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A polar storm, well,
especially in Antarctica,
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there is nowhere to hide.
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Australian Antarctic explorer,
Geoff Wilson,
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is fighting for his life
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in the midst of a violent polar storm.
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It's just a complete encapsulation
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of wind and sound and fear.
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He rang, and he said,
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"I'm not sure the tent's gonna hold."
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It's minus 47 degrees Celsius.
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He's been awake for three days.
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If this storm doesn't break soon,
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his dream of becoming a
successful polar explorer
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will be dead.
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If you lose your tent, that tent is gone.
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You will probably not survive.
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I think that's what those environments do.
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They take you to your darkest places,
or your most inspired.
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"Men wanted for hazardous journey.
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Small wages, bitter cold,
long months of complete darkness,
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constant danger, safe return doubtful."
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Whether these words,
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allegedly penned by explorer,
Sir Ernest Shackleton
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to recruit volunteers to his
1914 South Pole expedition
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are genuine or not,
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they express perfectly
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why polar exploration is not for everyone.
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Antarctica is the coldest, windiest,
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and driest place on Earth.
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Humans are just not equipped to live here,
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and yet, somehow we find a way to survive.
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Europeans first set eyes on
the frozen southern continent
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two centuries ago in 1819,
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but it was between 1897 and 1922
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that a rush of expeditions from Belgium,
Britain,
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Norway, Germany, Sweden,
France, Australia, and Japan,
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spurred on by advances in technology,
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set out to test the limits
of human endurance.
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It was a period of science-driven adventure
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that would become known as
the Heroic Age of Exploration.
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Names like Mawson, Shackleton,
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Scott, and Amundsen would've been regarded
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in the same way that later generations
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looked upon the first men on the Moon.
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That's one small step for man,
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one giant leap for mankind.
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And in an era when it took seven months
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just to reach Antarctica,
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it was so intangible to the Victorian world
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that it might as well have
been the Moon or Mars.
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Since then, men and women have continued
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to be drawn to Antarctica's wilderness
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for research, wildlife, and exploration.
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Much has changed since those
early 20th century expeditions.
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Technology has provided
some huge leaps forward.
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And yet, in the most extreme
environment on the Earth,
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the risks have not gone away.
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End of day three. Here,
a storm raging outside.
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The forecast, real big blow, like 49 plus,
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which is a tent destroyer.
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Just a psychotic storm.
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I've never seen anything
like it before or since.
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And you're trying to survive that storm
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in a wind chill of minus 47.
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You can do everything
right and still end up dead.
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You're in this continual survival.
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Okay, I need more wall, but I need sleep.
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I can't sleep,
because of the noise in the tent.
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So, there's this horrible cycle
that you're watching happen,
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and you know that
it's just a matter of time.
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This may be one adventure too many.
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Despite the grueling ordeal,
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Gold Coast-based veterinary surgeon,
Geoff Wilson,
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survived his 2013 expedition,
and took the world record
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for the fastest solo and unsupported
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coast-to-coast crossing
of Antarctica in history.
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Now he's going back into
the hostile polar interior
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in pursuit of a new record.
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He is going to attempt the longest solo,
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unsupported journey across Antarctica
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in an endeavor to traverse
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over 5,000 kilometers of frozen ice.
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It is a journey that will take
him to the middle of nowhere,
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the furthest point from
the coast in Antarctica,
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a place more officially known
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as the Pole of Inaccessibility.
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Next, Geoff will head for the South Pole.
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Then, it's onto the enigmatic Dome Argus,
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Antarctica's tallest ice feature.
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This rarely-visited
4,000-meter-high soaring ice dome
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is the rooftop of the Antarctic Plateau,
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and the coldest
naturally-occurring place on Earth.
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If successful,
Geoff will be the first human
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to summit Dome Argus on foot.
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Geoff carries all the
food and fuel he will need,
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and is equipped with the latest
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in navigation and weather data.
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But despite these modern advantages,
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unlike historical expeditions,
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Geoff will be taking on the treacherous,
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frozen emptiness alone.
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There are a lot of risks associated
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with traveling to the polar regions,
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and particularly the
style of travel that we do,
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where the equipment is minimalist,
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we're going into extreme environments,
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and a long way away from help.
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I always underplay these things.
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It's not that you couldn't
make a fatal error,
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but we all prepare very carefully,
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and hopefully will not
experience a situation
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that we haven't anticipated in some way.
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You always risk something
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when you go outside of the fence.
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And I think it's appealing to explorers,
actually,
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because in the society here,
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you follow rules,
everything is just so safe,
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but when you are on an expedition,
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to handle that risk is
a part of the challenge.
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It's very defining.
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Okay, everything's freezing,
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the batteries in every single
unit did fail this morning.
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I've had to stick this GoPro down my pants
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for 20 minutes to get it at start.
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It's giving me 3% on a full battery.
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So, the challenges at this
temperature are unbelievable.
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I've got an upwind beat this morning.
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It doesn't get any tougher. A
climbing altitude at minus 24.
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Anyway, enough whining.
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Day one. Let's go get it.
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The start over an expedition
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is always the most tricky part for me.
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Nobody done it before.
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You don't know what's going to happen.
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It's a shock for the system.
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That shock, I think,
it's even bigger in Antarctica
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than, for instance, the North Pole.
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At the North Pole, you have pack ice,
you have open leads,
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you have polar bears,
you have things to concentrate on,
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while Antarctica,
it's an endless expansive of snow,
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with so few impulses from the outside.
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So,
I think that a big solo trip in Antarctica
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is a bigger mental challenge
than many other places.
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For Geoff,
the first stage of his expedition
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will be crucial to its success.
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As an Aussie explorer,
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you're dropped in from beautiful,
sunny 35 degrees.
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Boom, suddenly you're at altitude,
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you've got less oxygen floating around,
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and your body's just shivering continually,
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because you're not acclimatized.
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So, that first 72 hours is,
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if we look historically at
most polar expeditions that fail,
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it's in that first period.
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In 2016, British-born Henry Worsley
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was attempting to complete
the unfinished journey
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of his hero, Sir Ernest Shackleton,
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by crossing Antarctica from coast to coast,
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solo, unsupported, and on foot.
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We're almost,
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trundling up there through
with his with his dogs, climbing.
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In a grueling 75-day expedition,
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Henry dragged a sled that
contained all his food, shelter,
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and fuel, known as manhauling,
through brutal conditions.
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Well,
it's pretty filthy weather out there today.
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No visibility whatsoever.
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Henry's margin for error was slim.
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From his first day on the ice,
he was walking a knife edge,
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as he literally couldn't eat enough
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to replace the calories he used each day.
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Just 50 kilometers shy of his goal,
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after 71 days, and nearly 1,500 kilometers,
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his body could continue no more,
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and he made the toughest
choice of the expedition,
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and called for an airlift.
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In his last audio diary from the ice,
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he echoed the words of his hero,
Shackleton.
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Well, today I have to inform
you with some sadness
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that I, too, have shot my bolt.
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My journey is is at an end.
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I have run out of time.
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The sheer inability to slide
one ski in front of the other.
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My summit is just out of reach.
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Henry tragically passed
away two days later.
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104 years earlier,
a group of three polar explorers
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had reached an equally
dire place in their journey.
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Having just been beaten to the South Pole
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by the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen,
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Robert Falcon Scott was on
his way back to base camp.
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After two weeks,
he lost his first man to a fatal accident.
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Obviously, a lot of things
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went seriously wrong with Captain Scott.
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They were, by our standards,
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woefully ill-fed,
ill-clothed, ill-equipped.
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But then again,
all of those expeditions of that era were.
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Next, Lieutenant Lawrence Oates,
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who, in an act of self sacrifice,
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walked out of their tent into a blizzard,
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uttering the words,
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"I'm just going outside,
and may be some time."
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The three remaining men struggled on,
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but on March 29, 1912, Robert Falcon Scott
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recorded his final diary entry,
huddled in a tent.
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"I do not think we can hope
for any better things now.
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We shall stick it out to the end,
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but we are getting weaker, of course,
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and the end cannot be far."
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Eight months later,
a search party found the tent,
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the bodies, and Scott's diary,
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just 20 kilometers from a supply depot.
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It's day seven of Geoff's longest
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solo, unsupported expedition.
