Shackleton Centenary Expedition
What beauty is seen through the mist of white snow,
The depths of Antarctica, where no one will go.
The biting wind will freeze thoughts from your mind,
And the deathless cold will leave you behind.
The elegance of animals that lie deep within
This barren island where new life can begin.
But life that lay low years before mine,
May show out to others and soon it may shine.
At night however all life has died down
The wind that was raging is going to drown.
The stars so calm appear life's only light,
And next is the sunrise, the only delight.
Now that its morning the beauty shows,
And as the sun rises, Antarctica glows;
And as I leave this beautiful land,
The life beyond me starts to expand.
"Waiter, has the chef peed in the soup?", asked my great-grandfather earnestly in a smart London restaurant. "Good Lord, of course not Sir Jameson", replied the shocked waiter. "Then I won't have any."
This was typical of "the Mate", so called because that is how he addressed almost everyone from King to coxswain. It also hints at the sort of character Shackleton must have been looking for when he asked the Mate to be his number two on the Nimrod Expedition. The Mate was very much his own man, running away to sea aged 13 (he met Shackleton when he was serving with the Royal Navy) and never short of a joke.
I never met the Mate but my father, his grandson, remembers him fondly. He was by all accounts terrific company (unless you happened to be a waiter), which helps when you need to survive, in every sense of the word, as part of a small team on a long polar expedition.
Sadly his diaries were lost to fire in the Second World War and he never published his own account of the Nimrod Expedition. I dearly wish I knew more about what he went through personally. I can only imagine how it must have felt to get within 97 miles of the Pole, the closest in history at the time, having sacrificed and risked so much over many months, before having to turn back in order to stay alive as their supplies dwindled. Scott and his team were to face a similar situation a few years later in their race to reach the pole before Amundsen and as we know, they took a different decision and paid the consequences with their lives.
I owe the Mate an enormous debt of gratitude. Firstly, he came back from the Antarctic alive, but for which I wouldn't exist (thank goodness he didn't get the wrong sort of frostbite). Secondly, on the centenary of the original expedition, I and the other descendants of the original Nimrod team literally have a once in a lifetime opportunity to retrace our forebears' footsteps and walk a very long way in a frozen, lifeless and stunningly beautiful land. Just getting there is a giant challenge. We will do and when we do, we will discover for ourselves what the original team must have gone through. We will also, like them, discover a lot about ourselves.
I will also be fascinated and privileged to visit the wooden hut at Cape Royds on the New Zealand side of the Antarctic, which Shackleton and his men built to survive the long Antarctic winter before embarking on the march to the Pole in October 1908. The hut marks the start of our journey and still stands 100 years later, with the team's belongings preserved within. To go inside will be to walk back in time. It will be a monumental inspiration before we set off.
And the expedition is just part of it. The Mate dedicated much of his life to youth development after the Nimrod Expedition. Shackleton's feats are well known and inspire awe throughout the world. We have set up a charity, The Shackleton Foundation, to promote, benefit from and encourage in others the accomplishments and spirit of Shackleton and his men.
The expedition is the first fundraising event for The Foundation. You can read elsewhere on these pages about the purpose of The Foundation. Its ambit is, in one sense, as wide as can be, the criteria for potential benefactors being that the projects for which they seek funding are bold, innovative and useful. For me, this means two things: that whoever is seeking a grant must have total faith in their idea or product and that it will make the world a better place.
I can't wait to meet the applicants and hear their ideas. Just need to walk 900 miles to the South Pole first.
In 2005 Will Gow and Henry Worsley took part in the brutal Yukon Arctic Ultra Race.
Here's Will's explanation of what happened in a letter to his sponsors.
I cannot begin to thank you enough for the incredibly generous sponsorship you gave me. The 3rd Yukon Arctic Ultra Race in February 2005 was by far the most challenging event I have participated in, and I am delighted to report that on completing the race your sponsorship raised a sum just shy of the £10,000 target - however there are still cheques to come in which I hope will take the total above that figure.
The money is going to fund a groundbreaking research programme that could relieve symptoms and prevent the progression of disability in multiple sclerosis. This will have a massive impact on MS sufferers as it will enable them to lead relatively normal lives.
