100 Years Ago Shackleton's Men Were Rescued From the Ice

Yesterday marked an auspicious day in the annals of exploration. It was exactly 100 years to the day since Ernest Shackleton's men were rescued from the ice in the Antarctic after a months-long ordeal that would eventually go down as one of the greatest tales of survival ever. The rescue brought and end to their struggles on that particular expedition, but returned them to a world gone mad by war.

Shackleton's tale is a well known one at this point. In August of 1914, he and his men set sail from London for the Antarctic where he and several of his men had hoped to launch an attempt to cross the frozen continent. As they left Europe behind, the first shots of what would become World War I were just taking place on that continent as well.

In December of 1914, Shackleton's ship – the aptly named Endurance – departed South Georgia Island for the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica. Once there, the crew discovered more ice than they had expected, and by January 19, 1915 the ship was fully enveloped in ice, not allowing it to move forward or backward. For months, the Endurance and her crew were stuck in place, until the ship finally succumbed to the pressures being applied to its hull and sunk beneath the waters on November 21, 1915.

But the ordeal for Shackleton and is men were far from over. For weeks they camped on an ice floe before it cracked and broke up, forcing them into the Endurance's lifeboats in a desperate attempt to reach Elephant Island. They reached that point and stepped foot on solid ground for the first time in 497 days.


Knowing that he and his men couldn't hold out forever, Shackleton came up with a desperate plan to make an open water crossing to reach South Georgia again. On April 24, 1916 he and a few hand-picked men set out once again, surviving high seas, storms, and frigid conditions to reach their destination on May 8. They then made a harrowing trip across the island on foot to reach a whaling station on the other side where they could begin mounting a rescue operation at long last.

But once again the conditions in the Southern Ocean thwarted their plans and poor weather prevented them from going back to Elephant Island. On two separate occasions rescue missions were forced to abandon their attempts, although Shackleton persisted in his efforts to save his men. It took until August 30, 1916 to complete the rescue operation, retrieving 22 men who had remained in that desolate place for five more months. But in the end, not a single man perished on that expedition, which remains a remarkable feat to this day.

It took until May of 1917 for Shackleton to return to England, but but that point the war was at its most brutal. A small conflict that was breaking out when he and his men left for the Antarctic had turned into the bloodiest and most costly war that the world had ever seen. Millions had lost their lives since the Endurance had set sail, and hundreds of thousands more would perish before it was through. Some of them were men who had survived all those months on the ice.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The story of Shackleton and his crew is one of the greatest stories of adventure and survival that we've ever seen. It is a testament to his leadership skills that they managed to stay alive at all, and I can't even imagine what it was like to be stranded under those conditions for so long.

Major thanks goes out to the Adventure Journal for reminding me of this important date in history.

North Pole 2017: Two Teams Prepare for the Challenge

The sun has still to set on the 2016-2017 Antarctic expedition season, and it is already time to begin looking north toward the Arctic. According to ExWeb, this year there are two teams preparing to make a full-distance attempt on the North Pole, despite the fact that such a journey is now more challenging than ever before. So much so, that while numerous people ski to the South Pole each year, no on has reached the North Pole in almost three seasons.

In an effort to change that this year, Sebastian Copeland and Mark George have joined forces to ski 480 miles (772 km) from Ellesmere Island on the Canadian side of the ice to the top of the world at 90ºN. The duo are looking to set out at the end of February or very early in March, with the exit start dictated by the weather of course. Copeland and George will be traveling unassisted and unsupported once they get underway. 

The other team that will be attempting the journey is Martin Murry, while will be joined by his dog Sky. They intend to travel in a supported fashion, receiving occasional resupplies along the way. They'll also set out from the Canadian side of the ice, although their exact departure point isn't know just yet, although ExWeb says that the two teams will share a pilot and departure window.

And of course, we're expecting Mike Horn to attempt a traverse of the Arctic ice cap too, once he wraps up in the Antarctic and sails north. His current plan is to meet his ship after finishing his crossing of the frozen continent, and then sail to Australia and New Zealand to complete a few side adventures. But, it is a long way to sail to the Arctic, and I'm not sure he'll have the time to do that if he intends to make another traverse this year. We'll be watching him closely, as he should rejoin his sailing ship the Pangaea in the next few days, provided the weather cooperates. 

As ExWeb points out, these expeditions face some serious challenges if they hope to be successful. For instance, Kenn Borek Air no long supports North Pole skiers, so the teams had to find an experienced pilot that they could pay to not only deliver them to the start of the expedition, be on standby for 60 days, and pick them up at the North Pole if they reach that point. They found such a man in Dave Mathieson, who will be stationed in Resolute Bay for the duration of the journey. 

These explores will also face a shifting landscape of snow and ice that has most certainly been impacted by climate change. The ice on the way to the North Pole is as unstable as ever, especially considering that 2016 is the warmest year on record. That makes challenge in the Arctic extremely difficult, because unlike in the Antarctic, there is no landmass under all of that ice. The skiers will have to cross open leads of water, traverse massive ice fields with rubble the size of a house, and even potentially face hungry polar bears along the way. Skiing to the South Pole is a relative walk in the woods compared to what it is like to head north. 

We'll be watching the progress of these teams closely once they get underway. As always, it will be interesting to see how they proceed. 

