248
00:20:14,159 --> 00:20:17,720
six months of the year you're
in brutally low temperatures,
249
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:20,159
and complete darkness.
250
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,760
More important than that,
psychologically,
251
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,600
your whole world shrinks back
into that little area of light
around
252
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,279
the stove at night.
253
00:20:30,319 --> 00:20:35,640
Or candles or blubber stove lit
fires that you could keep
going.
254
00:20:36,199 --> 00:20:41,560
And it would be very difficult
in that situation to think
positively about
255
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:42,920
the journey ahead.
256
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,359
You're there, it's cold,
257
00:20:45,398 --> 00:20:48,800
the chances of your survival
are low.
258
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,079
And the chances of you
sailing out when
259
00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:53,920
the ice is getting thicker and
thicker rather than the other
way around.
260
00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,439
It would have been a very
bleak time for many of them.
261
00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:01,600
Trapped on the frozen surface
of the sea,
262
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,199
isolated and cut off from
the world,
263
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,279
they may as well have been
on the surface of the moon.
264
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,359
The disappearance of the sun is
apt to be a depressing event in
the polar regions.
265
00:21:17,159 --> 00:21:21,199
But the Endurance's company
refused to abandon their
customary cheerfulness
266
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,560
in strange contrast with the
cold, silent world that lay
outside.
267
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,960
Shackleton knew they had no
control over the situation they
were in.
268
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:41,039
So he focused the men's
attention on the things they
could control.
269
00:21:44,479 --> 00:21:47,560
All crew, regardless of rank,
were required to clean the ship.
270
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,760
Ongoing scientific research
was collected and catalogued.
271
00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,720
The sharing of duties kept
everybody on an even keel.
272
00:21:58,079 --> 00:22:00,398
It made all of the men,
regardless of their position,
273
00:22:00,439 --> 00:22:02,720
feel that everyone was in this
together.
274
00:22:05,398 --> 00:22:08,000
Shackleton had a genius,
275
00:22:08,039 --> 00:22:13,600
it was neither more nor less
than that, for keeping those
about him in high spirits.
276
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:15,079
We loved him.
277
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,079
The men had felt the cold, that
is true,
278
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:23,039
but he had inspired the kind
of loyalty which prevented them
279
00:22:23,079 --> 00:22:26,359
from allowing themselves
to get depressed over anything.
280
00:22:27,439 --> 00:22:30,159
And they had stood up to the
hardships
281
00:22:30,199 --> 00:22:32,680
inseparable from
antarctic exploration,
282
00:22:33,079 --> 00:22:34,640
without a murmur.
283
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,880
A form of midwinter madness has
manifested itself.
284
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:44,319
All hands being seized with
the desire to have their hair
removed.
285
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:46,840
It caused much amusement.
286
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,398
We are likely to be cool headed
in the future, if not
neuralgic.
287
00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:00,800
During the night, I took a
flashlit photograph of the ship
beset by pressure.
288
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,039
(Explosive sound)
289
00:23:03,439 --> 00:23:04,720
This necessitated some 20
flashes...
290
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,000
...one behind each
salient pressure hummock
291
00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:12,199
to satisfactorily
illuminate the ship herself.
292
00:23:18,279 --> 00:23:19,880
♪
293
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:29,520
Half blinded by the successive
flashes,
294
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,760
I lost my bearings amidst
hammocks bumping
shins,
295
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,159
against projecting ice
points
296
00:23:34,199 --> 00:23:36,720
and stumbling into deep snow
drifts.
297
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,398
♪(Triumphant music)
298
00:23:51,039 --> 00:23:53,680
SHACKLETON: All cheered, by the
indication that the end
299
00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:59,960
of the winter darkness is near,
79 days after our last sunset.
300
00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,239
All the winter, the drifting
pack changes,
301
00:24:05,199 --> 00:24:10,840
grows by freezing, thickens by
rafting, and corrugates by
pressure.
302
00:24:11,239 --> 00:24:15,520
If finally in its drift it
impinges on a coast such as the
western shore of the
303
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:18,840
of the Weddell Sea,
304
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:23,279
terrific pressure is
set up, and an inferno of ice
blocks,
305
00:24:23,319 --> 00:24:25,159
ridges and hedgerows results,
306
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:30,000
extending possibly for 150 or
200 miles offshore.
307
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,239
The effects of the pressure
around us, were awe inspiring.
308
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:41,239
Mighty blocks of ice,
gripped between meeting flows,
309
00:24:41,279 --> 00:24:45,398
rose slowly, till they jumped
like cherry stones squeezed
between thumb and finger.
310
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,600
The pressure of millions of
tons of moving ice,
311
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,119
was crushing and smashing
inexorably.
312
00:24:52,479 --> 00:24:56,000
If the ship was once gripped
firmly, a fate would be sealed.
313
00:24:57,640 --> 00:24:58,640
(Rumbling)
314
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:01,880
We could see from the bridge,
315
00:25:03,079 --> 00:25:05,640
that the ship was bending like
a bow under titanic pressure.
316
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,479
The onslaught was all but
irresistible.
317
00:25:13,319 --> 00:25:15,398
Well, the noise of thousands
and thousands
318
00:25:15,439 --> 00:25:18,680
of tons pushing in around the
beams of a ship,
319
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,479
creaking and groaning and
320
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,720
desperately trying to
withstand that pressure would
have been like
321
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,398
the final death throes
of an animal, or a person,
322
00:25:26,439 --> 00:25:28,920
and indeed, I think that's the
way they tended to think of it,
323
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,119
it was this guttural kind of
roars
324
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,880
and almost pleas for help
coming from the vessel as it
trying to withstand
325
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:36,920
this pressure,
326
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,680
because these sort of unseen
forces are closing in around
them
327
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:44,439
and it must have been a really
hellish kind of situation to
find themselves in.
328
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:46,920
(Creaking)
329
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:50,920
The roar of pressure could
be heard all around us.
330
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,239
Almost like a living creature.
331
00:25:55,439 --> 00:25:57,880
She resisted the forces
that would crush her.
332
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:00,960
But it was a one sided battle.
333
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,359
Millions of tons of ice pressed
inexorably upon the little
ship,
334
00:26:05,398 --> 00:26:10,479
that had dared the challenge of
the Antarctic.
335
00:26:15,239 --> 00:26:17,520
The men were listening to the
structural damage for weeks,
336
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,760
as the pressure of the pack
closed in around the hull.
337
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:23,840
Fearing the ship was not going
to take them home,
338
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,159
they were powerless to do
anything.
339
00:26:28,398 --> 00:26:30,159
It must have felt hopeless.
340
00:26:34,398 --> 00:26:38,479
The plans for abandoning the
ship in case of emergency had
been made well in advance,
341
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,520
and men and dogs
descended to the flow and made
their way
342
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:47,640
to the comparative safety of an
unbroken portion of the flow,
without a hitch.
343
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,800
It was a sickening sensation to
feel the decks breaking up
under one's feet.
344
00:26:55,319 --> 00:27:01,800
She is crushed and abandoned
after drifting more than 570
miles during the 281 days,
345
00:27:02,199 --> 00:27:06,119
since she became locked in the
ice.
346
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,119
It is hard to write what I
feel.
347
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,800
The attack of the ice reached
its climax at 04:00 p.m.
348
00:27:20,159 --> 00:27:26,560
The flows, with the force of
millions of tons of moving ice
behind them,
349
00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:28,439
were simply annihilating the
ship.
350
00:27:37,079 --> 00:27:40,359
The men were left with,
quite literally a pile of
driftwood.
351
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,199
The images Hurley captured are
dramatic.
352
00:27:44,279 --> 00:27:46,880
Everything above the hull just
fell to pieces,
353
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:48,640
leaving a collection of cables
and wires,
354
00:27:50,159 --> 00:27:52,840
ropes and split timber on the
ice.
355
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,960
It was barely recognizable as a
vessel.
356
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:08,000
The task is to reach land
with all the members of the
expedition,
357
00:28:08,039 --> 00:28:12,398
and to that I must bend my
energies and mental power and
apply every bit
358
00:28:12,439 --> 00:28:14,760
of knowledge that experience
of the Antarctic had given me.
359
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:25,680
♪
360
00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,159
The task was likely to be long
and strenuous,
361
00:28:33,199 --> 00:28:37,880
and an ordered mind and a clear
program are essential,
362
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,399
if we were to come through
without loss of life.
363
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,439
Once the Endurance had sunk and
they hadn't obviously managed
to make landfall
364
00:29:04,479 --> 00:29:06,920
on the continent, the original
expedition goal was off.
365
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,159
And so this required a complete
reframing.
366
00:29:10,199 --> 00:29:14,760
And as Shackleton famously
said, 'a man must adjust to a
new mark directly
367
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:16,239
'the old one goes to ground.'
368
00:29:16,319 --> 00:29:20,800
And it was all about then
looking positively at the
changing circumstances.
369
00:29:21,079 --> 00:29:22,399
And this is where I think there
was just a critical,
370
00:29:22,439 --> 00:29:26,840
kind of inflection point,
really, where he said, 'look,
371
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,479
'the original goal of crossing
Antarctica is not possible.
372
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,399
'The new goal is saving
ourselves,
373
00:29:31,439 --> 00:29:35,239
'but the good news is that even
though our mission has changed.
374
00:29:35,279 --> 00:29:37,159
'our vision of doing something
memorable together,
375
00:29:37,199 --> 00:29:41,920
'surviving, testing ourselves,
pushing ourselves beyond the
limits
376
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,119
'of human endurance
to, in this case, now save
ourselves
377
00:29:46,159 --> 00:29:48,239
'rather than cross Antarctica,
as was the original goal,
378
00:29:48,279 --> 00:29:51,239
'will still allow us to come
home as heroes.
379
00:29:51,359 --> 00:29:52,960
'We will achieve our vision.
380
00:29:53,439 --> 00:29:55,079
'It's just that the mission has
changed.'
