On this day in 1909, a Polar exploration team lead by Ernest Shackleton reached 88 degrees, 23 minutes south longitude, 162 degrees east latitude. They were a mere 97 nautical miles short of the South Pole, but the weather was too severe to continue.

Earlier Days With Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton was a member of Scott's Discovery Antarctic expedition in 1901. Sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society, Scott led the British National Antarctic Expedition with the goal of geographical exploration from a base on Ross Island in the Ross Sea. Scott, Dr. Edward Wilson, and Ernest Shackleton set out on the Discovery expedition with dog teams and sledges aiming to be the first to reach the South Pole. They made it as far south as 82º16.5'S. Scurvy, frostbite, and a shortage of supplies forced them to turn back and kill their dogs for food to survive the return journey. Shackleton came down with scurvy, a debilitating deficiency of vitamin C. During that time bitterness developed between Shackleton and Scott. In 1903, Scott sent Shackleton home for health reasons, and the men parted ways as fellow explorers.

Another Chance. In 1907, Shackleton and the British Antarctic Expedition set sail in the Nimrod for the Ross Sea. Their goal: to trek with the aid of ponies to the South Pole along the Great Beardmore Glacier. Shackleton, with Jameson Adams, Frank Wild, and Eric Marshall, set a record for the farthest south, reaching 88º23'S. In so doing, Shackleton earned the admiration of generations of explorers.

How? By making the sensible, yet agonizing decision to turn back 97 miles short of his goal, rather than risk the lives of his men. Shackleton was knighted upon his return.

What He Said. Shackleton wrote to his wife Emily, stating "I thought you'd rather have a live donkey than a dead lion."

Success. A second party, including Sir Douglas Mawson, was the first to reach the South Magnetic Pole with an epic 1,260-mile march. They were also the first to scale the volcanic Mount Erebus. The expedition also supported significant scientific research.

Later On... In his 1914 Endurance expedition, having been beaten to the South Pole by Amundsen and Scott, Shackleton launched another expedition. This time he set an even more difficult goal: the first transcontinental crossing of Antarctica.

Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition left England in the Nimrod in 1907. Shackleton hoped to base himself on the Rose Ice Shelf off the Bay of Whales, but on examining the ice there decided it was too dangerous. He thereupon sailed to the Ross Island, where he found he could penetrate the sea ice only as far south as Cape Royds, some twenty-two miles north of Hut Point... On January 9, 1909, he and three companions made a southing to within 97 miles of the Pole, in the process pioneering the Beardmore Glacier route over the Transantarctic Mountains. The party barely made it back to Ross Island.

Shackleton's 1914 expedition.

In Shackleton's footsteps.

Ernest Shackleton and his expeditions.

Quest for the Pole.

Shackleton Links.

Antarctic Journal.