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These are the coldest conditions
he has ever encountered.
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Yeah, it's pretty wild. Really cold,
and pretty dangerous.
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His first week in the Big Freeze
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has been spent tacking
into unfavorable winds,
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which means his extremities,
his hands and face,
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are exposed to the icy
cold and the bitter wind chill.
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Little bit of concern from home
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Some frost injury on my fingers.
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My right hand is fine, as you can see.
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Just a loss of sensation, which is normal.
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The left hand,
the rude finger has a pretty nasty
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section of skin that's
gonna die on the end.
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I'll probably lose that nail.
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It just means I can't risk
getting cold to that degree again
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and try and avoid upwind
kiting in 40 below ever again.
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At home on the Gold Coast,
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Geoff is a veterinary surgeon,
so his hands are his life.
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The weather has left him
with frostbite on his finger,
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and he's having trouble
gripping his kite handle.
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Frostbite, it's one of those nasty things
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that every adventurer that goes into
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these extreme cold environments
will at some stage feel.
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Normally,
it happens on your fingers or toes,
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and that's also the most
dangerous place to get frostbitten,
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because that could easily mean
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that you lose some of your body parts.
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This finger's been a
constant management issue.
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Every time I take my gloves off,
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I kinda wonder how it's gonna look.
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Oh, it's looking bad now, look.
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It's split on the end, and dying.
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Ugh.
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It's bad.
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Oh, it's gone all mushy.
That's a big change today.
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Okay, it's all good.
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Antarctica is one of the most
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extreme environments on Earth.
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And it's perhaps for that very reason
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that it is has lured a
certain kind of person
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to try and endure the
worst it can throw at them.
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To survive here,
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you have to carry all the
basic human needs with you,
255
00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:52,716
heat, food, and shelter.
256
00:13:52,740 --> 00:13:56,576
The only thing that's in
abundant supply is water,
257
00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:57,896
but to drink it,
258
00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,713
you've got to carry bottles
and bottles of fuel to melt it.
259
00:14:05,570 --> 00:14:07,346
There are a number of
things that are paramount
260
00:14:07,370 --> 00:14:09,136
to your survival out on the ice.
261
00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:10,606
And, of course, you need calories.
262
00:14:10,630 --> 00:14:12,766
It's the only way that
you can fuel your body
263
00:14:12,790 --> 00:14:15,896
to get across the ice
and to combat the cold.
264
00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:17,716
The only way that you can melt water
265
00:14:17,740 --> 00:14:22,426
in order to reconstitute that
food is to take fuel with you.
266
00:14:22,450 --> 00:14:24,256
I don't think it's really possible
267
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,396
to identify one thing or another
268
00:14:26,420 --> 00:14:29,446
as the most important thing
you carry on an expedition.
269
00:14:29,470 --> 00:14:32,946
The preparation of a
long-distance polar expedition,
270
00:14:32,970 --> 00:14:34,606
by its very nature,
271
00:14:34,630 --> 00:14:39,126
means that every single item in your sled
272
00:14:39,150 --> 00:14:41,133
is critical to the expedition.
273
00:14:42,206 --> 00:14:44,886
Of everything in this weird
little life support system
274
00:14:44,910 --> 00:14:47,736
you're dragging behind you,
what is most important?
275
00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,426
Is it the tent, is it the stove,
is it food, is it fuel?
276
00:14:50,450 --> 00:14:52,216
You need fuel to get water.
277
00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,536
You have to produce water every morning,
278
00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:56,646
every evening, on a stove, melting snow.
279
00:14:56,670 --> 00:14:58,346
So, in some ways when it comes to
280
00:14:58,370 --> 00:15:00,726
how many days would you survive,
281
00:15:00,750 --> 00:15:03,686
I guess fuel is more important than food.
282
00:15:03,710 --> 00:15:05,393
You could go a few days without food,
283
00:15:05,417 --> 00:15:07,976
but you wouldn't survive
long without any water at all.
284
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,206
It's been a week,
285
00:15:09,230 --> 00:15:12,366
and Geoff's frostbitten
finger seems to be healing.
286
00:15:12,390 --> 00:15:14,726
Yesterday was another brutal day.
287
00:15:14,750 --> 00:15:17,846
I've actually climbed
500 meters in altitude,
288
00:15:17,870 --> 00:15:21,523
so that's 1,500 feet vertically over 122K.
289
00:15:22,730 --> 00:15:25,180
That brought with it
another drop in temperature.
290
00:15:26,790 --> 00:15:29,336
Obviously,
that finger is not in a good state,
291
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:31,526
but it's supernaturally healing.
292
00:15:31,550 --> 00:15:35,933
I've never,
ever heard of frostbite actually healing.
293
00:15:36,855 --> 00:15:38,066
It's rock hard.
294
00:15:38,090 --> 00:15:39,446
I was expecting to have to do
295
00:15:39,470 --> 00:15:41,706
a self-amputation of that first digit,
296
00:15:41,730 --> 00:15:46,196
and I'd prepared myself to
do that in the tent, mentally.
297
00:15:46,220 --> 00:15:49,836
It was the one massive
miracle on this journey
298
00:15:49,860 --> 00:15:51,466
that I kept that finger,
299
00:15:51,490 --> 00:15:54,286
and could put the veterinary tools away,
300
00:15:54,310 --> 00:15:57,253
and not do a self-amputation,
which was a great relief.
301
00:15:59,470 --> 00:16:01,676
But what Antarctica gives with one hand,
302
00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:03,416
it takes away with another.
303
00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,906
A leaking fuel canister has
spilled fuel through his sled,
304
00:16:06,930 --> 00:16:09,536
and eaten into Geoff's fuel reserves.
305
00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:13,156
The lid's vibrated loose,
and all the feel has spilled out.
306
00:16:13,180 --> 00:16:15,516
Luckily,
most of my food is separately packed,
307
00:16:15,540 --> 00:16:16,956
so it didn't get damaged,
308
00:16:16,980 --> 00:16:21,336
but some of the food
tastes a little bit like fuel.
309
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,023
This granola this morning
has got a fuel undertone.
310
00:16:26,780 --> 00:16:30,126
I need the calories. I
can't afford to throw it out.
311
00:16:30,150 --> 00:16:33,946
Yet more polar challenges.
What more could go wrong?
312
00:16:33,970 --> 00:16:36,106
As an unsupported expedition,
313
00:16:36,130 --> 00:16:39,026
Geoff must carry all his
fuel and food with him.
314
00:16:39,050 --> 00:16:41,766
He has estimated the time
he will spend on the ice,
315
00:16:41,790 --> 00:16:43,786
and calculated how much food and fuel
316
00:16:43,810 --> 00:16:46,356
he will need to achieve his goals.
317
00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:48,926
Now he's lost five days worth of fuel,
318
00:16:48,950 --> 00:16:52,136
he has some life-threatening
number-crunching to do.
319
00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,776
You can't create water without fuel,
320
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:56,576
and you can't cook without fuel.
321
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,046
Food and fuel are absolutely critical,
322
00:16:59,070 --> 00:17:01,226
and if you get those balances wrong,
323
00:17:01,250 --> 00:17:03,946
then death is the result.
324
00:17:03,970 --> 00:17:06,506
And if you look at Scott's return journey,
325
00:17:06,530 --> 00:17:08,956
he got them wrong just by a fraction.
326
00:17:08,980 --> 00:17:12,366
11 nautical miles, I think it was,
from his next depot,
327
00:17:12,390 --> 00:17:15,236
where he had food and fuel in abundance.
328
00:17:15,260 --> 00:17:17,126
He only missed it by a small amount,
329
00:17:17,150 --> 00:17:18,596
and he met a similar storm
330
00:17:18,620 --> 00:17:21,626
to what I met on the Antarctic Plateau,
331
00:17:21,650 --> 00:17:23,893
and it locked him down for too many days,
332
00:17:23,917 --> 00:17:26,776
and they ran out of fuel, ran out of food,
333
00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:28,483
and then died of exposure.
334
00:17:29,810 --> 00:17:33,246
He was found his hand
on his best mate's chest.
335
00:17:33,270 --> 00:17:34,756
It's an incredible image.