381
00:29:55,119 --> 00:29:59,079
And I think this was really a
kind of masterstroke, in the
way that he managed
382
00:29:59,119 --> 00:30:02,720
to reframe and reposition
the direction of the whole
endeavour.
383
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:08,159
Essential supplies had been
placed on the flow about 100
yards from the ship,
384
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,239
and there we set about
making a camp for the night.
385
00:30:12,159 --> 00:30:16,199
Now it's a case of anything we
take off the ship, we've got to
carry.
386
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:18,279
So weight was critical,
387
00:30:18,319 --> 00:30:21,680
and Shackleton said, each man
has two pounds, two pounds of
gear.
388
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,279
And he set a wonderful example
here
389
00:30:25,039 --> 00:30:28,760
by basically discarding a whole
series of things that might, in
the normal world,
390
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:32,760
be perceived as valuable things
like watches and rings and
jewelry,
391
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,319
and chucked them down on the
ice and said, 'none of this
matters.
392
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,279
'We need to just take
what we need to survive.'
393
00:30:39,319 --> 00:30:41,359
And indeed, the guitar made it,
394
00:30:41,399 --> 00:30:44,920
just a masterstroke in thinking
about what really makes
somebody tick.
395
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,600
And it made the men feel that,
again,
396
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,760
at some level, he had
circumstances under control.
397
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:51,800
They're taking a musical
instrument.
398
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:53,359
What a thing to take.
399
00:30:55,159 --> 00:30:58,239
We are now 346 miles from
Paulet island,
400
00:30:59,279 --> 00:31:03,000
the nearest point where there
is any possibility of finding
food and shelter.
401
00:31:04,279 --> 00:31:08,239
I mustered all hands and
explained the position to them
briefly,
402
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:13,600
and I hope clearly, and have
stated that I propose to try to
march with equipment
403
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:15,960
across the ice in the direction
of Paulet Island.
404
00:31:16,319 --> 00:31:20,079
I thanked the men for the
steadiness and good morale they
have shown in these
405
00:31:20,119 --> 00:31:25,279
trying circumstances and told
them I had no doubt that
provided they continued
406
00:31:25,319 --> 00:31:29,800
to work their utmost and to
trust me, we will all reach
safety in the end.
407
00:31:47,399 --> 00:31:50,039
The first thought was,
the ship's gone down.
408
00:31:50,079 --> 00:31:53,600
We have these lifeboats,
let's take a couple of them.
409
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,000
And with the 28 men,
we have 14 men to a boat,
410
00:31:57,039 --> 00:32:01,159
pull them like a sled and see
if we can find our way to the
continent.
411
00:32:01,319 --> 00:32:03,840
And that was the original plan.
412
00:32:08,319 --> 00:32:11,159
It was with the utmost
difficulty that we shifted our
two boats.
413
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:14,640
The surface was terrible,
414
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,359
like nothing that any of us
had ever seen around us before.
415
00:32:19,159 --> 00:32:22,279
We were sinking at times up
to our hips and everywhere
416
00:32:22,319 --> 00:32:24,039
the snow was 2ft deep.
417
00:32:25,119 --> 00:32:26,319
And this they pursued for a
couple of days
418
00:32:26,359 --> 00:32:28,359
until they realized it was
just completely futile.
419
00:32:28,399 --> 00:32:33,600
In fact, it started to erode
away people's morale very, very
quickly,
420
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,479
just the physical effort of
pulling these heavy,
421
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:40,359
heavy 22-and-a-half foot
keelless whale boats through
the,
422
00:32:40,399 --> 00:32:42,479
through the ridges of ice.
423
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,760
In 2007 I dragged a wooden sled
across Antarctica
424
00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:58,439
in a bid to honour Australian
explorer Sir Douglas Mawson,
and it almost killed me.
425
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,239
Taking on such a physical
challenge
426
00:33:04,279 --> 00:33:06,880
really is a race against time
to achieve your goal.
427
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:11,000
The sled you're dragging is
carrying all the food and fuel
you need to survive.
428
00:33:11,039 --> 00:33:13,119
But the energy just to move
that weight,
429
00:33:13,159 --> 00:33:16,439
to make those miles,
it can exceed your daily
rations.
430
00:33:16,479 --> 00:33:18,159
You can easily run out of food.
431
00:33:23,359 --> 00:33:26,640
Mentally, there's lots of
places you go to when things
are really tough.
432
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,159
Sometimes you're able to really
appreciate
433
00:33:31,199 --> 00:33:33,279
the grandeur of what it
is you're undertaking.
434
00:33:34,039 --> 00:33:36,479
Other times, you retreat back
into just
435
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,000
the routine of doing things in
a really kind of robotic way.
436
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,359
Anything that helps
you take the next step.
437
00:33:51,039 --> 00:33:53,039
♪
438
00:33:56,479 --> 00:33:58,640
Considering how little result
we had to show
439
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:02,199
for all our strenuous
efforts of the past four days,
440
00:34:03,439 --> 00:34:06,960
it would be impossible to
proceed for any great distance.
441
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:13,800
Taking into account also the
possibility of leads opening
close to us and so of our
442
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:17,479
being able to row northwest to
where we might find land,
443
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,960
I decided to find a more solid
flow
444
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,719
and their camp until conditions
were more favourable for us to
make
445
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:28,960
a second attempt to escape
from our icy prison.
446
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,319
We call this 'Ocean Camp',
447
00:34:31,359 --> 00:34:33,159
this floating lump of ice,
448
00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:37,680
about a mile square at first,
but later splitting into
smaller
449
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:42,520
and smaller fragments, was to
be our home for nearly two
months.
450
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:50,680
The consoling feature of the
situation, was that our camp
was safe.
451
00:34:51,359 --> 00:34:54,039
We could endure the
discomforts.
452
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:56,840
(Dogs barking)
453
00:34:59,119 --> 00:35:02,479
Having only travelled 4 miles
from the crushed Endurance,
454
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,079
dog teams were sent back to the
wreckage
455
00:35:05,119 --> 00:35:08,760
to salvage timber, rope,
fuel, and the third lifeboat.
456
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:12,760
When the weather permitted,
457
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:17,439
pieces of the ship and her
cargo were ferried across to
Ocean Camp,
458
00:35:17,479 --> 00:35:20,079
where the men set about building
a supply depot,
459
00:35:20,119 --> 00:35:22,439
and even a kitchen.
460
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,239
But this is a precarious
existence.
461
00:35:28,279 --> 00:35:30,560
There's not enough food to
survive unless
462
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,920
they can find seals or
penguins.
463
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:36,479
At any time, the ice on which
they camped could break up.
464
00:35:37,039 --> 00:35:40,479
A storm could wipe away their
little tented encampment on the
ice.
465
00:35:42,319 --> 00:35:45,159
These are miserable
conditions for the 28 men.
466
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:51,399
Our meals had to consist
mainly of seal and penguin.
467
00:35:51,439 --> 00:35:53,279
And though this was valuable as
468
00:35:53,319 --> 00:35:56,760
an antiscorbutic,
so much so that not a single
case
469
00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:58,399
of scurvy occurred amongst the
party,
470
00:35:58,439 --> 00:36:01,319
yet it was a badly
adjusted diet,
471
00:36:01,359 --> 00:36:04,640
and we felt rather weak
and innovated in consequence.
472
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,000
The cook deserves much praise
for the way
473
00:36:07,039 --> 00:36:10,359
he has stuck to his job through
all this severe blizzard.
474
00:36:10,399 --> 00:36:12,800
His galley consists of nothing
but a few
475
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:17,439
boxes arranged as a table, with
a canvas screen erected around
them on four oars,
476
00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:22,399
and the two blubber stoves
within the protection afforded
by the screen is only partial,
477
00:36:22,439 --> 00:36:27,520
and the eddies drive the
pungent blubber smoke in all
directions.
478
00:36:29,439 --> 00:36:34,479
We live well, but perhaps it's
that hunger that's the best
condiment.
479
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:38,960
Even the fact that our seals
and penguins are full of
internal parasites
480
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,279
of the nastiest or most
loathsome kind does not deter
us.
481
00:36:47,079 --> 00:36:50,920
The collection of food was now
the all important
consideration,
482
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,479
owing to this shortage of food
483
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,800
and the fact that we needed all
that we could get for
ourselves.
484
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,960
I had to order all the dogs to
be shot.
485
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:02,960
It was the worst job that we
had had
486
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,800
throughout the expedition,
and we felt their loss keenly.
487
00:37:12,079 --> 00:37:14,600
This evening, as we were lying
in our tents,
488
00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:18,840
we heard the boss call
out, 'she's going, boys!'
489
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:24,399
There was our poor ship, a mile
and a half away,
490
00:37:24,439 --> 00:37:26,439
struggling in a death agony.
491
00:37:26,479 --> 00:37:31,159
It made the scene even more
desolate and depressing.
492
00:37:32,119 --> 00:37:34,600
Weeks turned into months.
493
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:37,800
Of all the dangers these men
faced,
494
00:37:39,279 --> 00:37:43,039
the cold, starvation,
the unfathomed depths beneath
them
495
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:47,199
loss of morale was the greatest
threat of them all.
496
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:57,800
There were 28 men on our
floating cake of ice, which was
steadily dwindling under
497
00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,640
the influence of wind, weather,
charging flows and heavy swell.
498
00:38:04,359 --> 00:38:10,600
I confess that I felt the
burden of responsibility sit
heavily on my shoulders.
499
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,079
Loneliness is the penalty of
leadership.
500
00:38:16,079 --> 00:38:19,880
Shackleton took on a lot of the
responsibility for keeping
men's morale up,
501
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,439
in normalizing the
circumstances
502
00:38:23,479 --> 00:38:26,560
and always seeming to have a
plan for what would happen
next.
503
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:28,039
It was always a next step.
504
00:38:28,079 --> 00:38:30,880
It wasn't all going to end here
and now with their death on
the ice as failures.
505
00:38:32,479 --> 00:38:34,319
The boss would sort something
out.
506
00:38:34,359 --> 00:38:36,000
And all would be well.
