In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set out on an expedition to Antarctica. His goal was to cross the entire continent, a journey of 2000 miles. In order to accomplish this, he sent a second team to the other side of the continent to lay stores in depots along the second half of the trans-continental journey. This group was known as the Ross Sea Party and their story is told in The Lost Men by Kelly Tyler-Lewis.
I have read over half of this book so far, and the word that best describes what I have so far read is “miserable”. What an absolutely torturous adventure this must have been for the Ross Sea Party. Because of rushed and poor planning by Shackleton and a lack of funding the effort was compromised from the start. These men had to pull thousands of pounds worth of supplies across hundreds of miles in sub-zero temperatures suffering frostbite and snow-blindness. I can’t even imagine the suffering they must have experienced. It is hard at times for me to walk a half-mile to the train in temperatures just below freezing. I hope I never know the kind of suffering they experienced all in the name of adventure.