336
00:17:34,780 --> 00:17:38,066
I never really understood
how that happened,
337
00:17:38,090 --> 00:17:40,596
until that fuel broke, and you realize,
338
00:17:40,620 --> 00:17:43,933
you can prep and prepare,
and things just happen.
339
00:17:46,970 --> 00:17:49,206
Over the a 100-plus years since his death,
340
00:17:49,230 --> 00:17:51,876
debate has continued
over Robert Falcon Scott's
341
00:17:51,900 --> 00:17:53,916
rightful place in history.
342
00:17:53,940 --> 00:17:56,886
Was he a noble hero
carrying on to the bitter end,
343
00:17:56,910 --> 00:17:58,926
or a miscalculating risk-taker,
344
00:17:58,950 --> 00:18:02,296
who led the polar team
to failure and death?
345
00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:06,026
In 1912, there was certainly
incredible pressure to succeed,
346
00:18:06,050 --> 00:18:07,400
coming from the home front.
347
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,626
Leonard Darwin, president of
the Royal Geographical Society,
348
00:18:11,650 --> 00:18:15,333
and son of Charles Darwin,
said in a speech at the time,
349
00:18:15,357 --> 00:18:16,976
"They mean to do or die.
350
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,786
That is the spirit in which
they are going to the Antarctic.
351
00:18:19,810 --> 00:18:22,426
Captain Scott is going to prove once again
352
00:18:22,450 --> 00:18:25,087
that the manhood of
the nation is not dead."
353
00:18:25,930 --> 00:18:29,256
But more recently,
a completely different line of inquiry
354
00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,716
has been opened up regarding
Scott's failed expedition,
355
00:18:32,740 --> 00:18:35,866
and one man whose actions
have been called into question,
356
00:18:35,890 --> 00:18:39,313
his second-in-command,
Lieutenant Edward "Teddy" Evans.
357
00:18:41,190 --> 00:18:42,916
There've been dubious decisions
358
00:18:42,940 --> 00:18:46,096
made by polar leaders over the millennia,
359
00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:47,336
and Scott did likewise.
360
00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:51,346
He held back from his team
who the final party would be
361
00:18:51,370 --> 00:18:52,896
skiing to the South Pole.
362
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,796
That had a serious impact on his plans.
363
00:18:56,820 --> 00:18:58,016
Scott's race for the pole
364
00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:01,376
began with a crew of 16 in November, 1911,
365
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,156
but as they drew closer to the pole,
366
00:19:03,180 --> 00:19:07,146
small groups of men peeled
off and returned to base.
367
00:19:07,170 --> 00:19:09,096
Just who would be included in the final
368
00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:11,316
history-making team to reach the pole
369
00:19:11,340 --> 00:19:14,326
was a secret Scott appears
to have kept to himself.
370
00:19:14,350 --> 00:19:17,396
Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen,
371
00:19:17,420 --> 00:19:18,906
their race to the pole is, of course,
372
00:19:18,930 --> 00:19:23,486
one of the most iconic
stories in polar history,
373
00:19:23,510 --> 00:19:25,656
with two very different outcomes.
374
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:27,396
The Scott story is tragic,
375
00:19:27,420 --> 00:19:30,906
and he often gets painted
as being a disorganized fool,
376
00:19:30,930 --> 00:19:33,586
and he should've known better,
and all that kind of thing.
377
00:19:33,610 --> 00:19:36,906
Second-in-charge, Teddy Evans, was furious,
378
00:19:36,930 --> 00:19:39,296
when just a few hundred
kilometers from their goal
379
00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,706
Scott announced the final four
men that would accompany him,
380
00:19:42,730 --> 00:19:44,214
and Evans was overlooked.
381
00:19:46,617 --> 00:19:49,706
"Captain Scott took one of my people,
Bowers,
382
00:19:49,730 --> 00:19:52,516
to make his hauling easier,
thus having five men
383
00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:55,140
to do what I was expected
to accomplish with three."
384
00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,006
It was no secret that Scott
and Evans didn't see eye to eye,
385
00:20:00,030 --> 00:20:02,416
but Scott's dismissal
of his second-in-charge
386
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,090
may have been too much for Evans.
387
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,776
After Scott reached the
pole and began his run home,
388
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,106
he notes in his diary on
a number of occasions
389
00:20:11,130 --> 00:20:14,293
that food that he expects
to find is not there.
390
00:20:15,557 --> 00:20:16,716
"I've come to the conclusion
391
00:20:16,740 --> 00:20:20,376
that private Antarctic
expeditions are a public fraud."
392
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:21,706
Professor Chris Turney
393
00:20:21,730 --> 00:20:24,506
has researched the
history of Scott's expedition,
394
00:20:24,530 --> 00:20:26,846
and discovered
previously-unnoticed documents
395
00:20:26,870 --> 00:20:28,316
in the British Library.
396
00:20:28,340 --> 00:20:31,116
What became really clear very quickly was,
397
00:20:31,140 --> 00:20:34,706
it contradicted the classic
story of what happened to Scott.
398
00:20:34,730 --> 00:20:36,386
And effectively, what it claimed,
399
00:20:36,410 --> 00:20:39,486
was that the second-in-command,
Lieutenant Teddy Evans,
400
00:20:39,510 --> 00:20:41,876
had removed and consumed
401
00:20:41,900 --> 00:20:45,126
more than his fair share
of food from the depots
402
00:20:45,150 --> 00:20:47,706
as the teams had returned
back from South Pole,
403
00:20:47,730 --> 00:20:49,346
back towards the base.
404
00:20:49,370 --> 00:20:51,926
February 7th. "First panic.
405
00:20:51,950 --> 00:20:54,146
Certainly, that biscuit box was short.
406
00:20:54,170 --> 00:20:56,777
The shortage is a full day's allowance."
407
00:20:56,801 --> 00:20:58,343
10th of March.
408
00:20:58,367 --> 00:21:00,866
"Shortage on our allowance all round.
409
00:21:00,890 --> 00:21:02,326
I don't know that anyone is to blame,
410
00:21:02,350 --> 00:21:05,577
but generosity and thoughtfulness
have not been abundant."
411
00:21:07,050 --> 00:21:09,316
Piecing together
rediscovered letters and notes
412
00:21:09,340 --> 00:21:12,446
taken by the Royal Geographical
Society from the time,
413
00:21:12,470 --> 00:21:14,156
Professor Turney's research
414
00:21:14,180 --> 00:21:16,553
suggests an alternative reading of history.
415
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:18,506
And this is dynamite,
416
00:21:18,530 --> 00:21:20,036
because you would imagine, at the time,
417
00:21:20,060 --> 00:21:23,556
here is this classic story,
it's everywhere.
418
00:21:23,580 --> 00:21:28,276
This was one of the defining
moments of the Edwardian age.
419
00:21:28,300 --> 00:21:30,625
It was the Edwardian
equivalent of space travel.
420
00:21:33,850 --> 00:21:35,216
Resentful of Scott's decision
421
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,386
to leave him out of the polar team,
422
00:21:37,410 --> 00:21:39,236
Professor Turney has found evidence
423
00:21:39,260 --> 00:21:41,566
that suggests Teddy Evans may have removed
424
00:21:41,590 --> 00:21:44,776
more than his fair share of
food from the supply depots.
425
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,893
Scott actually wrote at
to his expedition manager.
426
00:21:48,917 --> 00:21:52,216
"Teddy Evans is a thoroughly
well-meaning little man,
427
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,167
but on closer acquaintance,
proves to be a bit of a duffer."
428
00:21:56,048 --> 00:21:59,106
It's just extraordinary.
They really didn't get on.
429
00:21:59,130 --> 00:22:00,596
There have also been questions asked
430
00:22:00,620 --> 00:22:02,556
about Evans' failure to communicate
431
00:22:02,580 --> 00:22:05,286
orders from Scott to the rest of the crew,
432
00:22:05,310 --> 00:22:07,216
a failure that meant that a dog team
433
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,063
was never sent to rescue
the ailing polar team.
434
00:22:11,700 --> 00:22:14,916
It looks like that when they
were sending Teddy Evans back
435
00:22:14,940 --> 00:22:17,096
he sent back the order with Teddy Evans
436
00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:19,736
for the dog sledging teams to race back
437
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,326
across the Ross Ice
Shelf and bring 'em home,
438
00:22:22,350 --> 00:22:24,106
'cause they had to get back
to the ship to tell the news,
439
00:22:24,130 --> 00:22:26,826
whatever happened,
if beaten Amundsen or not.
