When Your Life Depends on It

by Brad Borkan

  Here are seven of the best strategies they deployed:

  1. Meet every decision point head-on. No matter how tough the circumstances were, all the men of the heroic age expeditions confronted decisions as they met them; they didn’t procrastinate, and they didn’t wallow in self-pity. They faced situations and quickly made decisive choices. There are many examples of this, including the spontaneous action of Frank Wild in taking charge of the remnants of an early field party to lead the men away from the icy cliff after one man fell to his death. He wasn’t a leader at that point, but stepped up to take the lead. His quick thinking and decisive action saved the lives of the men he was with, as well as his own.

  2. Make the best of a bad decision. A distinguishing feature of the heroic age expeditions from other polar expeditions is the number of bad decisions that were made, but from which they remarkably recovered, thanks to sheer grit and determination. For example, Shackleton’s decision not to land the Endurance earlier was unfortunate. His choice to seek a better location along the shores of the ice-filled Weddell Sea resulted in the Endurance being iced in and ultimately crushed. It may have been a bad or unlucky decision, nonetheless, he and the crew made the best of the situation and all survived. Amundsen made his own unfortunate decision by starting too early in the spring in his determination to beat Scott to the South Pole. He and his team had to turn back due to severe cold, and by regrouping and starting a bit later, still managed to achieve their goal.

  3. Engage others on your team. In modern life, when faced with risk, adversity or a decision point, people may think it is a sign of weak leadership to ask others for their advice. In contrast, team leadership on the early Antarctic expeditions adapted to situations as needed and sought advice where needed.

  Scott depended on Edward Wilson’s counsel on various decisions. Bowers, Wilson and Cherry-Garrard were a remarkable team on the “worst journey in the world.” Crean, Lashly and Lt. Evans worked as a high-functioning team in their return as the last supporting Polar Party to Scott. Shackleton depended upon Frank Wild and Frank Worsley. In Antarctica, these leaders had only the few men they were with as team members. In contrast, in the modern world we can have the support and counsel of a wider “team,” including family, friends, work colleagues, and others from around the world, via modern, instantaneous communication methods.

  4. Inspiration can come from unexpected places. When facing challenging decision points, looking outside your immediate circumstances for inspiration can be a big help. Mawson only summoned the strength for a second try at pulling himself out of the icy crevasse when he remembered a poem. Shackleton relied on the poems by Tennyson, Browning and others to inspire himself and his men. In their cases, poetry and literature, and their legacy in letters, were more than paper and pen—these inspirations kept them alive.

  5. Never, ever give up. Story after story illustrates situations where the explorers could have given up—but never did. Many felt the call of a higher purpose, and they never gave up hope, courage and determination. Nor should you, no matter how bad a situation seems.

  The list of heroic age Antarctic explorers who didn’t give up is almost endless.

  Think of:

  Mawson down the crevasse knowing that even if he survived, he might not reach the ship in time

  Scott, Wilson and Bowers’ return journey from the Pole after Edgar Evans and Captain Oates died

  Wilson, Bowers and Cherry-Garrard on “the worst journey in the world” after their tent blew away in a blizzard, facing temperatures so low they were getting frostbite in their sleeping bags (luckily they recovered the tent later that day)

  Frank Wild and the men on Elephant Island staying alive for four long months while waiting for “the Boss” to return

  Shackleton, Crean and Worsley walking across the uncharted, unexplored mountainous interior of South Georgia to the whaling station after they had to land the James Caird on the opposite side of the island

  Crean’s epic do-or-die thirty-five-mile walk with only three biscuits and two sticks of chocolate in his pocket, and Evans surviving despite severe scurvy, thanks to Crean’s rescue

  Mackintosh and the Ross Sea Party keeping their promise and laying depots despite the lack of supplies and equipment

  The Northern Party having to winter over in a snow cave with limited food, and then having to walk more than two hundred miles (320 km) back to safety when spring came.

  The universal attribute was—they never, ever gave up, no matter how tough it got.