507
00:38:40,479 --> 00:38:45,239
Rather than sitting in ocean
camp any longer with nothing
but time to think,
508
00:38:45,279 --> 00:38:47,719
Shackleton organised another
march towards the peninsula.
509
00:38:52,079 --> 00:38:55,680
Another march meant abandoning a
significant amount of their
provisions.
510
00:38:58,159 --> 00:39:03,039
For the lifeboats and sleds
to travel over this now heavily
distorted surface,
511
00:39:03,079 --> 00:39:05,039
they would have to travel as
light as possible.
512
00:39:07,119 --> 00:39:12,000
Extra food, timber, fuel, even
their tent, canvas flooring
would all be left behind.
513
00:39:12,119 --> 00:39:13,880
at Ocean camp.
514
00:39:20,279 --> 00:39:25,159
I informed all hands that I
intended to try and make a
march to the west
515
00:39:25,199 --> 00:39:27,680
to reduce the distance between
us and Paulet Island.
516
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:32,840
I could not but hope that this
time the fates would be kinder
to us than
517
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:38,640
in our last attempts to march
across the ice to safety.
518
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:50,279
♪
519
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,319
At this rate, it would take us
over 300 days
520
00:40:01,359 --> 00:40:03,239
to reach the land away to
the west
521
00:40:03,359 --> 00:40:06,840
as we only had food
for 42 days.
522
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:12,399
There was no alternative,
therefore but to camp once more
on the flow,
523
00:40:12,439 --> 00:40:18,439
and to possess our souls with
what patience we could.
524
00:40:18,479 --> 00:40:22,760
Our new home which we were to
occupy for nearly three and a
half months,
525
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:26,560
we called Patience Camp.
526
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:38,039
They must now sit and wait,
helplessly, as their camp drifts
slowly north.
527
00:40:38,079 --> 00:40:42,000
Seals and penguins have
disappeared, leaving the men low
on food and blubber.
528
00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:45,399
All they could do was hope
529
00:40:45,439 --> 00:40:49,039
the warming Weddell Sea, was
pushing them closer to land.
530
00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:54,399
The flow had become our home.
531
00:40:55,520 --> 00:41:00,479
During the early months of the
drift, we had almost ceased to
realise that it
532
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:05,239
was but a sheet of ice
floating on unfathomed seas.
533
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:17,880
Our drifting home had no rudder
to guide it, no sail to give
its speed.
534
00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:21,840
We were dependent upon
the caprice of wind and
current.
535
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:25,920
We went whither those
irresponsible forces listed.
536
00:41:26,439 --> 00:41:31,199
The longing to feel solid earth
under our feet filled our
hearts.
537
00:41:33,399 --> 00:41:38,760
Now our home was being
shattered under our feet.
538
00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:41,719
(Cracking)
539
00:41:42,119 --> 00:41:44,079
The warmer water that was
taking them closer to land,
540
00:41:44,119 --> 00:41:47,760
had reduced their ice flow to a
thin sheet.
541
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:50,159
The tents, the lifeboats, and
the crew
542
00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:54,840
could easily disappear
into the one degrees Celsius
water.
543
00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:01,359
♪
544
00:42:02,199 --> 00:42:06,719
Some intangible feeling of
uneasiness made me leave my
tent
545
00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:08,880
about 11pm that night,
546
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,079
and glance around the quiet
camp.
547
00:42:11,119 --> 00:42:13,600
I started to walk across the
flow in order
548
00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:17,000
to warn the watchman to look
carefully for cracks.
549
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,960
And as I was passing the man's
tent,
550
00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:24,479
the flow lifted on the crest of
the swell, and cracked right
under my feet.
551
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:29,719
The men were in one of the dome
shaped tents
552
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,520
and had began to stretch
apart as the ice opened.
553
00:42:37,079 --> 00:42:41,640
Peering into the darkness, I
could just see the dark figures
on the other flow.
554
00:42:45,399 --> 00:42:48,800
I hailed Wilde, ordering him
to launch the Stancombe wills.
555
00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:56,840
The only thing they could do
was jump into their lifeboats
and start paddling.
556
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:03,520
The spring thaw was destroying
the solid sea ice, and time was
running out.
557
00:43:25,199 --> 00:43:26,199
(Motor whirring)
558
00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:33,840
This is brash ice.
559
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,479
This can be anything from the
size of a car down to the size
of a basketball.
560
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:40,079
Trying to paddle through this
stuff would have been really
difficult.
561
00:43:41,199 --> 00:43:43,640
They were just desperate to make
landfall wherever they could.
562
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:46,680
And of course, tantalizingly,
they could see the peninsula
close by,
563
00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:51,279
but they would have been
prevented to get there from the
sea of this kind of stuff,
564
00:43:51,319 --> 00:43:53,840
plus the currents that were
pushing them up into the open
ocean.
565
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:58,000
It must have been pretty
desperate to see salvation so
close.
566
00:44:03,359 --> 00:44:05,800
They knew from their compass
readings that they were
drifting,
567
00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:07,279
perhaps 20 miles a day.
568
00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:09,840
What awaits you, is the storm
tossed southern Ocean,
569
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:15,680
and if you don't get it right
and find somewhere to land,
570
00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:19,800
you've got thousands and
thousands of miles of nothing
in every direction
571
00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:21,600
and certain death.
572
00:44:28,079 --> 00:44:31,359
♪
573
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:39,560
These rowboats were not built
to withstand an open ocean
crossing.
574
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:42,920
They were designed to take
someone from ship to shore.
575
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:45,479
All three lifeboats were
keelless,
576
00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:50,479
prone to capsize, and they are
in some of the roughest oceans
known to man.
577
00:44:56,119 --> 00:44:57,119
♪
578
00:44:58,399 --> 00:44:59,399
(Birds squawking)
579
00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:03,119
A strong easterly breeze was
blowing,
580
00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:05,960
but the fringe of pack
lying outside
581
00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:11,319
protected us from the full
force of the swell, just as the
coral reef
582
00:45:11,359 --> 00:45:13,640
of a tropical island checks
the rollers of the Pacific.
583
00:45:17,439 --> 00:45:20,479
Elephant Island was the nearest
land
584
00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:22,800
but it lay outside the main
body of pack.
585
00:45:26,279 --> 00:45:28,920
And even if the wind had been
fair,
586
00:45:29,039 --> 00:45:33,119
we would have hesitated to face
the high sea that was running
in the open.
587
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:44,600
A big flow berg resting
peacefully ahead caught my eye
588
00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:51,119
and half an hour later we
had hauled up the boats
and pitched camp for the night.
589
00:45:51,159 --> 00:45:55,039
Everyone was in need of rest
after the troubles of the
previous night
590
00:45:55,079 --> 00:45:58,479
and the unaccustomed strain
of the last 36 hours of the
oars.
591
00:46:00,159 --> 00:46:03,159
But it was not as safe as it
looked.
592
00:46:06,719 --> 00:46:09,079
Your prospects, if you were
drifting out
593
00:46:09,119 --> 00:46:13,119
into the deep South Atlantic
blown by the winds and the
currents on a piece
594
00:46:13,159 --> 00:46:15,640
of ice like this one, no
one would ever find you,
595
00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:20,319
your home would melt beneath
your feet and you'd be
condemned to the sea forever.
596
00:46:22,159 --> 00:46:25,159
As each swell lifted around our
rapidly dissolving berg,
597
00:46:25,199 --> 00:46:32,199
it drove flow ice onto the
ice foot, reducing the size of
our camp.
598
00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:39,640
I made up my mind that we
should try to reach Deception
Island.
599
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,840
No longer were we drifting
helplessly,
600
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:49,760
at the mercy of wind and
current.
601
00:46:53,359 --> 00:46:56,920
The men paddled for almost four
days.
602
00:46:56,960 --> 00:46:59,520
Worsley took the first
navigational site
603
00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:03,199
the overcast skies had allowed,
and determined their progress.
604
00:47:05,359 --> 00:47:08,680
It was a grievous
disappointment.
605
00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:10,359
Instead of making a good run
606
00:47:10,399 --> 00:47:13,560
to the westward we had made
a big drift to the southeast.
607
00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:17,439
We were actually 30 miles to
the east of the position
608
00:47:17,479 --> 00:47:22,920
we had occupied when we left
the flow on the 9th.
609
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:29,359
To us, it was a day that seemed
likely to lead to no more days.
610
00:47:33,479 --> 00:47:36,279
We could hear the killers
blowing.
611
00:47:42,479 --> 00:47:48,760
Their short, sharp hisses,
sounding like sudden escapes
of steam.
612
00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:49,800
(Hissing)
613
00:47:55,119 --> 00:47:57,719
The killers were a source of
anxiety,
614
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:01,840
for a boat could easily have
been capsized by one of them
coming up to blow.
615
00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:05,039
Shipwrecked mariners might
appear on closer examination,
616
00:48:05,479 --> 00:48:10,039
to be tasty substitutes for
seal and penguin.
617
00:48:13,079 --> 00:48:17,760
Got a pod of orca off the ship
here, which is incredible to
see.
618
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:21,039
For Shackleton, of course,
the orca were something to be
feared.
619
00:48:21,079 --> 00:48:23,199
We didn't really
understand much about them.
620
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:25,199
They called them killers,
of course, killer whales.
621
00:48:25,840 --> 00:48:28,479
And they talked of the hissing
noises they'd make,
622
00:48:28,520 --> 00:48:31,399
and the fact they were
being stalked by these
creatures.
623
00:48:31,439 --> 00:48:33,800
And it created this real sense
of unease.
624
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:36,600
They really regarded them
as something to be feared.
625
00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:43,920
(Blowing)
626
00:48:45,279 --> 00:48:48,000
I think the killer whales
circling Shackleton and his men
627
00:48:48,039 --> 00:48:49,640
as they headed towards Elephant
Island
628
00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:53,319
was just a continuation
of a sort of recurring theme,
629
00:48:53,359 --> 00:48:56,800
which is that Antarctica
respects no person, really.
630
00:48:56,840 --> 00:49:00,640
It's just this untamed
wilderness where
631
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:06,279
you are just a bit player
in the scheme of things.