440
00:22:26,850 --> 00:22:29,346
Extraordinary thing is,
when you look at Scott's diaries,
441
00:22:29,370 --> 00:22:31,446
when he gets down to bottom
of the Beardmore Glacier,
442
00:22:31,470 --> 00:22:33,383
there's about two or three
entries where he says,
443
00:22:33,407 --> 00:22:36,003
"We're always hungry.
We're looking for food.
444
00:22:37,230 --> 00:22:39,836
We daren't break it out
yet. And where are the dogs?
445
00:22:39,860 --> 00:22:42,906
Where are the dogs? We
keep looking for the dogs."
446
00:22:42,930 --> 00:22:44,666
It's incredible, because it doesn't look
447
00:22:44,690 --> 00:22:47,436
like those orders were properly relayed.
448
00:22:47,460 --> 00:22:50,106
We know that from
various different sources.
449
00:22:50,130 --> 00:22:51,876
While it's unlikely Lieutenant Evans
450
00:22:51,900 --> 00:22:53,636
intended any serious harm,
451
00:22:53,660 --> 00:22:56,976
and Scott may have simply miscalculated,
or been unlucky,
452
00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:58,826
the tragic result was the heroic
453
00:22:58,850 --> 00:23:01,093
polar team lost their lives.
454
00:23:01,990 --> 00:23:05,236
Scott's always waiting,
poised with the team,
455
00:23:05,260 --> 00:23:06,127
looking on the horizon.
456
00:23:06,151 --> 00:23:08,126
He cannot see the dogs,
cannot see the dogs,
457
00:23:08,150 --> 00:23:09,876
and they never came.
458
00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:13,085
And I think that's the
tragedy of his story, actually.
459
00:23:13,109 --> 00:23:15,936
There's been questions
about his leadership, unfairly so,
460
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,706
and it seems an incredible shame, actually,
461
00:23:17,730 --> 00:23:20,376
these amazingly brave men died,
462
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,776
and the stories became completely mixed up
463
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,050
with what actually
happened there on the ice.
464
00:23:37,260 --> 00:23:40,126
Okay, had a major stress last night.
465
00:23:40,150 --> 00:23:42,696
After hammering through
really bad sastrugi,
466
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,116
the smell of fuel,
467
00:23:44,140 --> 00:23:47,226
and one of the major fuel bottles
468
00:23:47,250 --> 00:23:52,116
had vibrated the top completely open.
469
00:23:52,140 --> 00:23:53,716
I'm already critically low,
470
00:23:53,740 --> 00:23:58,333
because I lost two
bottles in the first week.
471
00:24:00,450 --> 00:24:02,346
There's a tough choice to be made.
472
00:24:02,370 --> 00:24:04,356
A supply drop will end Geoff's attempt
473
00:24:04,380 --> 00:24:07,933
at the longest unsupported
solo journey across Antarctica.
474
00:24:09,140 --> 00:24:12,026
Every day there's some new stress,
but this is a big one.
475
00:24:12,050 --> 00:24:16,130
This is really,
it could end the expedition.
476
00:24:24,670 --> 00:24:26,426
British Antarctic explorers,
477
00:24:26,450 --> 00:24:27,776
Scott and Shackleton,
478
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,976
have received much of
the attention over the years
479
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,853
since their respective expeditions.
480
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:34,996
But it was Norwegian, Roald Amundsen,
481
00:24:35,020 --> 00:24:37,396
who was the first to reach the South Pole,
482
00:24:37,420 --> 00:24:40,412
famously beating Scott's
team by five weeks.
483
00:24:45,750 --> 00:24:50,136
I don't think competition
was such an important part
484
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:51,349
of Amundsen's expedition.
485
00:24:51,373 --> 00:24:54,306
I think the reason he
went to the South Pole
486
00:24:54,330 --> 00:24:56,256
was that the South Pole
was still up for grabs,
487
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:57,611
and North Pole was not.
488
00:24:59,450 --> 00:25:01,206
A career explorer,
489
00:25:01,230 --> 00:25:03,126
Amundsen's first experience in Antarctica
490
00:25:03,150 --> 00:25:07,546
was as a member of the
1897 Belgica Expedition.
491
00:25:07,570 --> 00:25:10,270
They were the first team
to spend a winter on the ice.
492
00:25:11,330 --> 00:25:12,926
More than 10 years later,
493
00:25:12,950 --> 00:25:14,546
Amundsen was absorbed in plans
494
00:25:14,570 --> 00:25:17,386
to become the first to
reach the North Pole by ship.
495
00:25:17,410 --> 00:25:19,326
But when news broke that an American team
496
00:25:19,350 --> 00:25:21,033
had reached the North Pole,
497
00:25:21,057 --> 00:25:23,516
"I decided on my change of front,
498
00:25:23,540 --> 00:25:26,507
to turn to the right about,
and face to the South."
499
00:25:27,380 --> 00:25:31,596
Amundsen landed on the
Ross Ice Shelf in January, 1911,
500
00:25:31,620 --> 00:25:34,566
and set off for the pole in September.
501
00:25:34,590 --> 00:25:35,906
But the conditions they faced
502
00:25:35,930 --> 00:25:38,926
so early in the season were horrific.
503
00:25:38,950 --> 00:25:41,686
Four days in, he proclaimed in his diary
504
00:25:41,710 --> 00:25:44,360
that they must abandoned
the expedition until spring.
505
00:25:45,497 --> 00:25:47,216
"To risk men and animals
506
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:49,706
by continuing stubbornly
once we have set off
507
00:25:49,730 --> 00:25:51,546
is something I couldn't consider.
508
00:25:51,570 --> 00:25:52,936
If we are to win the game,
509
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,866
the pieces must be moved properly.
510
00:25:54,890 --> 00:25:57,577
A false move,
and everything could be lost."
511
00:25:58,580 --> 00:25:59,896
Amundsen's ability to recognize
512
00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,546
when to turn back and when to push on
513
00:26:02,570 --> 00:26:04,036
has been hailed as one reason
514
00:26:04,060 --> 00:26:06,626
that he succeeded where others failed,
515
00:26:06,650 --> 00:26:10,146
along with meticulous planning
and testing of his equipment,
516
00:26:10,170 --> 00:26:12,476
a wealth of experience with sled dogs,
517
00:26:12,500 --> 00:26:14,476
and an attitude to exploration
518
00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:17,106
that was famously Scandinavian.
519
00:26:17,130 --> 00:26:19,606
It appears to me that Amundsen
520
00:26:19,630 --> 00:26:23,626
was quite ruthless in his methodology.
521
00:26:23,650 --> 00:26:25,256
Ruthless in that, of course,
522
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,006
he had a whole swag of dogs at his disposal
523
00:26:29,030 --> 00:26:31,456
that he could slaughter from time to time
524
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:32,816
and feed to the other dogs.
525
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:34,346
And this was a technique
526
00:26:34,370 --> 00:26:37,043
that was commonly used back in that era.
527
00:26:37,900 --> 00:26:39,716
Unlike the British romantic hero,
528
00:26:39,740 --> 00:26:42,376
born out of suffering, in Amundsen's eyes,
529
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,036
the hero was the last man standing,
the survivor.
530
00:26:46,060 --> 00:26:47,896
Amundsen famously took dogs as well,
531
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:48,730
and did it in record time.
532
00:26:48,754 --> 00:26:50,176
In fact, they actually put on weight,
533
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:51,266
the Norwegian expedition.
534
00:26:51,290 --> 00:26:53,766
They beat Scott a month beforehand.
535
00:26:53,790 --> 00:26:56,926
He was also incredibly
meticulous about his planning,
536
00:26:56,950 --> 00:27:01,236
in ways that that Scott and
Shackleton perhaps weren't.
537
00:27:01,260 --> 00:27:04,066
It's no wonder, it's no mistake,
538
00:27:04,090 --> 00:27:06,196
that he arrived at the South Pole
539
00:27:06,220 --> 00:27:08,634
almost a month before Scott's team did.