Video: More Than Just Parks Takes Us to the Badlands

The filmmaking brothers of Will and Jim Pattiz have returned with the latest edition in their More Than Just Parks series. This time, the subject of their lenses is Badlands National Park in South Dakota, which is home to some of the most dramatic landscapes you could ever hope to see. As usual, this video lives up to the high level of quality that this video series has set for itself, almost transporting us to this fantastic designation. If you're ever in western South Dakota, this is a must see destination for sure.

BADLANDS 8K from More Than Just Parks on Vimeo.

Himalaya Fall 2016: Kilian Jornet Updates His Progress on Everest

There is no doubt that the expedition that most people are following closely in the Himalaya this fall is Kilian Jornet's attempt to set a new speed record on Mt. Everest. The Spanish ultra-runner left his home for the North Side of the mountain a few weeks back, and while we know that he has been busy working on his acclimatization process in preparation for an eventual crack at the summit, there has been very little word on his progress. But late last week we finally got an update, and while it is brief, it does provide some insight into what is happening at the moment.

Last Thursday, Kilian posted the following message to his Summits of My Life Facebook page. It appears to be a screenshot of a text message sent by phone to his support team that is keeping all of us updated on his current progress. The message reads in Spanish: 

"Bones!! Info Everest: Estem sqguint amb l'aclimatacio. Esta tot molt carregat de neu, xo tot ok!"

Which roughly translates to:

"Good !! Everest Info: We are continuing with acclimatization. This all heavily loaded with snow, x all ok!" 

This small dispatch tells us quite a bit surprisingly enough. For instance, it reaffirms what we already knew that Kilian is proceeding with his acclimatization, which could potentially take another couple of weeks to complete. But, it also tells us a bit about the conditions on the mountain, as it sounds like there is quite a bit of snow there already this fall. That could have a dramatic impact on his eventual attempt at the speed record, although weather conditions can change rapidly, potentially clearing some of that snow out of his way.


While that isn't a lot to go on, it is about the only update we've had over the past couple of weeks, so it is nice to hear something. Hopefully we'll learn more about Kilian's progress and potential schedule soon.

Meanwhile, over on Cho Oyu the Adventure Consultants report that they held their puja ceremony today. This is a ritual during which a Buddhist Lama visits Base Camp and performs a ritual that not only asks permission from the mountain to allow the climbers to go up its slopes, but blesses those climbers and their gear to help keep them safe. Himalayan tradition states that the puja be performed prior to the start of actual climbing operations, so with this detail out of the way, the team will make its first foray up the slopes towards Camp 1 tomorrow.

The Altitude Junkies have checked in from Dhaulagiri, where they arrived in BC last Thursday. If everything has gone according to plan, they should have held their puja today as well, and will now begin fixing the ropes up the slopes. The most recent dispatch from the team says that they will be attempting a different route for that part of the climb due to the dry conditions there. Reportedly, the weather has been very good so far, with just light rain in the evenings. The AJ squad is the only one on the mountain so far, and they report that their BGAN Internet station is not working properly, so updates may be short and sporadic for the length of the expedition.

Finally, the Seven Summits Trek team departed Kathmandu and began their trek to BC on Manaslu yesterday. The expedition's dispatches indicate that the group of Sherpas charged with fixing ropes to the summit are already on the mountain, and should have the route set up to Camp 3 before the climbers arrive.

Video: What Are Africa's Big 5?

You'll often hear people who are going on a safari or visiting Africa in general say that they're hoping to spot the "Big 5." This is a group of animals that are amongst the most popular with travelers, although some are definitely more elusive than others. So which creatures make the list? Check out the video below to find out.

Second Annual Trail Running Conference Coming to Estes Park, Colorado

The very lovely Estes Park, Colorado will play host to the second annual Estes Trail Ascent Conference later this year, bringing trail runners from across the country together for three days of activities. The event is scheduled to take place October 9-11, with October 12 dedicated to racing on local trails.

The conference as a very successful launch last year, and in 2014 organizers are looking to expand on that momentum. The first day of the event, Thursday, October 9, will be specifically geared towards race directors who want to share ideas for running more successful events. The following two days, October 10-11, will be open to the athletes themselves, with plenty of seminars and panel discussions on how to improve performance and get more enjoyment out of the sport. And while the conference officially wraps up on that Saturday, there are already plans for a number of trail runs to take place on Sunday, October 12.

The Estes Trail Ascent is looking to position itself as strategic planning event for promoting trail running across the entire U.S. The sport is growing in popularity and event organizers hope to capitalize on that growth in order to continue to push it to new heights. With that in mind, this year they have partnered with Trail Runner Magazine to not only promote the conference but also the activity.

Even though the event is still months off, you can still find plenty of details about what will happen in Estes Park this October. Check out a preliminary schedule of events, a list of the  types of speakers that will be there, and more. Those details will fill in further as the date draws near, but this will give you an idea if this is the kind of even you'll want to attend.

I'm glad to see that last year's Trail Ascent was a success and organizers are bring it back for another go. Hopefully it will continue to grow and become a premiere trail running event in the U.S.

Video: Felix Baumgartner's Space Jump Like You've Never Seen it Before!

In October of 2012, we were all mesmerized by Felix Baumgartner's amazing skydive from the edge of space. At the time, it was amazing to watch the entire event unfold in real time, with footage being streamed back to Earth. It is still just as compelling to watch the jump unfold today. But now, we have a new video that shows us that record setting skydive as we've never it before. This footage was captured by several GoPro cameras that were affixed directly to Felix as he fell through the atmosphere, giving us his perspective for the first time. It is amazing stuff to be sure.