632
00:49:07,479 --> 00:49:10,399
If you are not fit enough or
mentally or
633
00:49:10,439 --> 00:49:13,279
physically well prepared
enough, you won't survive.
634
00:49:13,319 --> 00:49:17,479
If you're seen to be a food
source for an animal,
635
00:49:19,359 --> 00:49:22,159
you know, it's just the way
of nature.
636
00:49:23,439 --> 00:49:25,640
We are not above it,
we're just part of it.
637
00:49:26,319 --> 00:49:29,800
And I think Antarctica teaches
you that, when you go there.
638
00:49:36,719 --> 00:49:40,680
The men were left with only one
choice.
639
00:49:41,359 --> 00:49:45,840
Their drift meant they could no
longer reach the islands
640
00:49:45,880 --> 00:49:48,000
inside the relative shelter of
the pack ice,
641
00:49:48,039 --> 00:49:51,640
they were going
to have to brave the open sea.
642
00:49:52,399 --> 00:49:55,479
Obviously, we must make land
quickly,
643
00:49:56,239 --> 00:49:58,560
and I decided to run
for Elephant Island.
644
00:50:02,279 --> 00:50:05,439
Our way was across the open
sea,
645
00:50:05,479 --> 00:50:08,600
and soon after noon, we swung
round the north end of the
pack.
646
00:50:12,239 --> 00:50:13,239
(Waves crashing)
647
00:50:14,159 --> 00:50:17,600
Immediately, our deeply laden
boats began to make heavy
weather.
648
00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:23,199
The ship's sprays, which are
freezing as they fell, covered
men and gear with ice.
649
00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:29,439
(Loud crashing of waves)
650
00:50:35,039 --> 00:50:37,199
It seemed that the general
discomfort of our situation,
651
00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:39,960
could scarcely have been
increased.
652
00:50:40,079 --> 00:50:44,199
But the land looming ahead,
was a beacon of safety.
653
00:50:49,239 --> 00:50:52,600
We had now had 108 hours of
toil,
654
00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:55,880
tumbling, freezing and soaking
with little or no sleep.
655
00:50:57,719 --> 00:50:59,880
Progress was slow.
656
00:50:59,920 --> 00:51:02,199
Gradually, Elephant Island came
nearer.
657
00:51:16,239 --> 00:51:21,880
All this time, we were coasting
along beneath towering rocky
cliffs and sheer glacier faces,
658
00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:28,199
which offered not the slightest
possibility of landing
anywhere.
659
00:51:31,279 --> 00:51:34,880
♪
660
00:51:36,880 --> 00:51:39,520
(Birds squawking)
661
00:51:40,439 --> 00:51:43,560
You can tell just what
the conditions can get to here.
662
00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:47,920
I mean, we've got about 30 or
40 knots of gusts at the
moment,
663
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:51,960
but the wind speeds, of course,
can get two or three times
that.
664
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:53,880
The trouble here is that you
get not only the winds coming
off the ocean,
665
00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:57,359
but you get the Katabatic
winds, the cold, dense,
666
00:51:57,399 --> 00:52:01,760
masses of air pouring down off
the high ground in the interior
of the island.
667
00:52:01,800 --> 00:52:03,279
And so you get it from both
sides,
668
00:52:03,319 --> 00:52:06,039
and when the wind is
blowing in the same direction,
669
00:52:06,079 --> 00:52:09,920
you've got the wind coming
off the land and the wind from
the sea,
670
00:52:09,960 --> 00:52:12,439
you can really end up
with hurricane force winds.
671
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:18,039
What we're looking at here is
Cape Valentine, where
Shackleton first arrived.
672
00:52:18,439 --> 00:52:20,199
They landed here and realized
they
673
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:25,560
couldn't hope to survive with
the prospect of all the ice and
rocks tumbling down
674
00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:29,239
on them from above, and so were
forced to move further around
the island.
675
00:52:34,119 --> 00:52:38,760
Wilde, Worsley and Hurley
accompanied me on an inspection
of our beach.
676
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:46,279
The outlook we found to be
anything but cheering.
677
00:52:46,319 --> 00:52:48,680
Obvious signs show that at
spring tides,
678
00:52:48,719 --> 00:52:51,800
the little beach would be
covered by the water right up
to the foot of the cliffs.
679
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:55,840
The interior of the island,
was quite inaccessible.
680
00:52:55,880 --> 00:52:58,079
We climbed up one of the slopes
and found
681
00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:01,760
ourselves stopped soon
by overhanging cliffs.
682
00:53:01,800 --> 00:53:03,680
The rocks behind the camp were
much weathered,
683
00:53:03,719 --> 00:53:08,920
and we noticed the sharp,
unworn boulders that had fallen
from above.
684
00:53:09,319 --> 00:53:12,159
Clearly there was a danger from
overhead.
685
00:53:12,479 --> 00:53:14,560
We must move on.
686
00:53:16,920 --> 00:53:19,199
Shackleton managed to find just
about
687
00:53:19,239 --> 00:53:20,680
the only place you could land,
688
00:53:20,719 --> 00:53:22,479
which is a place called Point
Wild, which is just over there
689
00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:27,359
between that small
triangle of rock on the right
690
00:53:27,399 --> 00:53:29,920
hand side and the face
on the left hand side.
691
00:53:29,960 --> 00:53:33,600
In between those two is a
shingle beach that they
managed to land.
692
00:53:35,279 --> 00:53:37,239
At 09:30 a.m.,
693
00:53:37,279 --> 00:53:40,199
we spied a narrow, rocky beach
at the base
694
00:53:40,239 --> 00:53:44,079
of some very high crags and
cliff and made for it.
695
00:53:52,520 --> 00:53:55,279
Another stage of the homeward
journey had been accomplished
696
00:53:56,920 --> 00:54:00,640
and we can afford to forget
for an hour the problems of the
future.
697
00:54:02,840 --> 00:54:05,600
Life was not so bad.
698
00:54:20,239 --> 00:54:25,399
We got a Weddell seal
basking in this sub zero
temperature just
699
00:54:25,439 --> 00:54:31,359
behind me, and the men were
forced to bludgeon these seals
700
00:54:31,399 --> 00:54:34,680
and eat them both for the
meat they provided,
701
00:54:34,719 --> 00:54:39,359
but also for the blubber
which they rendered down
and used to power their stoves.
702
00:54:42,039 --> 00:54:44,000
Not very palatable, not too
good for the seal, either.
703
00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:50,560
Trying to survive on Elephant
Island would have just been a
brutal experience.
704
00:54:51,239 --> 00:54:53,600
You're living in a space
between two glaciers really,
705
00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:56,880
really just eking out what
existence you can.
706
00:54:56,920 --> 00:54:59,239
And we've got a glacier behind
us here,
707
00:54:59,279 --> 00:55:00,640
a snow slope in the
middle there,
708
00:55:00,680 --> 00:55:04,920
with a steep rock cliff behind
it, and another glacier in the
distance.
709
00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:06,680
They couldn't go more than 50
meters in one direction,
710
00:55:06,719 --> 00:55:09,960
and perhaps 100 meters in the
other direction,
711
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:11,840
before that was the end of
their world.
712
00:55:11,880 --> 00:55:14,680
They were literally stuck and
trying to eke out its existence
713
00:55:14,719 --> 00:55:18,000
in this tiny, tiny area in the
middle here.
714
00:55:21,199 --> 00:55:24,279
It was heavy work, carrying our
goods over
715
00:55:24,319 --> 00:55:26,880
the rough pebbles and rocks
to the foot of the cliff.
716
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:31,199
When the work was done,
we pulled the three boats a
little higher up on the beach,
717
00:55:31,239 --> 00:55:37,479
and turned gratefully to the
hot drink that the cook had
prepared.
718
00:55:38,719 --> 00:55:40,640
In order to provide shelter for
the men,
719
00:55:41,319 --> 00:55:43,600
we turned the Dudley docker
upside down
720
00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:46,079
and wedged up the weathered
side with boulders.
721
00:55:47,840 --> 00:55:52,439
A consideration that had weight
with me was that there was no
chance at all of any
722
00:55:52,479 --> 00:55:54,719
search being made for us
on Elephant Island.
723
00:55:58,479 --> 00:56:02,439
A boat journey in search of
relief was necessary and must
not be delayed.
724
00:56:02,880 --> 00:56:06,439
That conclusion was forced upon
me.
725
00:56:10,960 --> 00:56:13,119
The nearest inhabited land to
Elephant Island,
726
00:56:13,159 --> 00:56:16,680
is South America
or the Falkland Islands.
727
00:56:16,719 --> 00:56:18,560
But the strong winds and
currents of the Southern Ocean,
728
00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:21,039
made reaching those places
impossible.
729
00:56:22,479 --> 00:56:25,680
Their only hope was to sail
with the wind
730
00:56:25,719 --> 00:56:28,279
back to the whaling stations of
South Georgia
731
00:56:29,399 --> 00:56:31,039
over 800 nautical miles away.
732
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:38,520
South Georgia was over 800
miles away,
733
00:56:38,560 --> 00:56:40,760
but lay in the area of the west
winds.
734
00:56:41,680 --> 00:56:43,760
And I could count upon
finding whalers
735
00:56:43,840 --> 00:56:46,199
at any of the whaling
stations on the east coast.
736
00:56:48,920 --> 00:56:51,479
The hazards of a boat journey
across 800 miles of stormy
737
00:56:51,520 --> 00:56:55,159
sub Antarctic ocean were
obvious.
738
00:56:55,199 --> 00:56:57,079
But I calculated that at worst,
739
00:56:57,119 --> 00:57:01,039
the venture would add nothing
to the risks of the men left
on the island.
740
00:57:01,079 --> 00:57:02,960
There would be fewer mouths to
feed during the winter,
741
00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:07,640
and the boat would not require
to take more than one month's
provisions for six men.
742
00:57:08,680 --> 00:57:13,199
For if we did not make South
Georgia in that time, we were
sure to go under.