  6. Reframe what success looks like. Sometimes fate has a way of preventing you from achieving your goal, but gives you an opportunity to reframe it. Amundsen reframed his goal of being first to the North Pole when Peary and Cook each claimed to have reached it. He adroitly reframed his goal to head south to challenge Scott. After the Endurance broke up, Shackleton reframed his goal of being the first to walk across continental Antarctica, to one of getting all the men from the Endurance home alive. During the Nimrod Expedition, Shackleton again proved astute at setting new milestones. He realized that he and his crew had proceeded as far south as they possibly could, and would have to turn around. They left all their supplies and tent to walk one more day south to accomplish a new goal: be the first to get within one hundred geographical miles (185 km) of the South Pole.

  7. When all else fails, bad luck descends, and the end is truly in sight, how do you act nobly? Sometimes it really is the end. Scott, Wilson, and Bowers gave it their best shot. They achieved the South Pole, but arrived a month and three days after Amundsen. Amundsen had led an exemplary expedition—well planned and well executed. In comparison, some might have argued Scott didn’t stand a chance of getting there first, but Scott, Wilson and Bowers left us another legacy. They acted nobly right up to the end. They dutifully carried Amundsen’s letter addressed to the King of Norway with them. Though suffering from frostbite and starvation, they never abandoned the Antarctic rocks they had collected that were vital to the scientific exploration that their expedition prided itself on.

  And, at the very end, they wrote poignant, memorable and noble letters to their sponsors and loved ones, and left us with these immortal words:

  “Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman.”—Robert Scott, 1912.

  And those rocks—the heavy manifestation of the credo of science above all, collected and carried along with them to the very end—contained the first recorded Antarctic fossil of a distinctive fern plant. They helped prove that the Southern Continents were once linked, yielding the vital scientific evidence needed to establish the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. The value of their expedition, and the other heroic age expeditions, lives on to this day.

  Tables

  Appendix I

  Authors’ note on the expeditions of the heroic era of Antarctic exploration

  The term “heroic era” was coined by the Reverend J. Gordon Hayes for his 1932 book, The Conquest of the South Pole. His concept has taken hold, and the heroic era is today most often construed as beginning with Scott’s Discovery Expedition in 1901, ending with the return of Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition (officially named as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition) in 1917. Mechanized transport and radio communication had yet to be perfected. Ponies, dogs, and men moved the supplies overland, leaving notes and detailed instructions along the way. They put their trust in experience, luck, and dogged determination to help them survive when these broke down.

  There were also several expeditions in the field a few years prior to 1901, including the Belgica’s long winter beset in the pack ice of the Ross Sea in 1898, and Carsten Borchgrevink’s Southern Cross Expedition, the first to winter on the Antarctic mainland in 1900. Although these endeavors demonstrated the possibility of extended stays amid the ice and darkness, neither made significant forays into the continent’s interior. They provided the fi
rst Antarctic baselines of weather, ice, and magnetic observation that have become the foundation of today’s physical sciences in that region.

  There were other expeditions that were active during those years. Germany’s Gauss Expedition, under Captain Erich von Drygalski, operated in the Antarctic concurrently with Scott’s Discovery and Sweden’s Antarctic Expeditions to study terrestrial magnetism and other physical phenomena in 1901-1903. Germany sent another ship in 1911-1912, the Deutschland under Wilhelm Filchner. Both explored previously undiscovered parts of the Antarctic coast. Japan sent the Kainan Maru in 1910-1912. It landed a shore party at the Bay of Whales alongside Amundsen’s Framheim, and ventured over the Great Ice Barrier into the foothills of King Edward VII Land.

  The authors fully recognize the contributions of these expeditions, and the men who risked their lives to fulfil them, but this book does not pretend to be a history of Antarctic exploration. It seeks instead to look at the work of a few, those to whom the word “heroic” most applies, whose men endured more than ordinary mortals could be expected to, and for the most part, survived. Many of them returned to the Antarctic to live the life once again, face the risks, and overcome adversity by sheer unstoppable endurance.