540
00:27:10,350 --> 00:27:12,916
The Norwegian team reached the South Pole
541
00:27:12,940 --> 00:27:15,926
on December 14, 1911,
542
00:27:15,950 --> 00:27:17,196
and on the spot they reckoned
543
00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:19,056
was the most southerly point on Earth,
544
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:20,966
raised a tent, a flag,
545
00:27:20,990 --> 00:27:23,236
and left a note for Scott to take back,
546
00:27:23,260 --> 00:27:24,623
confirming their claim.
547
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,716
I think easily the biggest development
548
00:27:28,740 --> 00:27:32,726
between historic expeditions
and modern-day expeditions,
549
00:27:32,750 --> 00:27:37,750
in terms of technology and
our ability to move efficiently
550
00:27:37,780 --> 00:27:39,976
and accurately across these environments,
551
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,786
is the development of GPS technology.
552
00:27:42,810 --> 00:27:47,810
Back in the day,
explorers had to use sextants and charts,
553
00:27:47,870 --> 00:27:49,686
and take sun sites,
554
00:27:49,710 --> 00:27:52,776
and it was time-consuming and complicated,
555
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,403
and their ability to be accurate
was highly compromised.
556
00:28:01,630 --> 00:28:06,293
Okay, Pole of Inaccessibility
is 35 kilometers that way,
557
00:28:06,317 --> 00:28:08,596
but the wind is so strong,
558
00:28:08,620 --> 00:28:12,006
and with the sled so heavy,
I'm getting pushed off the mark,
559
00:28:12,030 --> 00:28:14,936
so I'm not gonna make
it with the weight I've got.
560
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,096
So, I've set up a case
561
00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:20,656
which is everything I don't
need for the next few days,
562
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,233
fuel, food,
563
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,936
extra skis, all of that.
564
00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,103
I've set that up here,
and I've GPS marked it.
565
00:28:30,620 --> 00:28:33,776
So, I'll come back in a
couple of days and pick that up.
566
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,807
So, that's the story for today.
567
00:28:38,550 --> 00:28:41,126
To become the first
unsupported and solo Aussie
568
00:28:41,150 --> 00:28:43,246
to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility,
569
00:28:43,270 --> 00:28:46,506
Geoff needs to cache
one of his 100-kilo sleds.
570
00:28:46,530 --> 00:28:50,622
But leaving half his supplies
on the ice is a risky move.
571
00:28:57,330 --> 00:28:59,266
Well, I remember looking at the GPS,
572
00:28:59,290 --> 00:29:01,316
and it's saying it's two kilometers out,
573
00:29:01,340 --> 00:29:02,557
and I couldn't see anything,
574
00:29:02,581 --> 00:29:06,248
and then you start to
doubt your navigation.
575
00:29:10,030 --> 00:29:12,996
And then suddenly you
see what looks like a man,
576
00:29:13,020 --> 00:29:16,036
and then you realize he's not moving,
577
00:29:16,060 --> 00:29:17,793
and it's Lenin with no arms.
578
00:29:22,210 --> 00:29:23,816
But he's life size,
579
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,096
and your eyes are desperate
to see something human
580
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,458
that it's convincing you
that there's a human there,
581
00:29:29,482 --> 00:29:31,246
and you're excited to see someone.
582
00:29:31,270 --> 00:29:36,056
Then you get in and realize
it's this bronze bust of Lenin,
583
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,969
in the most bleak,
isolated part of the planet.
584
00:29:38,993 --> 00:29:40,083
It's just crazy.
585
00:29:44,429 --> 00:29:45,762
Oh, massive day.
586
00:29:46,950 --> 00:29:50,716
First Australian in our
200-year polar history
587
00:29:50,740 --> 00:29:52,366
to make it to this point.
588
00:29:52,390 --> 00:29:56,013
It's pretty amazing, I don't know,
when you think about it.
589
00:29:57,260 --> 00:30:00,676
Ah, that was a phenomenal feeling,
'cause that leg,
590
00:30:00,700 --> 00:30:02,486
there were multiple times during that leg
591
00:30:02,510 --> 00:30:04,896
where I felt like I wasn't gonna make it,
592
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,120
and then, if I did make it,
593
00:30:06,144 --> 00:30:07,646
that that would be my only goal.
594
00:30:07,670 --> 00:30:09,453
I'd be happy with just the POI,
595
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:12,906
because I felt I made mistakes earlier,
596
00:30:12,930 --> 00:30:14,503
nothing had gone to plan.
597
00:30:15,470 --> 00:30:19,036
Considering it's taken 200
years to get an Aussie here,
598
00:30:19,060 --> 00:30:22,836
I don't think I'll be back to
see Lenny anytime soon.
599
00:30:22,860 --> 00:30:25,406
While he is at the Pole of Inaccessibility,
600
00:30:25,430 --> 00:30:28,863
Geoff is the most isolated
person on the planet.
601
00:30:31,630 --> 00:30:34,236
He is closer to the
space station astronauts,
602
00:30:34,260 --> 00:30:36,876
orbiting 400 kilometers above the planet,
603
00:30:36,900 --> 00:30:39,903
than he is to anyone else on Earth.
604
00:30:43,870 --> 00:30:46,406
I've been talking to Lenny over here.
605
00:30:46,430 --> 00:30:50,763
He agrees with me,
not a good idea to separate your gear.
606
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,000
So, the job today is to get back to that.
607
00:30:56,464 --> 00:30:57,714
See you, Lenny.
608
00:31:18,140 --> 00:31:19,756
Back at the cache,
609
00:31:19,780 --> 00:31:21,803
Geoff talks to his support crew at home,
610
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,626
and makes a tough call about his fuel loss.
611
00:31:25,650 --> 00:31:30,026
Looks like I will not
continue this way to the pole.
612
00:31:30,050 --> 00:31:34,216
I'm gonna divert,
and go straight for Dome Argus.
613
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,736
So, no more fuel loss,
longest journey continues,
614
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,613
But there will be an angle change tomorrow.
615
00:31:42,830 --> 00:31:45,256
Perhaps the most
compelling feat of navigation
616
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:47,806
undertaken in Antarctica is the story
617
00:31:47,830 --> 00:31:49,836
of Sir Ernest Shackleton's dramatic
618
00:31:49,860 --> 00:31:53,506
and determined recovery mission in 1916.
619
00:31:53,530 --> 00:31:58,196
I'm fascinated by how he led that team,
620
00:31:58,220 --> 00:32:00,276
specifically,
the Trans-Antarctic Expedition,
621
00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:02,826
and how he kinda kept them motivated.
622
00:32:02,850 --> 00:32:06,896
Like, their boats crushed by the ice, gone.
623
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,216
That was your only way home.
"We've gotta figure this out.
624
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,226
We're gonna crack on over the sea ice,
that way.
625
00:32:11,250 --> 00:32:12,796
Right, follow me, lads."
626
00:32:12,820 --> 00:32:16,296
It's an incredible story of leadership.
627
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,426
He arrived in Antarctica in 1915,
628
00:32:19,450 --> 00:32:22,656
late in the year for an expedition,
and by October,
629
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,873
his ship, the Endurance,
was trapped in the sea ice.
630
00:32:27,590 --> 00:32:29,176
Forced to make the ship their camp,
631
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,666
they planned to wait it out until summer.
632
00:32:31,690 --> 00:32:35,236
But as the winter wore on,
the Endurance was slowly crushed
633
00:32:35,260 --> 00:32:37,193
by the enormous pressures of the ice,
634
00:32:38,140 --> 00:32:41,023
and Shackleton soon needed a plan B.
635
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:45,626
The crew manhauled
their lifeboat over the ice
636
00:32:45,650 --> 00:32:47,843
to Elephant Island, and made camp.
637
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:51,576
Shackleton had no other choice
638
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,866
but to leave his team on Elephant Island,
639
00:32:53,890 --> 00:32:55,596
because they didn't have a vessel
640
00:32:55,620 --> 00:32:57,656
big enough to take them all out.
641
00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:59,686
Shackleton selected a small crew
642
00:32:59,710 --> 00:33:00,926
to go for help.