743
00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:19,880
Shackleton decided to take five
of the men in the most
seaworthy lifeboat,
744
00:57:20,079 --> 00:57:22,600
The James Caird.
745
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:26,159
I told Wilde at once he
would have to stay behind.
746
00:57:26,439 --> 00:57:30,720
I relied on him to hold the
party together while I was
away.
747
00:57:32,800 --> 00:57:36,680
The men who were staying behind
made a pathetic little group on
the beach
748
00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:39,079
with the grim heights
of the island behind them.
749
00:57:40,239 --> 00:57:44,199
But they waved to us
and gave three hearty cheers.
(Men cheering)
750
00:57:45,319 --> 00:57:47,920
There was hope in their hearts
and they
751
00:57:47,960 --> 00:57:50,119
trusted us to bring
the help that they needed.
752
00:57:54,119 --> 00:57:58,920
I had all sails set, and the
James Caird quickly dipped the
beach
753
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:01,039
and its line of dark figures.
754
00:58:02,880 --> 00:58:05,439
I decided to run north for at
least two days,
755
00:58:05,479 --> 00:58:09,039
while the wind held and so get
into warmer weather
756
00:58:09,079 --> 00:58:13,600
before turning to the
east, and being a course for
South Georgia.
757
00:58:18,079 --> 00:58:24,000
The tale of the next 16 days
is one of supreme strife amid
heaving waters.
758
00:58:25,520 --> 00:58:30,199
A sub Antarctic Ocean, lived up
to its evil winter reputation.
759
00:58:33,680 --> 00:58:35,119
(Waves lapping)
760
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:39,279
♪
761
00:58:47,359 --> 00:58:49,920
♪
762
00:58:58,640 --> 00:59:00,680
Southern Ocean is the roughest
ocean in the world.
763
00:59:02,159 --> 00:59:04,720
This is typical Southern Ocean
weather we're facing here.
764
00:59:04,760 --> 00:59:09,560
We've got about 40, maybe 50
knot gusts of winds and quite
big sea states.
765
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:11,920
We're heading up towards South
Georgia.
766
00:59:11,960 --> 00:59:15,600
You've got the Pacific
basically draining into the
Atlantic from west to east.
767
00:59:15,640 --> 00:59:18,039
And when the wind blows in the
other direction
768
00:59:18,079 --> 00:59:22,399
you get big standing
waves...very, very tough
conditions.
769
00:59:23,159 --> 00:59:24,399
(Waves crash loudly)
770
00:59:25,399 --> 00:59:26,840
We're in 110 meters, ice
strengthened ship here
771
00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:32,399
and Shackleton and his 22 and
a half foot keelless rowboat
772
00:59:33,960 --> 00:59:38,159
in these kind of conditions,
sitting only a foot and a half
above the surface of the sea,
773
00:59:38,199 --> 00:59:44,560
very intimidating, noisy, rough
waves crashing in, soaking you,
threatening to sink you.
774
00:59:45,119 --> 00:59:47,920
Survival time if you go in
here, sub, ten minutes,
775
00:59:48,279 --> 00:59:50,199
but frankly, in rough sea state
like this, two or three.
776
00:59:50,239 --> 00:59:54,279
You'd freeze, you'd lose the
ability to tread water and down
you'd go.
777
01:00:01,920 --> 01:00:06,680
Shackleton's boat journey from
Elephant Island to South Georgia
is widely
778
01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:12,880
considered the most dangerous
and difficult ocean crossing
ever attempted.
779
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:18,039
In 2013, I had the brilliant
idea to recreate the journey
using the same
780
01:00:18,079 --> 01:00:21,680
inadequate clothing
and tiny robot that they had.
781
01:00:21,720 --> 01:00:26,159
I wanted to experience it for
myself.
782
01:00:29,399 --> 01:00:35,520
It's the hardest physical and
mental endeavour I've ever been
involved in.
783
01:00:38,239 --> 01:00:42,079
I remember being borderline
hypothermic,
784
01:00:42,119 --> 01:00:49,119
with prospects stalking us all
in amongst these sorts of
conditions,
785
01:00:49,560 --> 01:00:54,800
down in the dips between one set
of waves and the next,
786
01:00:57,800 --> 01:00:59,520
waves crashing in.
787
01:01:00,720 --> 01:01:03,800
Standing in one degree celsius
seawater.
788
01:01:05,840 --> 01:01:07,760
Charts.
789
01:01:09,920 --> 01:01:13,239
I have lasting memories of how
that felt from our journey.
790
01:01:17,039 --> 01:01:22,439
Deep seemed the valleys when we
lay between the rain and sea.
791
01:01:22,479 --> 01:01:28,039
High were the hills when we
perched momentarily on the tops
of giant combers.
792
01:01:30,680 --> 01:01:33,079
Nearly always there were gales.
793
01:01:34,760 --> 01:01:40,479
So small was our boat and so
great were the seas, that often
our sail flapped idly
794
01:01:40,520 --> 01:01:43,119
in the calm between
the crests of two waves.
795
01:01:44,680 --> 01:01:49,119
Then we would climb the next
slope and catch the full fury
of the gale,
796
01:01:49,199 --> 01:01:54,479
where the wool like whiteness
of the breaking water, surged
around us.
797
01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:01,720
We were a tiny speck in the
vast vista of the sea,
798
01:02:02,159 --> 01:02:07,319
the ocean that is open to all,
and merciful to none.
799
01:02:10,199 --> 01:02:13,079
When you're down
in amongst it in a keelless
rowboat,
800
01:02:16,159 --> 01:02:19,800
believe me, it's eh...
801
01:02:20,800 --> 01:02:22,680
...it's a very interesting
experience.
802
01:02:23,079 --> 01:02:25,319
It's all part of my therapy,
coming back here and
experiencing this.
803
01:02:25,359 --> 01:02:28,399
Get it out of my system.
804
01:02:32,880 --> 01:02:35,640
The living conditions inside
the boat were also challenging.
805
01:02:35,680 --> 01:02:37,960
The six men were living off a
hot drink called 'hoosh',
806
01:02:39,640 --> 01:02:42,720
a delightful mixture of animal
fat and cereal.
807
01:02:44,520 --> 01:02:49,600
Their reindeer sleeping bags
were so constantly wet, they
began to fall apart,
808
01:02:49,640 --> 01:02:52,199
sending the prickly hair all
throughout the boat,
809
01:02:53,439 --> 01:02:56,039
getting into their clothing,
food and drinking water.
810
01:02:57,520 --> 01:03:00,319
Our water had long been
finished.
811
01:03:00,359 --> 01:03:03,159
The last was about a pint of
hairy liquid
812
01:03:03,199 --> 01:03:06,199
which we strained through a bit
of gauze from the medicine
chest.
813
01:03:08,439 --> 01:03:11,359
Their only means
of navigation was by the sun.
814
01:03:11,439 --> 01:03:14,199
Using a sextant and compass.
815
01:03:14,800 --> 01:03:18,800
Worsley, new South Georgia
island sat on the 54th degree
latitude.
816
01:03:19,960 --> 01:03:21,840
They only need to travel north
to that point,
817
01:03:21,880 --> 01:03:25,800
then allow the strong
Southern Ocean current to push
them east.
818
01:03:31,319 --> 01:03:35,600
I think most of us had a
feeling that the end was very
near.
819
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:42,279
The morning of May the 8th
broke thick and stormy with
squalls from the northwest.
820
01:03:42,920 --> 01:03:45,399
We searched the waters ahead
for a sign of land,
821
01:03:45,439 --> 01:03:51,000
and though we could
see nothing more than had met
our eyes for many days,
822
01:03:51,039 --> 01:03:55,000
we were cheered by a sense
that the goal was near at hand.
823
01:03:55,680 --> 01:03:58,319
We gazed ahead with increasing
eagerness,
824
01:03:58,359 --> 01:04:01,840
and at 12:30 p.m.
through a rift in the clouds,
825
01:04:02,319 --> 01:04:06,039
McCarthy caught a glimpse
of the black cliffs of South
Georgia.
826
01:04:12,039 --> 01:04:13,800
It was a glad moment.
827
01:04:13,840 --> 01:04:17,079
Thirst ridden, chilled and weak
as we were,
828
01:04:17,119 --> 01:04:22,680
happiness irradiated us,
the job was nearly done.
829
01:04:31,520 --> 01:04:34,159
Incredibly, after 16 days at
sea,
830
01:04:34,920 --> 01:04:38,760
the men had survived 800
miles of 30 foot waves,
831
01:04:38,840 --> 01:04:40,680
and hurricane force winds,
832
01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:42,119
in a 23 foot rowboat.
833
01:04:54,960 --> 01:04:57,000
Well, the sensation Shackleton
had as he approached South
Georgia,
834
01:04:57,039 --> 01:05:02,199
must have been one of pure
relief, after 17 days at sea in
the James Caird,
835
01:05:02,239 --> 01:05:05,399
much of it, not expecting to
make it at all.
836
01:05:07,880 --> 01:05:10,039
It's a pretty emotional feeling
to actually be back here.
837
01:05:10,079 --> 01:05:13,760
It's just exciting again to be
following close on his heels.
838
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:18,560
We've got a big king penguin
colony
839
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:21,520
with hundreds of thousands of
breeding pairs in the
foreground here.
840
01:05:21,600 --> 01:05:24,159
And that's the thing about
South Georgia,
841
01:05:24,319 --> 01:05:26,239
you smell it before you can see
it.
842
01:05:26,439 --> 01:05:31,319
You can smell the stench of urea
coming off the king penguins.
843
01:05:31,359 --> 01:05:33,520
It's quite something,
you never quite get used to it,
844
01:05:33,560 --> 01:05:35,680
and you certainly don't get it
out of your clothes.
845
01:05:52,279 --> 01:05:56,039
Millions of penguins and seals
crowd the beaches of South
Georgia.
846
01:05:57,960 --> 01:06:01,920
These are some of the densest
concentrations of wildlife on
the planet.
847
01:06:06,640 --> 01:06:10,039
The most spectacular place
in the world, South Georgia.
