Explorers to retrace epic Antarctic voyage

Tim Jarvis on an Antarctic expedition

wikipedia-public domain

For the first time ever, a group of explorers retraces the epic voyage made by Britain's Ernest Shackleton on his attempt to reach the South Pole between 1914-16.

The British and Australian team, led by Australian explorer and environmentalist Tim Jarvis, will start the journey on an exact copy of Shackleton's lifeboat, named Alexandra Shackleton after the Anglo-Irish explorer's granddaughter. 

Shackleton's team was forced to use the lifeboat after their boat, the Endurance, became trapped in the Antarctic ice and eventually sank. 

"You know, we ran the numbers and said what can we do with an exact replica of Shackleton's boat, without cheating, to try and make this ... less susceptible to capsize than what he had," Jarvis said.

The Shackleton Epic team will also use no equipment that was not available in early 20th century. 

"It's amazing to think that (after) a hundred years, with all of our modern thinking, we've ended up with exactly what Shackleton had. But yeah, it's still a very tippy, very unsafe boat," added the environmental scientist.

Along with the voyage's explorative purpose, Jarvis considers it an ideal platform to promote his environmental message. "Well, Shackleton was trying to save his men from the Antarctic and we're now trying to save Antarctica from man," said the adventurer.