I have been in the country for a couple of months now and the swelling in my feet has gone and the weight is back on. For those looking for new dieting methods I can recommend this race - I lost ¾ stone in 7 days! The pain has long gone and there are just memories. However, I look back at the race in awe: words like brutal and relentless spring to mind.
Not only was it extremely physical, traveling 300 miles within 8 days across the Yukon wilderness it was also very psychologically challenging with sleep and sensory deprivation being a constant companion. To make matters worse this year was comparatively warm, with temperatures averaging -20C, which caused softer than usual snow conditions so that sinking into the snow became a real problem.
It was, however, a real privilege to experience the Yukon in the midst of winter. The size of the place is awesome: just a fraction smaller than Spain it contains many huge mountain ranges and is the source of the great Yukon River. Of a population of 30,000 inhabitants, 21,000 live in Whitehorse, the largest town, leaving the rest of the Province virtually uninhabited. The race started in Whitehorse; however it only takes a couple of miles until you are away from it all. Solitude and boredom are two themes competitors learn to deal with early on. When the mind has little to focus on the smallest niggle becomes a huge issue which can rapidly affect your mental outlook.
The major pre-race concerns were predominantly the distance - the whole concept of 300 miles in 8 days was a complete unknown - how was I to pace myself? I had never raced more than 150 miles (7 days) before - how would my body cope with another 150 miles in the equivalent of 1 more day?
Other concerns included the prospect of encountering hungry bears that had come out of hibernation - how was I to deal with such an encounter and was it likely to happen?
Also, I experienced the very real fear of what would I do if I broke through the ice whilst traveling over the frozen rivers and lakes.
It is generally accepted that, if you make it out of the water, you have about 5 minutes, to set up a tent, light a fire and change your clothing before you get severe hypothermia. Fortunately, I came no closer to danger than getting my feet wet in overflow.
The race itself follows the trail of the Yukon Quest, the famous 1000 mile dog-sledding race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks in Alaska. About 25 dog teams take on this trail every year in February which is the coldest month. It is a grueling event for these teams and many fail to complete the course. This is a similar story to 108 years ago when thousands of prospectors first broke this trail in their quest for gold in the Klondike. Hundreds perished in the brutal Arctic winter as they were ill-prepared for such an environment. Little has changed in this wilderness since then and it still remains a mighty challenge. It was along 300 miles of this trail that 17 of us were to race on foot pulling all our own equipment in sledges.
We set out from Whitehorse on February 14th 2005, the day after the start of the Yukon Quest. This was useful as the dog teams had blazed a trail for us; however it didn't take long until the monotony of the trail began to eat away at our spirits. The race soon became a psychological game whereby we paced ourselves around the various checkpoints strategically placed every 50-60 miles.
We would travel for hours without seeing anyone nor hearing anything except the pull of the sledge and the crisp crunch of our feet leaving their impressions in the snow. It wasn't uncommon to travel continually for 12 hours and more which became particularly difficult at night. As tiredness overcame us it was quite usual for hallucinations to occur and I certainly remember one occasion when I realized it was time to rest as I found myself having a conversation with a tree!
The constant pressure to keep moving, to complete the course within the 8 days, made resting very difficult. I found myself working to a system whereby I would try and complete half of a section between 2 checkpoints before stopping for a few hours. Here I would get into my sleeping bag and relax in the snow for 4 or 5 hours. Fortunately I took a loud alarm clock with me which I would purposely hide in my bag so that I had to get up to turn the damn thing off.
This ensured I would continue, as you can imagine getting up at -20/30 is not easy. I would then continue onto the next checkpoint which would take another 10 or so hours. These stations were log cabins or tents, occasionally a school building in one of the few towns or a roadhouse, as at Braeburn. However, they all provided us with a brief sanctuary where we would 'put our feet up' to try and minimize the swelling in our feet; and also get some hot food inside us. Ironically I found these stations too hot to sleep at and so I would move on after a couple of hours.
The course of the trail itself varied enormously. The first 100 miles was very much through forests and up and down hills, which proved physically very demanding. Then the trail changed dramatically as we traveled down onto the frozen lakes. The temperature dropped several degrees and the flat expanse of the lakes become mentally draining as we appeared to make no progress. This for me was the hardest part of the race and I had to give myself a good talking to; however having got beyond this half way point my spirits began to improve.
