What on earth would possess six men to jump into a tiny wooden boat and attempt to replicate the most dangerous feat of survival in the history of exploration? A love for adventure and Ernest Shackleton, naturally.
Renowned explorer Tim Jarvis and a team of rather brave adventurers headed to Antarctica in order to follow in the footsteps of the great man himself. You may not know this, but back in 1914 Shackleton led an expedition to cross Antarctica on foot for the first time. But disaster struck before reaching the continent. His boat was crushed in sea ice and himself and his 27 men were marooned.
However, the great explorer didn't give up. The team took refuge on nearby Elephant Island, but facing slow death from starvation and exposure, Shackleton and five hand-picked crew, fought through hurricane force winds and the unmerciless stormy seas in a 22 foot wooden lifeboat, to reach the only possible help 1,500 km away on the Stromness Whaling station in South Georgia.
Against all the odds Shackleton and his men survived 16 days at sea and made the crossing. But the gruelling mission didn't end there; they then they had to scale an unchartered mountain range to reach their destination, where Shackleton successfully raised the alarm, rescue all his men and return home a hero. Almost 100 years later Tim Jarvis and a crew of five men want to do just that, using exactly the same equipment and clothing as used a century before, in order to find out just how Shackleton and co managed to make it home. And wouldn't you know, they captured the whole thing on camera?
Jarvis was in Dublin earlier this month to tell us a little bit more about Shackleton: Death Or Glory, a brand new documentary series which begins airing on The Discovery Channel tonight, Thursday October 25th, at 9pm.
Cameras follow the explorers as they take to the open water in hazardous conditions, endure storms at sea, and deal with ice build ups that threaten to stop them in their tracks. It's gripping TV and, much like an Attenborough documentary, the kind of fascinating tale that you just won't want to miss.
Plus, Shackleton's own granddaughter, Alexandra, one of the people who encouraged Tim to get on board and give it a go in the first place? You don't get much more authentic than that now, do you?
Shackleton: Death or Glory airs on The Discovery Channel tonight from 9pm.