848
01:06:10,079 --> 01:06:14,319
It's hundreds of thousands
of breeding pairs of king
penguins.
849
01:06:14,399 --> 01:06:15,960
It's just teeming with life.
850
01:06:16,039 --> 01:06:17,159
It's just spectacular.
851
01:06:17,239 --> 01:06:19,159
Never ceases to amaze.
852
01:06:19,760 --> 01:06:20,880
(Penguins squawking)
853
01:06:21,640 --> 01:06:24,239
I think seeing all these animals
on the beach would have been a
welcome sight frankly,
854
01:06:24,680 --> 01:06:27,359
after the conditions down
in the Antarctic and
855
01:06:27,520 --> 01:06:30,399
in the final analysis,
you can eat them
856
01:06:30,439 --> 01:06:33,880
and would have
been sustenance for Shackleton.
857
01:06:34,119 --> 01:06:35,119
(Growling)
858
01:06:46,560 --> 01:06:49,079
There were hundreds of sea
elephants lying about.
859
01:06:49,119 --> 01:06:53,680
And their anxieties with
regard to food disappeared.
860
01:06:59,039 --> 01:07:03,199
Meat and blubber, enough to
feed our party for years, was
in sight.
861
01:07:04,720 --> 01:07:08,359
A sea elephant provided us with
fuel and meat
862
01:07:08,399 --> 01:07:13,960
and that evening found a well
fed and fairly contented party
at rest in Peggotty Camp.
863
01:07:15,640 --> 01:07:20,279
Abundant meals of sea
elephants, steak and liver
increased our contentment.
864
01:07:26,680 --> 01:07:31,039
The men were grateful for the
safety of land and the abundance
of food.
865
01:07:31,960 --> 01:07:36,800
However, they still needed to
reach the whaling station, on
the other side of the island.
866
01:07:38,760 --> 01:07:42,279
The James Caird was badly
damaged after the crossing.
867
01:07:42,319 --> 01:07:46,359
It would be too dangerous
to sail around the coast.
868
01:07:46,399 --> 01:07:51,359
They were going to have to cross
the island on foot to Stromness
Bay,
869
01:07:51,399 --> 01:07:56,239
25 miles across the treacherous
mountains and glaciers of South
Georgia.
870
01:08:03,359 --> 01:08:06,199
The interior of the island had
never been traversed,
871
01:08:07,399 --> 01:08:11,800
and with winds blowing down
from the peaks at almost 3,000
meters high,
872
01:08:12,640 --> 01:08:18,600
even for the most experienced
mountaineer, this was an
extremely dangerous prospect.
873
01:08:20,000 --> 01:08:23,159
Shackleton decided to take the
two strongest men,
874
01:08:23,600 --> 01:08:28,960
Tom Crean and Frank Worsley,
and attempt this final task.
875
01:08:33,238 --> 01:08:35,880
Soon we were ascending a snow
slope
876
01:08:35,920 --> 01:08:39,279
heading due east on the last
lap of our long trail.
877
01:08:43,279 --> 01:08:48,760
After 2 hours steady climbing,
we were 2,500ft above sea
level.
878
01:08:51,720 --> 01:08:57,880
We roped ourselves together as
a precaution against holes,
crevasses and precipices,
879
01:08:58,880 --> 01:09:01,640
and I broke trail through the
soft snow.
880
01:09:08,000 --> 01:09:10,479
The central facet of
Shackleton's leadership was
881
01:09:10,520 --> 01:09:13,640
That he never asked someone to
do something he wasn't
prepared to do himself.
882
01:09:13,680 --> 01:09:18,000
And indeed, he really
demonstrated that at this stage
of their journey.
883
01:09:28,319 --> 01:09:31,600
Well, just come up Shackleton
Gap From King Haakon Bay
884
01:09:31,640 --> 01:09:35,079
where Shackleton landed more
than 100 years ago.
885
01:09:35,600 --> 01:09:40,039
Weather is beginning to
deteriorate as is always the
case in South Georgia.
886
01:09:41,159 --> 01:09:43,119
You've got this incredible
terrain behind you.
887
01:09:43,159 --> 01:09:44,720
Just shows what the place is
like.
888
01:09:44,760 --> 01:09:46,359
We're heading off to the
Trident mountains
889
01:09:46,399 --> 01:09:50,198
through there where Shackleton,
Crean and Worsley went.
890
01:09:50,479 --> 01:09:56,238
And that's the access point
to the interior of the island
and the whaling stations beyond.
891
01:10:00,880 --> 01:10:03,079
When Shackleton, Crean and
Worsley passed this point,
892
01:10:03,119 --> 01:10:07,479
no one had ever been into the
interior of the island.
893
01:10:07,520 --> 01:10:09,079
Their clothing was inadequate,
894
01:10:09,119 --> 01:10:11,079
they had no real climbing
experience,
895
01:10:11,119 --> 01:10:13,000
one length of rope.
896
01:10:13,039 --> 01:10:17,319
They were now faced with one of
the most treacherous mountain
crossings on earth.
897
01:10:20,439 --> 01:10:22,198
The interior was broken
tremendously.
898
01:10:23,960 --> 01:10:26,640
High peaks, impassable cliffs,
899
01:10:26,880 --> 01:10:30,079
steep snow slopes and sharply
descending glaciers
900
01:10:30,119 --> 01:10:32,079
were prominent features in all
directions.
901
01:10:32,119 --> 01:10:37,960
With stretches of snow plain
overlaying the ice sheet of
the interior.
902
01:10:39,520 --> 01:10:41,640
The slope we were ascending
mounted to a ridge,
903
01:10:42,840 --> 01:10:46,159
and our course lay direct to
the top.
904
01:10:46,560 --> 01:10:51,159
I had hoped to get a view of
the country ahead of us from
the top of the slope
905
01:10:51,800 --> 01:10:57,159
but as the surface became more
level beneath our feet, a thick
fog drifted down.
906
01:10:59,079 --> 01:11:01,680
The moon became obscured and
produced a diffused light,
907
01:11:03,119 --> 01:11:07,560
that was more trying than
darkness, since it illuminated
the fog
908
01:11:07,640 --> 01:11:08,640
without guiding our steps.
909
01:11:10,039 --> 01:11:13,198
We noticed the thin beginnings
of crevasses.
910
01:11:13,238 --> 01:11:15,359
Soon they were increasing in
size and showing fractures
911
01:11:15,880 --> 01:11:21,439
indicating that we were
travelling on a glacier.
912
01:11:23,439 --> 01:11:28,238
♪
913
01:11:38,119 --> 01:11:40,880
It's extremely dangerous
travelling across glaciers.
914
01:11:41,399 --> 01:11:44,800
Thin snow bridges across deep
crevasses
915
01:11:44,880 --> 01:11:49,159
are like hidden trap doors
that at any moment could cave
in.
916
01:11:49,198 --> 01:11:51,039
The crevasses we are
encountering are particularly
bad,
917
01:11:53,680 --> 01:11:56,159
but I suspect they've got worse
here over time.
918
01:11:57,039 --> 01:11:59,960
Had Shackleton,
Crean and Worsley experienced
these conditions,
919
01:12:00,238 --> 01:12:03,359
I wonder how they would have
fared.
920
01:12:14,439 --> 01:12:16,880
♪
921
01:12:18,600 --> 01:12:21,479
The key thing with crossing
crevasses is that you don't
want to fall in obviously,
922
01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:26,359
and the best way to avoid
that is to cross them at right
angles.
923
01:12:26,399 --> 01:12:30,680
So if you are going down a
river of ice, which a glacier is
924
01:12:30,720 --> 01:12:33,039
you're doing things kind of the
right way
925
01:12:33,079 --> 01:12:36,479
because the likelihood is the
crevasses are going
926
01:12:36,520 --> 01:12:39,238
to go from left to right
in front of you across your
path,
927
01:12:39,279 --> 01:12:41,279
and you want to be sort.
Of stepping over them.
928
01:12:41,319 --> 01:12:44,720
What you don't want to be doing
is following the length of a
crevasse
929
01:12:44,760 --> 01:12:46,238
where you give yourself lots
and lots opportunities
930
01:12:46,279 --> 01:12:48,720
to fall in the same thing.
931
01:12:48,760 --> 01:12:52,279
If you see one, tighten the rope
between you so that if somebody
falls in
932
01:12:52,319 --> 01:12:54,359
the other one will hold you.
933
01:12:55,159 --> 01:12:59,119
And just hope to hell that two
people don't fall in because if
you're the one left,
934
01:12:59,159 --> 01:13:02,840
on the surface you probably
haven't got the strength to hold
everybody
935
01:13:02,880 --> 01:13:07,960
from falling in and injuring
themselves or perhaps worse.
936
01:13:12,119 --> 01:13:16,760
♪
937
01:13:24,000 --> 01:13:29,198
♪
938
01:13:38,159 --> 01:13:44,238
We were tired, and the wind
that blew down from the heights
was chilling us.
939
01:13:44,279 --> 01:13:51,279
We decided to get down under
the lee of a rock for a rest.
940
01:13:53,920 --> 01:13:58,079
Within a minute, my two
companions were fast asleep.
941
01:13:58,119 --> 01:14:00,840
I realized that it would be
disastrous if
942
01:14:00,880 --> 01:14:02,479
we all slumbered together,
943
01:14:02,520 --> 01:14:06,359
for sleep under such conditions
merges into death.
944
01:14:08,720 --> 01:14:10,720
Shackleton would have stopped
in a shelter very much like this
one out of the wind,
945
01:14:10,760 --> 01:14:16,319
and knowing really that to stop
for more
946
01:14:16,359 --> 01:14:19,039
than a small amount of time
would have, would have spelt
certain death.
947
01:14:19,079 --> 01:14:22,800
You just cannot stop.
Movement generates heat and
heat is what you need obviously.
948
01:14:22,840 --> 01:14:27,000
And to stop for too long spells
disaster.