  Their stories are very compelling. They serve as object lessons to those of us today who face our own adversities, and are willing to give our all to overcome them.

  Appendix II

  Additional information about Antarctic places and phrases used in this book

  Aurora: Ship used first on Mawson’s Australian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914, and later by Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition (also known as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition), 1914-1917, to transport the Ross Sea Party.

  Balloon Bight: An inlet in the Great Ice Barrier first discovered by Scott’s Discovery Expedition in 1902, and named for the first aerial balloon ascent in Antarctica. It subsequently changed dramatically in form, and was renamed by Shackleton to the Bay of Whales.

  Bay of Whales: Shackleton declined to land there in 1907, fearing a catastrophic calving of the Barrier, while Amundsen felt confident in its stability and made Framheim there in 1911.

  Barrier or Great Ice Barrier (today called the Ross Ice Shelf): An enormous sheet of floating ice, as large as France, filling the area between Ross Island and the Antarctic continent to the south. Its seaward face runs east from Cape Crozier to King Edward VII Land in a bluff hundreds of feet high in places. It prevented ships from reaching land but provided a long level route to the Beardmore Glacier and Axel Heiberg Glacier, both of which lead to the Polar Plateau.

  Beardmore Glacier: A massive river of ice twenty miles (32 km) wide and 120 miles (193 km) long, leading from the Barrier to the South Polar Plateau. Discovered by Shackleton in 1908, this glacier was the highway to the interior later used by Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition.

  Biscuit: An Antarctic biscuit is a simple type of thick cracker made from wholemeal flour, water, and sometimes salt. This part of the overall sledging ration was inexpensive and long-lasting. They had some nutritional value (B vitamins, etc.) and importantly provided roughage to the sledging diet. For the Terra Nova Expedition, Dr. Edward Wilson had the biscuits made from his own recipe to improve their nutritional value, but his recipe was not written in his diaries and has now been lost.

  Blubber: A thick layer of fat found under the skin of all whales, seals and penguins. Once it has been rendered, it can serve as fuel for cooking and lighting, and can be consumed as food for humans.

  Cairn: A temporary monument of snow blocks piled one on top of the other and used to mark trails the explorers took. This made it easier for the explorers to find their way back, or for others to follow in their path.

  Cape Adare: The northernmost landing site on the coast of Victoria Land, and site of the wintering parties of Borchgrevink’s Southern Cross Expedition 1898-1900, and Scott’s Northern Party from the Terra Nova Expedition (1911). The Northern Party made use of Borchgrevink’s huts, which were still standing.

  Cape Crozier: The easternmost point of Ross Island, the site of the largest emperor penguin breeding colony, and the western terminus of the Great Ice Barrier.

  Cape Denison: The name given to the land at Commonwealth Bay where Mawson established his home base on the Australian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914. It is one of the windiest places in the world with wind speeds of up to two hundred miles/hour (320km/h).

  Cape Evans: Site of Scott’s home base during the Terra Nova Expedition, 1910-1913. It is on the west side of Ross Island, facing McMurdo Sound. It was later used as home base by the Shackleton's Ross Sea Party 1914-1916.

  Crevasse: A deep, usually vertical, crack or split in a glacier, formed as the brittle ice flows over an uneven surface beneath the ice. Crevasses, even wide ones, can become covered over by blown snow. These “lids” are not easily seen and can give out without warning beneath an explorer. Over time these lids may fall away, leaving narrow bridges across the deep crevasses.

  Discovery: Ship used on Scott’s first expedition, the Discovery Expedition, 1901-1904.

  Discovery Hut: Hut built at Hut Point on Cape Evans for Scott’s Discovery Expedition, 1901-1904 and used as shelter by most of the expeditions that followed.

  Elephant Island: One of the easternmost of the South Shetland Islands, where twenty-two of Shackleton’s Endurance party were marooned in 1916.

  Evans Cove: Inlet on the shore of Victoria Land, where Scott’s Northern Party had been dropped off by the Terra Nova to explore the local area for six weeks. The ship was unable to penetrate the ice to pick them up and the six men had to spend the winter in an ice cave on Inexpressible Island.

