Calling this trip. He's been almost every waking minute of the last two years since taking over as team leader obsessing over the details. He sent all of his sponsors handwritten. Thank-you letters pored over maps and took part and two more training sessions including a trial run in greenland. But they're ready. Dave cornell waves at henry from across the room dave was supposed to be the fourth member of the expedition but had to drop out of the eight hundred mile trek for family reasons but he stayed on to help raise funds. He'll fly in and meet them at the ninety seven mile. Mark on january ninth. The date and point were shackleton's crew turned back. He'll be with four others including another descendant. Tim freight his great. Grandfather was shackleton's second in command on the endurance. He was also with him on the nimrod expedition together they'll go the rest of the way to the south pole and finished with their ancestors. Started dave points the man next to him one of the sponsors whose company custom made all of their clothes henry shakes the man's hand. Thank you for everything. We are so grateful. I'm sure it was annoying to have to add an extra inch to all of our pockets but it will come in handy not at all when you leave. We fly out tomorrow. First stop is chile and then we'll head to cape royds in antarctica. That's where shackleton and his men started their march. The south pole our goal is to get their october twenty nine same day. They began a hundred years ago and then with any lock. We'll get to the ninety seventh mile mark on january ninth. Henry adams the third expedition partner laughs. And you can be sure that henry knows exactly how fast we need to go to make it there on time. Henry has spent hours calculating. How fast team has to go to reach their goal. Don't need to average between ten and twelve nautical-mile a day but he knows no matter. How solid a plan. You make anything can go wrong out there whether injuries the unexpected. Just look at the endurance. They're interrupted by the tinkling. Sounds of forks on glasses in the front of the room shackleton's granddaughters as is holding up a glass proposing a toast as many of you know i've a number of my grandfather's belongings. Some are pieces. He carried with him on the very trip. The men here today are going to undertake a hundred years later. And so i thought it only fitting henry worsley. The team leader should have one of those pieces for his journey. Henry you wanna come up. When's as hands him. A small box henry suddenly feel shy and then he opens it and the crowd fades away. It's a brass compass not much bigger than old coin. He clicks opened the face inside. Are three letters scratched by hand e. h. s. ernest henry shackleton henry swallows the lump in his throat. As a hush falls over the room carrying this compass. The south pole will be a great honor. Thank yous ass. Shackleton never made it to the south pole with the compass. He's holding now. It's up to henry and his team to take it there. He holds it up for the partygoers to see. May this compass direct us safely cheers. Everyone but henry knows. It's not just the compass that will take them through their journey. The most important direction. We'll have to come from him. It's just after nine. Am on december fifth. Ernest shackleton shivers and wraps his scarf around his face as a mix of drizzle and snow falls on his back. Everything around him is gray. The clouds the snow now. Even the sea is the color of lead but nothing can diminish shackleton's good spirits. They're finally sailing off into the weddell sea on their way to artika. He turns to frank. Worsley the captain of the endurance set an early course toward the south sandwich islands skipper. Yes boss if all goes as planned. He hopes to be on the continent by the end of the month. Shackleton walks to the front of the ship to get a better view when he reaches the bow. He peers out toward the horizon. He's looking for icebergs. They should be easy enough to push through or get around by. He wants to be prepared. Frank worsley joins him on the deck. Have you ever seen an iceberg before skipper. Not this far south. I have in the ones down here majestic massive. They ride the swells of the ocean like a mighty ship when the waves crash against their sides. It almost looks like the white cliffs dover now that sounds like a site on the third day. Shackleton gets a look at the first iceberg heading toward the ship. It's broken up in small tabletop. Chunks and the endurance easily finds a way paths as they sail shackleton marvels at the beauty. It's even more incredible than he remembers it. They thread their way past icebergs taller than the endurance herself. They passed by a bright yellow glow of phytoplankton attached to the icy cliffs. Two hours later they come across a massive of device lane low in the sea. It's at least a half mile wide and several feet that this is the antarctic pack. Ice the whalers warned him about it's further north than shackleton