The trail conditions seemed to get better as well, as the further we went into the interior, with the snow pack being much firmer. By this stage in the race the field was spread very thin with only 7 of us still competing so we very rarely ever saw anyone during this part of the trail. Mentally this was much easier as I was now on the way home; however the trail still had its challenges particularly the last 60 miles. The penultimate 30 miles was over the Yukon River through the rubble ice and overflow. It was here that I broke through the ice but fortunately only sustained wet feet. The final 30 miles was unbearable: I was so near the end but there was still 10 hours of traveling to go and time seemed to come to a standstill.
Eventually, after 177 hours out on the trail I crossed the finish at Pelly Crossing on February 21st at 7:50 pm. I was delighted to be 4th overall but there was more a feeling of sheer relief at having completed the distance and at last I could relax and enjoy a cold beer, which I had been dreaming about for the last few hours!
Thank you to all my sponsors, your pledges on completion certainly helped me focus!
William Gow
May 9th, 2005
As most people know, keeping the noggin warm is critical for being warm generally. If you favour balaclavas as I do, you'll need to bring a variety to cater for different conditions and so you can replace the one you're wearing when it's iced up.
Outdoor Research's Gorilla balaclava (below) is brilliant, with a detachable velcro mouth cover that hinges off when iced up, allowing you to scoff and refuel without exposing your head to the elements. It's also made from slightly stretchy windproof material, which is critical in order to avoid frostbite. I've cut out the mouth cover on mine to be able to breathe better, and to look ever so slightly more human.
Another original design of balaclava is made by a company called Psolar. It features a simple heat exchanger which uses the air you breathe out to heat and moisturise the air you breathe in. I've not yet worn it in anger (well I have, but only for the inevitable Darth Vader impressions) but if its makers' claims are true, it could be a real find.
Neither the OR Gorilla nor the Psolar balaclava are sold in the UK and had to be ordered from the USA.
If you prefer hats to balaclavas, you'll need something to protect your nose and mouth from frostbite. One solution is to sew a windproof fleece flap beneath your goggles, which seems to work well.
Whichever system you use, a fur ruff sewn/zipped to your hood is indispensable. It deflects the wind and keeps the blizzard away from your face. Wintergreen Designs can supply these.
Finally, goggles, or occasionally very strong sunglasses, must be worn pretty much all the time, to protect against both the cold and the sun. Henry suffered from snow blindness after not protecting his eyes whilst training one day in Baffin Island and was in serious discomfort. And that was during an overcast day!
Click here for the next installment.
It is critical that we get our nutrition right. We will be working extremely hard day in day out for 80 days, pulling twice our bodyweight behind us in extremely low temperatures over variable terrain. This requires massive amounts of energy.
On average, people consume around 2000 calories per day. We will need in excess of 5000 calories as a bare minimum and even then, we stand to expend more energy than we take on. This leads inevitably to weight loss as your body slowly starts to consume its fat supplies and, in extremis, your muscles.
So why not take more food? Weight is of course the key here. Fat provides the greatest amount of energy for its weight, however it is difficult and slow to digest, which is not much help when you need to replenish your energy supplies immediately to put in another two hour stint. So, we will consume a very high quantity of carbohydrates during the day, in the form of energy bars and drinks, together with nuts, alongside more fatty foods such as cheese and salami (both of which we all crave when training). At night, we will feast on freeze-dried meals of various sorts.
All our drinking water and the water we use to make up the freeze-dried meals comes from boiling snow, which is one resource which we won't have a problem finding! We'll be taking two 4 litre titanium Evernew pans with us for boiling snow (see above for a rather uninspiring picture of an empty pot). These took ages to source and ultimately we bought them from REI in the United States. Titanium is much lighter than stainless steel and just as hard-wearing for items such as pots and pans.
Our bowls and spoons are made of lexan, which is a very light and nigh-on indestructible form of plastic. Titanium is out of the question here. In the extreme cold, a titanium spoon will stick to your tongue, which is highly entertaining for everyone else but less so for the poor soul rendered speechless.
The stoves we'll be using are MSR's time-honoured XGK EX afterburners (below). The XGKs have practically no adjustment in flame size, are difficult to ignite and aren't that light. However, they are probably the most reliable expedition stoves ever made, which makes them indispensable.
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