Shackleton Centenary Expedition
Sir Ernest Shackleton is one of Britain's most famous and widely respected explorers.
The aim of the Nimrod Expedition was to be the first to make a successful journey to the South Pole. With nineteenth-century technology, and the Antarctic still almost completely unknown territory, his was an undertaking equivalent to a modern-day moon-landing.
Shackleton failed. Yet the expedition successfully achieved the first ascent of Mount Erebus, which was the first ascent of any peak in the Antarctic. They were the first team to reach the Magnetic South Pole, and the first team to reach the plateau above the Transantarctic Mountains.
Shackleton, Adams, Wild and Marshall got to within 97 miles of the Pole on January 9th, 1909 before "The Boss" made the pragmatic decision to turn back to base.
By declining what would have been a suicidal race to glory, and choosing instead to preserve the lives of his men, Shackleton not only survived to carry out future exploits but proved himself a leader that the same men would gladly follow through any adversity.
This was the farthest mankind had reached in achieving the South Pole.
More on the web:
Wikipedia has a solid if brief entry.
south-pole.com has a longer, detailed and well-written article online.
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Get a capsule view of who we are, where we're going and why we're doing this by reading our brochure.
View our brochure 
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Sir Ernest Shackleton is widely known as one of the most inspirational leaders of the twentieth century. The Shackleton Foundation is a new charitable trust.
Matrix Group are proud to be the Headline Sponsors of the Shackleton Centenary Expedition
The South Pole Gazette is a round-up of Antarctic news stories from around the web.
The SCE receives a small percentage of the price of all Antarctic and Shackleton books bought through the links listed below. Please note that buying through our UK Amazon affiliate account you are directly helping to sponsor the Expedition.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch with the SCE if you have any questions regarding our project, or if you would like to know more about how you can become a sponsor.
The Shackleton Centenary Expedition,
c/o The Lansdowne Club,
9 Fitzmaurice Place,
London
W1J 5JD
Email us at info@shackletoncentenary.org
For press enquiries, please contact Mark Cooper at Van Communications, mark.cooper@vancomms.com
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The SCE is a not-for-profit venture of the Shackleton Foundation.
All rights reserved © 2006 The Shackleton Centenary Expedition [SCE] except where noted.
Company No. 06107694, Charity No. 1118686.
The Shackleton Centenary Expedition, c/o The Lansdowne Club, 9 Fitzmaurice Place, London W1J 5JD
"Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all." - EHS 1909
Sponsored by Matrix