643
00:33:00,950 --> 00:33:03,106
In a remarkable feat of navigation,
644
00:33:03,130 --> 00:33:07,306
and with gritty determination,
over 17 stormy days,
645
00:33:07,330 --> 00:33:09,606
Shackleton's captain, Frank Worsley,
646
00:33:09,630 --> 00:33:11,436
navigated the seven-meter boat
647
00:33:11,460 --> 00:33:14,286
across 1,500 kilometers of rough seas,
648
00:33:14,310 --> 00:33:16,326
until they reached a whaling station
649
00:33:16,350 --> 00:33:19,376
on the remote island of South Georgia.
650
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,136
Frank Worsley was a ship's captain.
651
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,666
Anyone that spends a lot of time at sea
652
00:33:24,690 --> 00:33:26,716
lives and breathes navigation.
653
00:33:26,740 --> 00:33:30,336
So, of course,
it was his task to take that boat
654
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,636
across that Southern
Ocean to South Georgia,
655
00:33:33,660 --> 00:33:35,256
and he was really the only person
656
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:36,776
on the team that could do it.
657
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:38,736
He had the skills, he had the knowledge,
658
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:42,406
he had the sense of mind,
and boy, he pulled it off,
659
00:33:42,430 --> 00:33:45,956
one of the most incredible
navigation feats ever.
660
00:33:45,980 --> 00:33:48,436
After four unsuccessful attempts,
661
00:33:48,460 --> 00:33:49,966
Shackleton finally rescued
662
00:33:49,990 --> 00:33:52,706
his stranded crew on Elephant Island,
663
00:33:52,730 --> 00:33:54,756
saving every last one of them
664
00:33:54,780 --> 00:33:57,903
from what many considered
to be a certain death.
665
00:34:06,060 --> 00:34:09,686
I think for a lot of people,
the most difficult thing
666
00:34:09,710 --> 00:34:13,036
to deal with mentally on an expedition
667
00:34:13,060 --> 00:34:17,116
is being away from loved
ones for long periods of time.
668
00:34:17,140 --> 00:34:19,116
In historic days,
669
00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:20,726
when the early expeditions
670
00:34:20,750 --> 00:34:22,586
were first encountering these places,
671
00:34:22,610 --> 00:34:24,846
they would be away from home and families
672
00:34:24,870 --> 00:34:27,436
for as much as three years at a time.
673
00:34:27,460 --> 00:34:31,223
And today,
it's only probably three months at a time.
674
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:34,786
There are times when,
675
00:34:34,810 --> 00:34:37,156
certainly early on on
these big expeditions,
676
00:34:37,180 --> 00:34:41,226
where the goal seems so far away,
677
00:34:41,250 --> 00:34:44,163
and so hard to reach that it's,
678
00:34:45,260 --> 00:34:46,810
it almost becomes demotivating.
679
00:34:51,090 --> 00:34:54,403
It's very difficult for
people to adjust to the slow,
680
00:34:55,310 --> 00:34:59,176
unforgiving, relentless emptiness
681
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:03,186
and quiet of a polar landscape,
682
00:35:03,210 --> 00:35:05,963
and to exist within it.
683
00:35:13,940 --> 00:35:18,266
I do reflect into the universe
when I'm on an expedition,
684
00:35:18,290 --> 00:35:23,266
because you do feel closer to the universe,
685
00:35:23,290 --> 00:35:27,266
and you also feel closer to
both the nature here on Earth,
686
00:35:27,290 --> 00:35:28,536
and also the universe,
687
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,176
where maybe 1,000
kilometers from there is people.
688
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:33,450
And it's a great feeling.
689
00:35:36,534 --> 00:35:40,923
Okay, it's a big morning
this morning. It's day 33.
690
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:44,273
Dome Argus is that way.
691
00:35:46,275 --> 00:35:48,976
The wind's allowing me to go that way.
692
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,797
We're 301 kilometers out.
693
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:53,796
So, with a really solid day today,
694
00:35:53,820 --> 00:35:58,016
we'll be within striking
distance of the Dome,
695
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,386
which is pretty momentous, really.
696
00:36:00,410 --> 00:36:02,563
No one's ever crossed this ice before.
697
00:36:05,350 --> 00:36:08,913
Yeah, it's pretty wild. Amazing thought.
698
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:11,306
This wind's meant to hold all day,
699
00:36:11,330 --> 00:36:15,593
so we should get a good 100,
150, maybe even 200K out of it.
700
00:36:16,591 --> 00:36:17,641
It's pretty exciting.
701
00:36:20,130 --> 00:36:21,726
To the Dome!
702
00:36:21,750 --> 00:36:24,546
Geoff is navigating a path over the ice
703
00:36:24,570 --> 00:36:27,556
that nobody has ever crossed before.
704
00:36:27,580 --> 00:36:28,836
He's hoping for wind,
705
00:36:28,860 --> 00:36:31,276
but knows that a
favorable wind is unlikely,
706
00:36:31,300 --> 00:36:32,826
and if he is forced to tack,
707
00:36:32,850 --> 00:36:35,866
he will need to make sure
that he doesn't drift off course.
708
00:36:35,890 --> 00:36:38,373
When Geoff was planning his expedition,
I said to him,
709
00:36:38,397 --> 00:36:39,956
"There's no way that
you're going to be able
710
00:36:39,980 --> 00:36:41,976
to kite up onto dome Argus."
711
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:43,186
The wind doesn't exist there,
712
00:36:43,210 --> 00:36:45,796
and in fact, his wind maps told him that.
713
00:36:45,820 --> 00:36:48,326
Probably my favorite part of the day
714
00:36:48,350 --> 00:36:52,093
is getting in, getting the GPS,
working out my lat and long.
715
00:36:53,290 --> 00:36:55,356
It's an incredible feature,
716
00:36:55,380 --> 00:36:57,406
in that it's where all of the ice
717
00:36:57,430 --> 00:37:00,256
for Antarctica gets generated from.
718
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,866
All of the warm air from
the tropics gets dumped
719
00:37:02,890 --> 00:37:05,976
on Dome A, B, and C,
Dome A being the highest,
720
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:07,676
and then it works its way to the coast
721
00:37:07,700 --> 00:37:10,556
through the fringe mountains.
722
00:37:10,580 --> 00:37:14,826
You imagine that point being
where all the wind comes from,
723
00:37:14,850 --> 00:37:17,896
to try and get to the top
of it using wind power
724
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:20,663
was completely thought to be impossible.
725
00:37:23,690 --> 00:37:26,346
One of the greatest
stories of survival alone
726
00:37:26,370 --> 00:37:30,386
against impossible odds is
the story of Sir Douglas Mawson.
727
00:37:30,410 --> 00:37:33,056
As the head of the
Australasian Antarctic Expedition,
728
00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:34,646
and a leading geologist,
729
00:37:34,670 --> 00:37:37,956
Mawson's task was to ensure
valuable scientific specimens
730
00:37:37,980 --> 00:37:40,433
were collected and
brought home for analysis.
731
00:37:42,890 --> 00:37:44,616
Mawson and his two companions,
732
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,556
Xavier Mertz and Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis
733
00:37:47,580 --> 00:37:49,686
left their base camp in Commonwealth Bay
734
00:37:49,710 --> 00:37:52,523
on a survey mission in January, 1912.
735
00:37:53,830 --> 00:37:56,706
The survey went according to plan,
but on the return trip,
736
00:37:56,730 --> 00:38:00,796
Ninnis, his sled,
and full dog team were swallowed up
737
00:38:00,820 --> 00:38:05,196
by one of Antarctica's most
deadly features, a crevasse.
738
00:38:05,220 --> 00:38:06,426
I've been in situations
739
00:38:06,450 --> 00:38:09,026
where I've lowered
people down into crevasses,
740
00:38:09,050 --> 00:38:12,436
and peered down into them,
and they are black.
741
00:38:12,460 --> 00:38:15,446
And you know that if one
were to plunge in there,
742
00:38:15,470 --> 00:38:17,513
that there would be no returning.
743
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:20,476
Not only did Mawson and Mertz
744
00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:22,596
lose their companion to the abyss,
745
00:38:22,620 --> 00:38:25,586
but a full sled containing their tent,
tools,
746
00:38:25,610 --> 00:38:28,186
and most of their rations went with him.
747
00:38:28,210 --> 00:38:30,266
Hundreds of kilometers from safety,
748
00:38:30,290 --> 00:38:34,013
they had no option but to
leave Ninnis behind and push on.