949
01:14:27,960 --> 01:14:31,359
After five minutes,
I shook them into consciousness
again,
950
01:14:31,760 --> 01:14:35,439
told them that they had slept
for half an hour,
951
01:14:35,479 --> 01:14:37,840
and gave the word for a fresh
start.
952
01:14:40,079 --> 01:14:42,399
Now, Shackleton was no
mountaineer but he
953
01:14:42,439 --> 01:14:47,319
had a lot of experience
of the cold in Antarctica and
he would
954
01:14:47,359 --> 01:14:51,159
have known full well what would
happen if he'd allowed the men
to sleep any longer.
955
01:15:01,880 --> 01:15:06,680
Around 20 hours into their
crossing, Shackleton decided to
head down towards
956
01:15:06,720 --> 01:15:10,840
what he thought would be
Stromness Bay, and the whaling
station.
957
01:15:17,720 --> 01:15:20,840
Our high hopes were soon
shattered.
958
01:15:20,880 --> 01:15:25,720
Crevasses warned us that we
were on another glacier and
soon we looked down
959
01:15:25,760 --> 01:15:29,119
almost to the seaward edge
of the great riven ice mass.
960
01:15:37,119 --> 01:15:40,359
I knew there was no glacier in
Stromness,
961
01:15:40,399 --> 01:15:44,119
and realized this must
be the Fortuna glacier.
962
01:15:45,319 --> 01:15:47,359
The disappointment was severe.
963
01:15:50,399 --> 01:15:52,720
The glacier Shackleton found
filled the valley
964
01:15:52,760 --> 01:15:55,198
and sheer ice
cliffs fell into the ocean.
965
01:15:56,600 --> 01:15:58,720
It was completely impassable
966
01:15:58,760 --> 01:16:01,279
and forced the men back up into
the mountains.
967
01:16:03,238 --> 01:16:05,880
It must have been a moment
that almost broke them.
968
01:16:11,319 --> 01:16:13,359
We've just completed a survey
of the same glacier,
969
01:16:13,399 --> 01:16:17,198
and it's clear that this
landscape has changed
dramatically.
970
01:16:20,439 --> 01:16:23,680
Here I am on the Turnback
Glacier that Sir Ernest
Shackleton and his
971
01:16:23,720 --> 01:16:28,079
colleagues Worsley and Crean,
famously tried to use to descend
to the valley
972
01:16:28,120 --> 01:16:32,079
beyond us, here to get
ultimately to Stromness whaling
station.
973
01:16:32,120 --> 01:16:34,360
And look at what a hundred years
of climate change have done.
974
01:16:34,399 --> 01:16:37,439
This vast open space we're
looking at here used to be
occupied by glacier.
975
01:16:39,639 --> 01:16:43,000
For them, the level would have
been above the level we can
currently see now
976
01:16:43,040 --> 01:16:44,799
and if they were here and the
ice were here,
977
01:16:44,840 --> 01:16:47,238
we would see them trudging
wearily across our eyeline,
978
01:16:47,280 --> 01:16:50,959
about midway across this valley
here,
979
01:16:51,000 --> 01:16:55,040
only to reach a precipitous ice
cliff that they couldn't
negotiate,
980
01:16:55,079 --> 01:16:58,319
causing them to have to go back
up the valley and round another
way.
981
01:16:58,360 --> 01:17:00,680
Hence the name Turnback Glacier.
982
01:17:01,280 --> 01:17:03,280
What a change there's been.
983
01:17:09,200 --> 01:17:14,840
Ironically, the Turnback
Glacier is no longer an
insurmountable barrier.
984
01:17:14,879 --> 01:17:19,360
And we can simply walk down the
melting glacial front to the
valley floor.
985
01:17:29,520 --> 01:17:31,639
After 26 hours of continuous
marching,
986
01:17:32,920 --> 01:17:35,680
there was one more major
obstacle in Shackleton's path...
987
01:17:36,840 --> 01:17:38,439
...the Konig Glacier,
988
01:17:39,079 --> 01:17:41,439
a feature that's virtually
unrecognizable today.
989
01:17:42,879 --> 01:17:45,479
♪
990
01:17:45,760 --> 01:17:47,600
Back in Shackleton's day,
991
01:17:47,639 --> 01:17:51,399
they saw the ice of the Konig
Glacier reaching almost to the
breaking waves.
992
01:17:53,319 --> 01:17:54,600
A hundred years later,
993
01:17:54,639 --> 01:17:58,799
we'll have to hike around 3
miles from the coast to the new
glacial front.
994
01:18:00,360 --> 01:18:02,520
♪
995
01:18:10,799 --> 01:18:13,520
I've always been on two
journeys really.
996
01:18:13,559 --> 01:18:16,760
One is the literal one, crossing
mountains, crossing
glaciers,
997
01:18:16,959 --> 01:18:19,600
and the other is more of a
metaphorical one.
998
01:18:19,639 --> 01:18:24,959
In other words, you see those
big rivers of ice and how badly
they've been affected
999
01:18:25,719 --> 01:18:29,200
by climate change and realise
they're a really good way of
showing the problem.
1000
01:18:29,238 --> 01:18:32,120
They're like the litmus paper
for what we're doing to the
planet.
1001
01:18:33,238 --> 01:18:34,920
♪
1002
01:18:41,680 --> 01:18:44,879
The environment I'm standing
on here looks like it's solid.
1003
01:18:44,920 --> 01:18:49,120
As you're stepping,
you're sinking down quite a
long way
1004
01:18:49,159 --> 01:18:51,639
and these big piles, rubble,
again, they look quite solid,
1005
01:18:51,760 --> 01:18:54,280
but beneath them is ice
1006
01:18:54,319 --> 01:18:56,319
and the water is just eating
into everything beneath.
1007
01:18:56,360 --> 01:19:00,719
As the ice melts, the water is
just eroding away the base of
all these piles.
1008
01:19:11,120 --> 01:19:13,360
It's quite a freaky
experience being here.
1009
01:19:13,959 --> 01:19:16,399
This whole landscape is
just dynamic and changing.
1010
01:19:16,439 --> 01:19:18,559
And what we're seeing today will
not look like this tomorrow.
1011
01:19:20,238 --> 01:19:22,639
Using a drone to capture a 360
degree image
1012
01:19:23,840 --> 01:19:27,799
of the Konig Valley and
the diary entries from
Shackleton's crossing,
1013
01:19:27,840 --> 01:19:31,120
we can recreate the world
those three men traversed.
1014
01:19:37,280 --> 01:19:39,799
What a difference 100 years can
make.
1015
01:19:53,159 --> 01:19:55,680
This is just indicative of the
way
1016
01:19:55,719 --> 01:19:59,238
that climate change has impacted
the glaciers of South Georgia,
1017
01:19:59,280 --> 01:20:03,840
where over 90% of the glaciers
here are suffering the same fate
all in wide scale retreat.
1018
01:20:08,040 --> 01:20:12,840
For Shackleton, South Georgia
was a very different world.
1019
01:20:14,079 --> 01:20:19,280
We were so stiff,
we marched with our knees bent.
1020
01:20:20,000 --> 01:20:22,600
A jagged line of peaks with a
gap like a broken tooth
confronted us,
1021
01:20:22,639 --> 01:20:27,959
and our course eastward to
Stromness lay across it.
1022
01:20:32,360 --> 01:20:34,719
A very steep slope led up
to the ridge
1023
01:20:35,399 --> 01:20:39,360
and an icy wind burst
through the gap.
1024
01:20:39,399 --> 01:20:42,639
But the worst was turning
to the best for us.
1025
01:20:44,799 --> 01:20:47,600
Twisted, wavelike rock
formations of Husvik Harbour,
1026
01:20:47,879 --> 01:20:51,360
appeared right ahead in the
opening of dawn.
1027
01:20:54,840 --> 01:20:55,959
In intense excitement,
1028
01:20:56,520 --> 01:21:00,920
we watched the chronometer for
07:00, when the whalers would
be summoned to work.
1029
01:21:06,280 --> 01:21:09,238
Right to the minute,
the steam whistle came to us,
1030
01:21:09,280 --> 01:21:14,680
borne clearly on the wind,
never had any one of us heard
sweeter music.
1031
01:21:16,159 --> 01:21:18,520
It was a moment hard to
describe.
1032
01:21:19,360 --> 01:21:21,238
Pain and ache.
1033
01:21:21,280 --> 01:21:23,479
Boat journeys, marches, hunger
and fatigue,
1034
01:21:23,719 --> 01:21:29,238
seemed to belong to the limbo
of forgotten things.
1035
01:21:31,799 --> 01:21:36,639
At 01:30 p. m.
we climbed around the final
ridge and saw a steamer.
1036
01:21:37,238 --> 01:21:40,879
Minute figures moving to and
fro about the boats caught our
gaze
1037
01:21:42,840 --> 01:21:47,879
and then we saw the sheds and
factory of Stromness whaling
station.
1038
01:21:51,120 --> 01:21:55,120
We had pierced the veneer
of outside things.
1039
01:21:55,439 --> 01:22:00,000
We had suffered, starved and
triumphed.
1040
01:22:00,760 --> 01:22:04,399
Grovelled down, yet grasped of
glory,
1041
01:22:04,959 --> 01:22:07,840
grown bigger in the
bigness of the whole.
1042
01:22:10,159 --> 01:22:13,520
We had seen God in his
splendours,
1043
01:22:13,559 --> 01:22:17,159
heard the text that
nature renders.
1044
01:22:24,520 --> 01:22:29,920
We had reached the naked soul
of men.
1045
01:22:36,959 --> 01:22:42,000
That afternoon, Shackleton,
Crean and Worsley walked
into Stromness whaling station.
1046
01:22:43,040 --> 01:22:47,159
The factory would have been busy
with teams of men processing
huge whale carcasses
1047
01:22:47,200 --> 01:22:50,120
and the stench would
have been thick in the air.
1048
01:22:52,120 --> 01:22:57,079
This was to be their first
encounter with the outside
world,
1049
01:22:57,120 --> 01:22:59,120
in 532 days.
