Tri-Service

Unsupported & Unaided: Former Officer To Cross Antarctica Alone

A former British Army officer is hoping to become the first person to cross the Antarctic unaided.

Explorer Henry Worsley, a former lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Green Jackets, will endure freezing temperatures, high winds and treacherous ice on the 1,100 mile trek.

In so doing, he's hoping to complete Sir Ernest Shackleton's century-old unfinished journey to the South Pole.

With no air-dropped food, nothing but skis for transport and no-one for company, it’s one hell of a challenge.

He’ll trek to the South Pole and then travel to the other side of the land mass, carrying his own food on a sledge during a gruelling journey expected to last around 80 days.

The reason behind the Shackleton Solo Challenge is Henry’s passionate interest in the lives of the Antarctic explorers of the Edwardian age, including Sir Ernest Shackleton's failed attempt to cross the continent via the South Pole.

Shackleton's journey, which hoped to reach the Pole by 1915, set sail from the shores of South Devon for the 'ends of the earth' but was unsuccessful.

Shackleton on an earlier Antarctic expedition

He sailed with his ship Endurance which had been built in a Norwegian shipyard, from Plymouth on August 6 1914 - leaving two days later to set course for Buenos Aires, Argentina.

His crew's treacherous two-year odyssey back to civilisation has since become the stuff of legend.

The explorer spent months fighting for funds and approval only for his dream of getting to the South Pole dashed when, less than six months after setting-off, the Endurance was trapped in ice floes.

After 10 months it started to sink, leaving the 27-strong crew to drag their lifeboats across the frozen Weddell Sea for six months, surviving on seal and penguin meat, until they reached the open ocean.

From there, the men made their way to the remote and desolate Elephant Island. Faced with likely starvation, Shackleton and five companions travelled across 800 miles of unmapped glacier range to South Georgia, the nearest human outpost.

Henry’s journey starts when he flies to Chile and from the country's southernmost tip will fly to Union Glacier in early November, his Antarctic logistics base.

He will then continue to his start point at Gould Bay - the closest accessible point to Shackleton's intended start at Vahsel Bay on the edge of the Weddell Sea.

Henry has just completed a 36 year career in the British Army and says he wants to leave a financial legacy to assist his wounded mates over the journey of their recovery. He’s hoping to raise £100,000 for The Endeavour Fund.

“My chosen charity is The Endeavour Fund, one of the Royal Foundation funds that grants money to wounded servicemen and women who wish to undertake activities in the physical arena as part of their rehabilitation process.”