749
00:38:35,420 --> 00:38:38,416
When Mawson and Mertz
needed to make that decision
750
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:40,766
to leave Ninnis inside that crevasse,
751
00:38:40,790 --> 00:38:44,593
and then to move away from that situation,
752
00:38:45,610 --> 00:38:47,626
would've been absolutely heartbreaking,
753
00:38:47,650 --> 00:38:49,986
and spelled kind of the
end of the expedition,
754
00:38:50,010 --> 00:38:53,363
or at least,
the emotional side of the expedition.
755
00:38:54,550 --> 00:38:56,246
With no rations for themselves
756
00:38:56,270 --> 00:38:57,366
or their huskies,
757
00:38:57,390 --> 00:39:00,240
the men were forced to
begin killing their dogs for food.
758
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,096
Mertz could only stomach
the softer parts of the dog,
759
00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:05,720
leaving Mawson the tougher meat.
760
00:39:06,820 --> 00:39:08,586
A reason that huskies are able to survive
761
00:39:08,610 --> 00:39:11,306
such cold conditions
is their ability to store
762
00:39:11,330 --> 00:39:14,416
huge amounts of vitamin A in their livers.
763
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:16,796
So, as Mertz chewed
through the tender liver meat,
764
00:39:16,820 --> 00:39:19,056
he was unknowingly poisoning himself
765
00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:21,496
with an overdose of vitamin A.
766
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:25,106
He soon fell ill, and collapsed into fits.
767
00:39:25,130 --> 00:39:27,626
When Mertz collapsed for the final time,
768
00:39:27,650 --> 00:39:30,463
Mawson was left to face the ice alone.
769
00:39:31,550 --> 00:39:33,546
Isolated and exposed,
770
00:39:33,570 --> 00:39:36,106
Mawson trudged on through the snow and ice.
771
00:39:36,130 --> 00:39:39,263
The skin on the soles of
his feet literally fell away.
772
00:39:40,300 --> 00:39:43,256
For 300 kilometers, Mawson pushed on,
773
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,706
until it last, a month later,
he stumbled into base
774
00:39:46,730 --> 00:39:49,666
just in time to witness his ship,
the Aurora,
775
00:39:49,690 --> 00:39:53,533
steaming over the horizon on
its way back home to Australia.
776
00:39:54,870 --> 00:39:56,133
A small group had been left behind
777
00:39:56,157 --> 00:39:58,586
in the hope he would return.
778
00:39:58,610 --> 00:40:01,116
Mawson overwintered in Antarctica,
779
00:40:01,140 --> 00:40:03,056
his physical wounds healed,
780
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:07,110
and by spring,
he was able to return home to Australia.
781
00:40:12,850 --> 00:40:17,096
Going up Dome Argus,
it's just a long, slow progression
782
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:18,536
over hundreds of kilometers.
783
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:21,620
It's not like a mountain,
per se. It's more like a dome.
784
00:40:23,170 --> 00:40:23,980
It's a tough one.
785
00:40:24,004 --> 00:40:25,886
You don't feel like you're doing anything,
786
00:40:25,910 --> 00:40:28,306
but you feel shortness of breath.
787
00:40:28,330 --> 00:40:29,140
When you're breathing,
788
00:40:29,164 --> 00:40:30,806
it feels like someone's
sitting on your chest,
789
00:40:30,830 --> 00:40:32,680
and you can get panicky quite easily.
790
00:40:50,970 --> 00:40:55,970
It's day 34,
and fatigue is really starting to kick in.
791
00:40:56,641 --> 00:40:59,176
The other thing that's
making it really difficult is,
792
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,626
there's obviously been
fresh snowfall up here,
793
00:41:01,650 --> 00:41:03,403
and this is all fresh powder.
794
00:41:05,130 --> 00:41:06,966
It's all soft powder,
795
00:41:06,990 --> 00:41:08,900
so it's bogged the sleds to the point
796
00:41:09,990 --> 00:41:13,747
where I've had to put 'em in tandem,
one behind the other,
797
00:41:15,980 --> 00:41:19,576
so that they're going
in each other's tracks.
798
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:22,785
But yeah, let's pack up and get going.
799
00:41:29,990 --> 00:41:31,927
Yeah, we've been married for, oh,
800
00:41:33,860 --> 00:41:37,986
28 years, together 32.
801
00:41:38,010 --> 00:41:39,226
Yeah, he's love of my life.
802
00:41:39,250 --> 00:41:41,143
Honestly, absolute love of my life.
803
00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:48,653
I think it's really true
that he's inherently selfish,
804
00:41:49,630 --> 00:41:52,546
by the standards and the rules
805
00:41:52,570 --> 00:41:55,296
that we're told we need to live by.
806
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:57,936
But what would be more selfish, I think,
807
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:00,676
would be to rob myself and the kids
808
00:42:00,700 --> 00:42:02,506
of the person that he actually is.
809
00:42:02,530 --> 00:42:04,656
But it's not easy. Yeah,
it's getting worse and worse.
810
00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:09,306
The older he gets,
the more hysterical people get about it.
811
00:42:09,330 --> 00:42:11,653
It's very isolating, actually, yeah.
812
00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:16,676
Geoff has hit his lowest point.
813
00:42:16,700 --> 00:42:20,246
The wind is gone,
and he's been forced to spend day 35
814
00:42:20,270 --> 00:42:23,383
relaying one slide at a time
through fresh-fallen snow.
815
00:42:26,740 --> 00:42:29,446
He realized that the wind
had stopped completely,
816
00:42:29,470 --> 00:42:30,786
and that he'd gone off course.
817
00:42:30,810 --> 00:42:32,906
I don't think it was a
huge amount off course,
818
00:42:32,930 --> 00:42:35,426
but it was like 30 or 40 kilometers.
819
00:42:35,450 --> 00:42:38,756
He'd spent that day doing two kilometers,
I believe,
820
00:42:38,780 --> 00:42:40,780
over I don't know how many hours it was.
821
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:44,766
He's 120 kilometers short of his goal,
822
00:42:44,790 --> 00:42:46,676
the summit of Dome Argus,
823
00:42:46,700 --> 00:42:50,666
in the heart of the most
inhospitable place on Earth.
824
00:42:50,690 --> 00:42:53,026
Geoff is off course, exhausted,
825
00:42:53,050 --> 00:42:54,686
and owing to the high altitude,
826
00:42:54,710 --> 00:42:57,853
an emergency airlift would
be virtually impossible.
827
00:42:58,740 --> 00:43:02,836
He just rang, and just,
he was like just in tears.
828
00:43:02,860 --> 00:43:05,406
I remember I was,
and I just burst into tears,
829
00:43:05,430 --> 00:43:07,966
and we both just sat and sobbed for a bit.
830
00:43:07,990 --> 00:43:11,436
It was hysterical, actually,
just trying to talk him
831
00:43:11,460 --> 00:43:14,164
into getting out the tent, and keep moving.
832
00:43:14,188 --> 00:43:16,188
I've pretty grim slog,
833
00:43:18,180 --> 00:43:21,319
but let's see what I can do.
834
00:43:21,343 --> 00:43:23,376
Over the next three days,
835
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,206
Geoff logs only 14 kilometers,
836
00:43:26,230 --> 00:43:29,927
manhauling his two sleds across
the powdery snow one by one.
837
00:43:33,130 --> 00:43:35,536
I'd actually said to her that I was done.
838
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:37,443
I needed, I can't do anymore.
839
00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:46,176
It was, "Okay,
I can tell you're nearly done,
840
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:50,136
but let's just sleep on it,
double your calories tonight,
841
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:52,860
get eight hours sleep,
and let's talk in the morning."
842
00:43:54,041 --> 00:43:57,553
I do not feel regenerated. I'm smashed.
843
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:01,936
It was finite.
844
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:05,336
He either did it, or he didn't,
845
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:08,743
and the chances of him
coming out alive were pretty slim.
846
00:44:14,406 --> 00:44:15,406
Yeah.
847
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:26,823
I tell ya, that is absolutely knackering.
848
00:44:27,705 --> 00:44:30,455
I take my hat off to anyone
who does a manhauling trip.
849
00:44:33,570 --> 00:44:37,108
I miss the wind. We need the wind.
