Explorers Re-Create Epic Journey From Antarctic

Storms strand men on icy island 12 hours, but still manage to finish
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 11, 2013 11:27 AM CST
Explorers Re-Create Epic Journey From Antarctic
In this Jan. 23, 2013 photo, adventurers aboard their boat Alexander Shackleton leave Elephant Island.   (AP Photo/Shackleton Epic, Jo Stewart)

Two explorers managed to finish their re-creation today of Ernest Shackleton's famous survival journey from the Antarctic to South Georgia Island—but only after a blizzard stranded them on a high, icy plateau for hours, reports the Australian Times. Using only period gear and food, Tim Jarvis and Barry Gray had already completed a 12-day, 800-mile sea voyage in a wooden lifeboat from the site of Shackleton's original shipwreck on Elephant Island to South Georgia Island, but tough conditions forced four members of their crew to drop out.

The journey then required a 32-mile trek across the island, over mountains up to 2,950-feet high, to reach on old whaling station, which is when rain, snow, and 45-knot winds forced the men to take shelter for 12 hours in a tent—a modern tent with modern sleeping bags, notes Global Post, along with some extra food supplied by their modern support team. But today, Jarvis and Gray completed the arduous journey. "There’s no doubt in my mind that everyone has a Shackleton double in them and I hope we’ve inspired a few people to find theirs," says Jarvis. Some of Shackleton's long-lost Scotch was last month returned to Antarctica. (More Tim Jarvis stories.)

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