expected. It's too dangerous trampusch through so they search for a way around it takes them nearly twelve hours of skirting the edges to find an opening. It's an ominous side of what may lie south but then there through on their way again by christmas it's summer in an article in the sun barely dips below the horizon before it rises again sunset and sunrise blur together making twilight last hours. There's a stillness in the atmosphere. that's uncanny. The freezing air is filled with tiny delegate crystals that float to the ground in twinkling cascade making the crew appears if there were some rounded by firefly's they watch as wales as long as their ship rossler snouts above the water and flick their tails between the ice floes. The clue especially off the penguins toboggan along the icebergs keep pace with the ship blocking at the sailors on january night they pass close to a burgh so splendid they give it a name the rampart. It's twice as high as the mass of the ship. As they pass close they can see the base dropping deep into the awkward blue. See at least a thousand feet down. It takes your breath away. It's the adventure. They all came for the. Aw on the men's faces matches shackleton's own one of the crew says violently. I never knew how much life is out there. I always assumed an article will be nothing but snow. It's slow going. But by mid january there within two hundred miles of fossil bay shackleton claps worsely on the back with any luck will be there in less than two weeks but then the weather takes a turn. I the wind shifts and direction blowing in gusts but soon it builds to a gale force dense wet. Snow fills the air around the ship when they run into thick pack of ice. They're able to push through but beyond it. There's another this one even bigger. The surface is filled with wide white chunks. Some pieces are merely a mile long. Others are smaller and bump off and jocelyn cover the endurance shakes as it pushes through each piece of ice. The men share anxious glances at one. Another shackleton instructs wars lead to look for patches of open ocean something to navigate towards captain. There sure enough. There's a small patch of see. A few hundred feet out going is slow. It takes nearly two days to find an open path to get through when they emerge they find themselves on a thin strip of water surrounded by ice. It's a different kind of ice. From anything they've ever encountered. The flows are thick but soft filled with lumps of snow and mush. It's like putting soup too thick to get through. The wind pushes another thick ice flow directly behind the ship. It's closing in like polar quicksand. It's everywhere shackleton's voice pierces the air full speed ahead hersher through but the ice doesn't by shackleton turns towards lee. We'll just waste time and energy trying to push out of this better to wait till the wind dies down. The ice pack will have to split open eventually then will push through. They settle in and wait for the winds to calm. But they don't so they wait some more. The days are endlessly cloudy and gray. The cold bites through their jackets. The sound of the gaels and the cracking ice drives the dogs. Mad men grow. Restless shackleton tries to keep them entertained by teaching them bridge. He even lets them win. Every few hours someone jumps up from the table and clatters up to the stairs to look off the deck and reports back to the group. Still nothing but ice and then on january twenty fourth. The wind breaks cracks in the ice appears one hundred fifty feet ahead of the bow. It's their chance. Shackleton orders the men to raise all the sales and fire the engine again for three hours. They push but the ice is stronger than the endurance. They barely move a few inches. The whalers had warned him but shackleton didn't think it was possible for the is to be this bad he's never seen anything like get ahead of them. Plateau of frozen white ice spreads out as far as the i can see no force on earth can break through this many miles of ice their prisoners. How will they ever get out. This is the first episode of our five part series endurance surviving antarctica. A quick know about our scenes in most cases. The can't know exactly what was said but everything is based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about this event we recommend the books endurance shackleton's incredible voyage by alfred lansing south by sir. Ernest shackleton himself and in shackleton's footsteps by henry worsley henry wars lee and his team also created the shackleton foundation to support inspirational leaders looking to help disadvantaged young people for more information go to. Www dot shackleton foundation dot. org. I'm your host cassie to heckle amny dell. Call wrote this episode. Our editors are matt lies and more waltz. Our consultants are chris. Turney and tim freight brian. White is our associate producer. Audio engineer is sergio. On rica's sound design is by joe. Richardson with music by isabel. Hirschman are executive producers. Are.