Six years before his failed bid to transect Antarctica聴the Endurance locked in ice, crew near death, 870-mile trek, courageous leader, miraculous rescue, etc.聴Ernest Shackleton sailed from New Zealand on the Nimrod, on an expedition to reach the unclaimed South Pole. Roald Amundsen would get there first, in 1911. The closest the starving, four-man British team got, before eating their ponies and turning back, was 88掳 23′ south聴only 97 miles from the pole. This month, exactly 100 years after the expedition’s Antarctic march began, five descendants of the Nimrod crew (and one from the Endurance) will attempt to complete the mission. Three of the crew of British lawyers and businessmen will ski the entire route, while the remaining three will join them at 88掳 23′ south.
1. Ernest Shackleton
COMMANDER
1874聳1922 | Ireland
“The Boss” led four Antarctic expeditions and once ran unsuccessfully for Parliament. He turned his Nimrod crew back to save their lives, noting it’s better to be “a live donkey than a dead lion.”
2. Eric Marshall
SURGEON & CARTOGRAPHER
1879聳1963 | England
Over the course of the Nimrod expedition, Marshall removed a man’s eye, another’s tooth, and a couple of frostbitten toes.
3. Frank Worsley
SKIPPER, ENDURANCE
1872聳1943 | New Zealand
In 1915, he piloted Shackleton’s lifeboat 800 miles through dangerous seas to seek help for the stranded crew.
4. Henry Worsley* | 48
BRITISH ARMY
Frank Worsley’s distant cousin and the expedition’s leader, Worsley is freakishly obsessed with Shackleton. He’s even borrowing the Boss’s original compass for the trip.
5. Emily Dorman
LADY SHACKLETON
1869聳unknown | England
Dorman married Shack颅leton in 1904. They had three children.
6. Will Gow* | 36
MONEY MANAGER
The great-grandnephew of Shackleton’s wife, Gow dreamed up the centennial expedition and has been training for several years.
7. Jameson Adams
METEOROLOGIST
1880聳1962 | England
The stocky bachelor ran away to sea at 13, serving in the Royal Naval Reserve in both world wars.
8. Frank Wild
PROVISIONS OFFICER
1874聳1939 | England
Shackleton’s loyal right-hand man, Wild was the only person to accompany Shackleton on all of his expeditions. He earned four polar medals.
9. Tim Fright | 25
PERSONAL AIDE
The great-grandnephew of Wild, Fright is an assistant to the chairman of Cobra Beer.
10. Henry Adams* | 34
LAWYER
Adams’s great-grandson learned about the expedition from the radio and asked to join.
11. Patrick Bergel | 37
ADVERTISING EXEC
Bergel claims to lack his great-grandfather’s “appetite for polar exploration.” But he’s still going.
12. David Cornell | 39
FUND MANAGER
Adams’s great-grandson was tasked with raising $1.2M for the expedition and its foundation.
13. Rhys Ifans | 40
ACTOR
Over the course of Notting Hill, he removed most of his clothes.
* Attempting the entire route