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Shackleton\u2019s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition called for two separate approaches to be taken to cross Antarctica. He knew that it was impossible to march across the continent in a single attempt, so while he and his team would cross to the South Pole<\/a> from the Weddell Sea<\/a>, a second team in the ship Aurora would approach from the opposite direction, laying a series of food and supply depots for him to find, and provision his men for the second half of the trek to finish at the Ross Sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ross Sea Party struggled from the outset. Shackleton left its men ill-provisioned and with confused instructions, and their late arrival in Antarctica meant that the men were forced to start laying their supply depots late in the season with too little time to prepare for polar conditions. \u2018They lost most of their sled dogs as a result,\u2019 says Reed, \u2018And there was a personality clash between the two most senior members of the expedition, Ernest Joyce and Aeneas Mackintosh.\u2019 As if this wasn\u2019t bad enough, the ice-bound Aurora was blown out to sea during a ferocious storm, leaving the shore party stranded. They had enough supplies to lay Shackleton\u2019s depots, but precious little to help them to survive over the winter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite this, the expedition set out the following spring to lay their depots, unaware that on the other side of Antarctica, Endurance had been fatally gripped<\/a> by the ice. \u2018They knew that Shackleton would be depending on them and they couldn\u2019t let him down. They pushed themselves to the limit to make sure he could complete his journey, not knowing he\u2019d never even be able to start out.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n When they were done, the men had laid 3,800 pounds (1,700 kg) of supplies in a series of depots as far as Mount Hope at the foot of the Beardmore Glacier at 83\u00b030′ south. Short of dogs, the men hauled the sledges themselves for most of the way \u2013 a round trip of nearly 1,500 miles (2,400 km). One of the team, Arnold Spencer-Smith, died during the sledging, while Mackintosh and Victor Hayward were swept out to sea on ice soon after completing the epic journey, never to be seen again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For 110 years, these depots laid by the Ross Sea Party have been quietly buried by snow, constantly moving as the glaciers they were laid on creep slowly towards the sea. But after studying accounts of the expedition, Reed realised that their final cache might still be out there waiting to be discovered. Unlike the others, the Mount Hope depot was probably laid on rock, not ice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After studying satellite images of the landscape, he applied his experience as a mountain guide to put himself in the minds of the sledging party as they made their way towards the Beardmore glacier. \u2018They would have had to hug the rock line at the side of the gateway,\u2019 he says, adding that the location was chosen by Shackleton since he himself had been the one to discover the route during his earlier Nimrod expedition. Furthermore, he believes the topography of where the depot was laid should have protected it from being buried by any shifting glacial ice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When the depot was laid, it was marked by a flag tied to an upright sledge \u2013 an easy marker for the team crossing from the Weddell Sea to find. One of the party, Ernest Wild, even left a letter there to his brother Frank, who was Shackleton\u2019s right hand man. With this as his inspiration, Reed started to put plans in motion to find the depot \u2013 and symbolically trace Shackleton\u2019s own expedition in the process, travelling from the South Pole to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working at the field guide store at Union Glacier<\/a>, Reed has been able to see firsthand how today\u2019s overland expeditions in Antarctica work. \u2018I spent a lot of time on logistics, helping with equipment and food, getting people\u2019s kit ready for departure. There\u2019s a lot you can only learn in the field \u2013 just like in the days of the first explorers,\u2019 he says, before discussing the intricacies of fine tuning how to pack a sled or make adjustments to a sledging harness. Now he\u2019s ready for an expedition of his own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Joining him are Devon McDiarmid, who has skied to the South Pole more times than almost anyone on Earth and completed a record-setting crossing of Greenland, and polar guide Maggie Flatland. Together, they\u2019re planning to ski from the South Pole to Mount Hope, where they\u2019ll set up a base camp. \u2018We could fly in, but recreating that section of the journey feels like an important experience, to recreate the historical experience of the Ross Sea Party and pay tribute to their achievements,\u2019 he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reed isn\u2019t expecting that the depot will be quick to find\u2014the top of the sledding pole will have long been buried by snowfall and drifts\u2014but this is where the Last Cache Expedition\u2019s secret weapon comes into play. A second team will fly to Mount Hope with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) equipment, which they\u2019ll drag by sledge over a gridded search box where they expect the depot to be, taking readings the whole time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018It\u2019s exactly the same principle as how they found the wreck of the Endurance<\/a>,\u2019 he says, referring to the discovery of Shackleton\u2019s ship in 2022. \u2018And if it\u2019s there, there\u2019ll be no mistaking the ping we\u2019ll get from the metal in the depot.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I ask Reed what he\u2019ll do when he hears that ping, he hesitates for the first time in our conversation. \u2018The Indiana Jones in me is going to want to grab a spade and start digging,\u2019 he says, before explaining that it\u2019s not quite as simple as that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018The depot is a promise that was left in the ice, and as much as I want to see what\u2019s there and read Ernest Wild\u2019s letter, we\u2019ll have to leave it buried, safely tucked under the snow like it\u2019s been for all these years.\u2019 The question of who technically owns the depot is open to debate, and similar sites from the same period are listed as Historic Sites and Monuments<\/a> that are protected under the Antarctic Treaty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For Reed, just confirming where the Mount Hope Depot is will be enough \u2013 and through the expedition, the opportunity to bring the story of Shackleton\u2019s forgotten Ross Sea Party back into the public eye. \u2018Their tale is all about heroism, sacrifice and selflessness. Everyone knows about Endurance, but these men who never knew about its sinking still pulled for their lives to support their comrades \u2013 and three of them never came home. It\u2019s the most inspiring polar story I know, and this is our tribute to it.’\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Last Cache<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A sledging trip with a difference<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What future for a historic site?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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