1050
01:23:00,280 --> 01:23:02,639
We tried to straighten
ourselves up a bit
1051
01:23:02,680 --> 01:23:04,200
for the thought that there
might be women at the station,
1052
01:23:04,238 --> 01:23:10,760
made us painfully
conscious of our uncivilized
appearance.
1053
01:23:10,799 --> 01:23:14,159
Our beards were long
and our hair was matted.
1054
01:23:15,159 --> 01:23:19,399
Three more unpleasant looking
ruffians could hardly have
been imagined.
1055
01:23:29,879 --> 01:23:34,280
Well, Shackleton finally
arrives with Crean and
Worsley at the whaling station.
1056
01:23:34,319 --> 01:23:38,280
They celebrate momentarily,
but then Shackleton's focused
on picking up
1057
01:23:38,319 --> 01:23:40,280
all the people he's left
behind.
1058
01:23:40,319 --> 01:23:42,719
And this is just fraught
with problems.
1059
01:23:44,959 --> 01:23:47,159
After retrieving the men left
on the other side of the island
1060
01:23:47,360 --> 01:23:52,319
Shackleton sets off from South
Georgia in a whaling ship
1061
01:23:52,360 --> 01:23:57,360
with the intention of rescuing
the 22 men left behind on
Elephant Island.
1062
01:23:57,399 --> 01:24:00,559
And they get turned back by the
pack ice, which is just
impassable.
1063
01:24:01,760 --> 01:24:03,319
They attempt this a second time,
1064
01:24:03,360 --> 01:24:04,959
and the same thing happens
again.
1065
01:24:05,520 --> 01:24:10,079
Pack ice, too dense, driven
back, unable to get any further
south,
1066
01:24:10,920 --> 01:24:14,719
they resort to sailing to South
America, where Shackleton raises
the funds
1067
01:24:14,760 --> 01:24:16,520
for another ship to reach the
men.
1068
01:24:17,559 --> 01:24:19,559
And that catches fire.
1069
01:24:19,920 --> 01:24:22,879
Back to South America,
they go, tail between their
legs.
1070
01:24:24,040 --> 01:24:25,520
On their fourth attempt,
1071
01:24:25,559 --> 01:24:29,680
they go south in a vessel called
the Yelcho, a final rescue
effort funded
1072
01:24:29,719 --> 01:24:30,840
by the Chilean government,
1073
01:24:30,879 --> 01:24:34,040
in what is essentially a
tugboat.
1074
01:24:35,879 --> 01:24:40,238
This time, Providence favored
us.
1075
01:24:40,280 --> 01:24:44,079
The little steamer made a quick
rundown in comparatively fine
weather.
1076
01:24:45,399 --> 01:24:48,959
Worsley's keen eyes detected
the camp.
1077
01:24:49,000 --> 01:24:52,399
The men ashore saw us at the
same time
1078
01:24:52,719 --> 01:24:58,079
and we saw tiny black figures
hurry to the beach and wave
signals to us.
1079
01:24:59,520 --> 01:25:02,760
I saw a little figure on a surf
beaten rock
1080
01:25:02,799 --> 01:25:04,079
and recognized Wilde.
1081
01:25:04,559 --> 01:25:05,559
(Cheering)
1082
01:25:08,079 --> 01:25:11,559
I called out, 'are you all
well?.
1083
01:25:11,600 --> 01:25:15,559
And he answered, 'we are all
well, boss!'
1084
01:25:16,120 --> 01:25:19,200
Wilde had held the party
together,
1085
01:25:19,238 --> 01:25:23,120
and kept hope alive in their
hearts.
1086
01:25:25,639 --> 01:25:30,920
The men on Elephant Island had
waited four and a half months
for rescue
1087
01:25:31,079 --> 01:25:34,238
and were down to just
four days worth of rations.
1088
01:25:35,040 --> 01:25:37,639
The crew of Endurance were
finally about to return to
civilization
1089
01:25:37,680 --> 01:25:42,200
for the first time in over two
years.
1090
01:25:46,439 --> 01:25:50,559
Against all odds, Shackleton had
managed to achieve the
impossible.
1091
01:25:55,559 --> 01:25:57,600
All hands were rescued.
1092
01:25:57,639 --> 01:25:59,680
Not a single man perished.
1093
01:26:09,719 --> 01:26:14,639
Shackleton's story inspires me,
especially when I'm in these
remote
1094
01:26:14,680 --> 01:26:17,760
locations and faced with the
reality of the situation.
1095
01:26:19,079 --> 01:26:22,799
I believe Shackleton's
leadership can be applied to
almost any mission,
1096
01:26:23,120 --> 01:26:25,280
any goal.
1097
01:26:25,319 --> 01:26:28,559
For me, that is correcting our
climate trajectory.
1098
01:26:29,479 --> 01:26:32,479
The changes we've witnessed
here in South Georgia are
sobering
1099
01:26:32,559 --> 01:26:37,040
and I am compelled to use what
I've learned from Shackleton, to
make a difference.
1100
01:26:38,280 --> 01:26:40,559
I think the thing about glaciers
is that they are tangible.
1101
01:26:40,600 --> 01:26:42,120
They're a physical thing.
1102
01:26:42,238 --> 01:26:45,719
You can't see 415 parts per
million of CO2 in the
atmosphere,
1103
01:26:45,760 --> 01:26:48,159
but you can see a melting
glacier.
1104
01:26:48,520 --> 01:26:51,879
South Georgia is such a remote
place and of course, Antarctica
remoter still,
1105
01:26:51,920 --> 01:26:53,600
so not many people get to come
here.
1106
01:26:53,680 --> 01:26:57,439
I think the work we're doing
bringing these images back to
people
1107
01:26:58,079 --> 01:27:01,760
is just crucial in communicating
both the beauty of these places
but the fragility of them
1108
01:27:01,959 --> 01:27:04,040
and the importance of doing
something about climate change.
1109
01:27:05,600 --> 01:27:07,799
If Shackleton's leadership has
taught us anything,
1110
01:27:07,840 --> 01:27:10,559
it's how to achieve the
impossible.
1111
01:27:11,520 --> 01:27:16,000
And these are skills we can
apply to mammoth tasks like
solving climate change.
1112
01:27:16,639 --> 01:27:18,760
We need to reframe the mission.
1113
01:27:18,959 --> 01:27:20,920
We need to set milestones.
1114
01:27:21,120 --> 01:27:24,719
We need to break down the big
picture into smaller, bite sized
challenges.
1115
01:27:25,399 --> 01:27:29,879
We need to use emotional
intelligence to convince
everybody to pull together.
1116
01:27:30,600 --> 01:27:32,159
These are the skills that
allowed
1117
01:27:32,200 --> 01:27:34,760
Shackleton to save all
of his men from Antarctica.
1118
01:27:36,200 --> 01:27:41,760
Those same skills must now help
us save Antarctica from man.
1119
01:27:47,238 --> 01:27:50,760
Our journey ends here at
Grytviken whaling station,
1120
01:27:51,120 --> 01:27:56,680
where Endurance and her
crew of 28 first set off to
conquer the ice.
1121
01:27:58,159 --> 01:28:02,879
Grytviken and where we are would
have been a harsh, harsh place
hundred years ago.
1122
01:28:03,238 --> 01:28:07,360
Many whales hunted here
subsequently ended up on the
brink of extinction.
1123
01:28:07,399 --> 01:28:10,680
Humpback whales, blue whales.
1124
01:28:11,200 --> 01:28:14,959
And thankfully, we realized the
error of our ways before it was
too late
1125
01:28:15,000 --> 01:28:18,399
and managed to stop the whaling
before we hunted them to
extinction.
1126
01:28:18,959 --> 01:28:23,040
Fur seals are back at the
numbers they were before we ever
started hunting them.
1127
01:28:23,079 --> 01:28:28,120
Which tells us that if we take
our foot off the throat of
nature, she can recover.
1128
01:28:39,000 --> 01:28:41,200
Six years after their daring
escape from the ice,
1129
01:28:41,238 --> 01:28:43,920
Shackleton, Wilde,
Worsley,
1130
01:28:43,959 --> 01:28:46,680
and several other crew of
Endurance,
1131
01:28:46,719 --> 01:28:51,120
returned to South Georgia, on
another expedition to the south.
1132
01:28:56,159 --> 01:28:58,479
Before they could set off
Shackleton
1133
01:28:58,520 --> 01:29:02,280
suffered a fatal heart attack
and was laid to rest here on
the island.
1134
01:29:07,319 --> 01:29:11,040
He just aspired to achieve
something that was bigger than
him.
1135
01:29:11,079 --> 01:29:13,520
He loved the whole romance and
mystery
1136
01:29:13,559 --> 01:29:17,319
of attaining things on the
largest of levels and the
biggest of stages.
1137
01:29:17,639 --> 01:29:21,799
And he wanted to find out what
he was capable of doing and what
was out there.
1138
01:29:21,840 --> 01:29:23,079
And it was this kind of
wonderful combination,
1139
01:29:24,479 --> 01:29:27,840
of geographical discovery,
and finding out what lies
within yourself
1140
01:29:27,879 --> 01:29:30,959
to enable you to do these things
that really spurred him on.
1141
01:29:33,399 --> 01:29:35,600
I think we can all find
leadership within ourself, you
know?
1142
01:29:35,639 --> 01:29:37,280
It's not a case of being born
with it.
1143
01:29:37,319 --> 01:29:39,238
It's a case of finding
it within ourselves.
1144
01:29:39,280 --> 01:29:41,479
And I think Shackleton found it
within himself
1145
01:29:41,959 --> 01:29:44,439
to save all his men from
certain death,
1146
01:29:44,479 --> 01:29:45,879
and we can find it within
ourselves.
1147
01:29:46,040 --> 01:29:48,120
It's just the issue is
different. But we must.
1148
01:29:48,200 --> 01:29:50,079
We must find it within
ourselves.
1149
01:29:50,799 --> 01:29:54,719
The key to our future, might lie
100 years in our past.
1150
01:29:58,040 --> 01:30:02,559
Truly making this
the greatest story of survival.
107750
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