  Finnesko: Boots made entirely from reindeer skin, with the fur on the outside.

  Floe: A discrete piece of flat, floating sea ice separated from its neighbors by lanes of open water. Depending on the age and local pack conditions, a floe’s size may range from a couple dozen yards to miles in extent. Unlike an icefield, when navigating a ship, an ice floe’s extent can be distinguished from the ship’s masthead.

  Fram: Polar exploration ship commissioned by Fridtjof Nansen and designed and built by famed Norwegian naval shipbuilder Colin Archer in 1892. It was later used by Amundsen for his Norwegian Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1912.

  Framheim: Amundsen’s home base in 1910-1912, near the Bay of Whales.

  Glacier: A river of ice, generally flowing down a valley, with rock walls at either side. Glaciers can be small valley glaciers, ice streams, or immense flows like the Beardmore at one hundred and twenty miles (193 km) long from its head at the South Polar Plateau (ten thousand feet above sea level) to the Barrier, and up to twenty miles (32 km) in width. The surface of a glacier is split into multitudes of deep crevasses.

  Great Ice Barrier: (see Barrier)

  Hut Point: Landfall near the westernmost point of Ross Island, where the Discovery spent the winters of 1902 and 1903, and site of the Discovery Hut, which served subsequent Antarctic explorers as well.

  Harness: A broad canvas upper body belt used in man-hauling sledges. As seen in many expedition photographs such as the one on the cover of this book, teams of men worked together to pull one sledge. On occasion, when someone fell into a crevasse, his harness and tether to the sledge were what saved him.

  Hummock: A mass of sea ice rising to a considerable height, often up to forty feet above the general level of a floe. Hummocks are created by the pressure of floes driven by wind and current to grind against each other.

  Hoosh: A single-pot stew, heated over a Primus stove. Made from pemmican (dried and powdered meat) and grains; it may also include blubber, and any other edibles that may be at hand.

  Ice Cap: A dome-shaped cover of perennial ice and snow, covering the summit area of a mountain mass so that no peaks emerge through it. The South Polar Plateau where the South Pole is located is an ice cap of continental dimension, at an average elevation of ten thousand feet above sea level. This ice cap is two miles (3.2 km) thick
.

  Lead: Another name for lane or channel through the floes of floating sea ice. A ship is said to “take the right lead” when she follows a channel conducting her into a more navigable water.

  Magnetic South Pole: (As distinct from the South Pole, which is also called the South Geographic Pole). The Magnetic South Pole is the one place in the entire Southern Hemisphere, where a magnetic dip needle would point down into a straight vertical line. It was discovered by Mawson, Edgeworth David and Alistair Mackay as a result of a challenging trek taken on the Nimrod Expedition in 1909.

  Man-hauling: Moving heavily laden sledges over the ice by men in harness. Man-hauling at high altitude in polar conditions is one of the most physically demanding efforts known. The caloric intake required to perform the work and maintain body heat is about 6,500 calories per day, requiring an enormous intake of food. Scott recognized the need for high-energy foods but seriously underestimated the necessary caloric intake. His Summit Ration provided about 4,500 calories per day. The men were eating their full ration, and slowly starving themselves.

  McMurdo Sound: Body of water between Ross Island and the southern coast of Victoria Land, discovered by James Clark Ross in 1841. Hut Point lies at its southern extremity, and Cape Evans looks over it from the east.

  Morning: Relief ship used on Scott’s Discovery Expedition, 1901-1904.

  Mount Erebus: The world’s southernmost active volcano; this smoking mountain on Ross Island overlooks the historic sites of Scott’s and Shackleton’s expeditions.

  Motor Sledge: Not really a sledge, but a motor tractor on caterpillar treads intended to pull loaded sledges. Scott’s experimental use of them was not a great success, but it did establish the value of these tracked vehicles for later Antarctic exploration. His motor sledges were the forerunner to the treaded tanks designed for WW1 and the basis for modern polar vehicles.