850
00:44:37,132 --> 00:44:39,715
Ah, there's just too much gear.
851
00:44:47,831 --> 00:44:50,045
I don't remember how this went.
852
00:44:50,069 --> 00:44:51,816
I don't think he told me about the wind.
853
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:54,588
He'd got off the phone,
and then it started flapping.
854
00:44:58,060 --> 00:45:00,510
And he just packed and
went as quick as he could.
855
00:45:03,338 --> 00:45:04,566
I was with friends the next morning,
856
00:45:04,590 --> 00:45:07,621
and I got a call at a really weird time,
857
00:45:07,645 --> 00:45:09,006
and he said,
"You'll never believe where I am,"
858
00:45:09,030 --> 00:45:10,581
and it was really cool.
859
00:45:10,605 --> 00:45:12,605
Yeah.
860
00:45:26,620 --> 00:45:28,703
Yeah, it was really cool.
861
00:45:31,002 --> 00:45:32,002
Yeah.
862
00:45:48,114 --> 00:45:51,356
Ugh, this is just amazing.
863
00:45:51,380 --> 00:45:54,946
This place has been the
toughest I've ever tried to cross.
864
00:45:54,970 --> 00:45:56,753
It's just mentally taxing.
865
00:45:57,760 --> 00:46:00,213
In a place with no wind and no hope,
866
00:46:01,060 --> 00:46:03,336
Geoff somehow finds both,
867
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:05,516
and skis onto the summit of Dome Argus,
868
00:46:05,540 --> 00:46:07,543
and into the record books.
869
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:14,920
Well, against all odds,
made it today on a zephyr of wind.
870
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:17,066
You can see the flags are moving.
871
00:46:17,090 --> 00:46:18,826
I've just made it to Kunlun Station
872
00:46:18,850 --> 00:46:21,126
right at the top of Dome Argus.
873
00:46:21,150 --> 00:46:23,426
No one's ever climbed or skied
874
00:46:23,450 --> 00:46:25,526
to the top of Dome Argus before.
875
00:46:25,550 --> 00:46:27,746
It's quite amazing to be here.
876
00:46:27,770 --> 00:46:32,770
It is close to minus 40,
really cold, 14,000 feet,
877
00:46:33,180 --> 00:46:34,793
and the base is abandoned.
878
00:46:35,780 --> 00:46:39,116
I've set my tent, go have a hot meal,
and get some sleep.
879
00:46:39,140 --> 00:46:40,246
After a rest day
880
00:46:40,270 --> 00:46:42,376
on the highest point in Antarctica,
881
00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,226
Geoff is beginning to
feel the effects of altitude,
882
00:46:45,250 --> 00:46:47,956
and keen to harness the
winds blowing off Dome Argus
883
00:46:47,980 --> 00:46:51,063
to ski back to Novo
Station as fast as he can.
884
00:46:52,285 --> 00:46:53,276
I'm getting a bit of Khumbu cough,
885
00:46:53,300 --> 00:46:57,039
which is extreme called
damaging the alveoli, so,
886
00:46:57,063 --> 00:47:01,626
the sooner we get off altitude, the better.
887
00:47:01,650 --> 00:47:03,000
Just beautiful. I am alone.
888
00:47:10,721 --> 00:47:11,667
In the 200 years
889
00:47:11,691 --> 00:47:14,986
since Russian and British
ships spotted Antarctica,
890
00:47:15,010 --> 00:47:17,506
nobody has ever called it home.
891
00:47:17,530 --> 00:47:21,706
It is dramatic and vast,
beautiful and epic,
892
00:47:21,730 --> 00:47:24,136
but it is hopelessly inhospitable,
893
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:27,263
and to journey across it is
to put your life in jeopardy.
894
00:47:28,610 --> 00:47:32,696
It is a place of constant
danger and tantalizing reward.
895
00:47:32,720 --> 00:47:35,506
For Scott, it was where he met his end,
896
00:47:35,530 --> 00:47:38,846
for Mawson, it is where he made his name,
897
00:47:38,870 --> 00:47:42,386
for Amundsen, it was a swift victory,
898
00:47:42,410 --> 00:47:46,246
and for Shackleton,
it was a place where he snatched victory
899
00:47:46,270 --> 00:47:48,326
from the jaws of defeat.
900
00:47:48,350 --> 00:47:51,146
And since that Heroic Age of Exploration,
901
00:47:51,170 --> 00:47:54,046
many more have felt
compelled to measure their worth
902
00:47:54,070 --> 00:47:55,593
against the Big Freeze.
903
00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,606
So, as Geoff begins his final leg,
904
00:47:59,630 --> 00:48:01,946
he is aware that he's
standing on the shoulders
905
00:48:01,970 --> 00:48:05,373
of modern adventurers
as well as historic giants.
906
00:48:06,470 --> 00:48:10,476
From the first solo and
unsupported crossing in 1997,
907
00:48:10,500 --> 00:48:13,906
and the longest solo
Antarctic journey ever made,
908
00:48:13,930 --> 00:48:15,936
to the use of innovation,
909
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:19,176
and the first woman to reach the pole solo,
910
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:22,876
a special mention must be
made to the accomplishments
911
00:48:22,900 --> 00:48:25,060
of the late Henry Worsley.
912
00:48:41,238 --> 00:48:44,036
Okay, so,
she's pretty wild and wooly out here.
913
00:48:44,060 --> 00:48:46,379
Phenomenal wind that's carried me
914
00:48:46,403 --> 00:48:48,976
1,300 kilometers in a week.
915
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:50,346
And tomorrow's as a big day.
916
00:48:50,370 --> 00:48:54,993
We break Rune Gjeldnes' record,
4,814 kilometers,
917
00:48:55,017 --> 00:48:57,026
for the longest solo,
918
00:48:57,050 --> 00:49:01,196
unsupported polar journey in our history.
919
00:49:01,220 --> 00:49:03,786
Now that Geoff is
pointing towards the coast,
920
00:49:03,810 --> 00:49:06,216
he can take advantage
of the katabatic winds
921
00:49:06,240 --> 00:49:07,883
that blow out of Dome Argus.
922
00:49:12,872 --> 00:49:17,789
780K to go. I'm coming home,
Sarah and the kids, woo-hoo!
923
00:49:19,460 --> 00:49:21,156
Winds that will propel Geoff
924
00:49:21,180 --> 00:49:25,097
at phenomenal speeds towards Novo Station,
and home.
925
00:49:26,710 --> 00:49:28,186
That's the backside of Thor's Hammer.
926
00:49:28,210 --> 00:49:30,246
I've just pulled through the gap.
927
00:49:30,270 --> 00:49:32,586
The wind is easterly,
but it's coming up this hill,
928
00:49:32,610 --> 00:49:34,776
so I'm gonna use a novel approach
929
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:36,423
to get to the bottom of the hill.
930
00:49:41,010 --> 00:49:46,006
I always get a sense of sadness and loss
931
00:49:46,030 --> 00:49:48,360
at the idea that this experience
932
00:49:48,384 --> 00:49:52,137
that is so extraordinary,
so unique, is about to end.
933
00:49:53,345 --> 00:49:55,983
Okay, we're 20 out, 20K out from Novo.
934
00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:01,316
Finally, Novo Station ceases to be a dream,
935
00:50:01,340 --> 00:50:02,823
and appears on the horizon.
936
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:05,136
Reaching the destination
937
00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:07,806
is somewhat of a letdown sometimes,
938
00:50:07,830 --> 00:50:11,426
because you are so
focused and so in the moment
939
00:50:11,450 --> 00:50:13,966
on every day of a journey that suddenly,
940
00:50:13,990 --> 00:50:18,453
that, for all to be over is like,
well, what now?
941
00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:22,706
Why do I do what I do?
942
00:50:22,730 --> 00:50:25,476
That's always the hardest
question to answer, actually.
943
00:50:25,500 --> 00:50:27,293
I think for me, it's,
944
00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:31,113
it's passion.
945
00:50:34,753 --> 00:50:39,753
So hard to
believe after so many miles.
946
00:50:40,871 --> 00:50:43,176
To be outside of that fence,
to go into the wild,
947
00:50:43,200 --> 00:50:45,646
and to live, and to be close to nature,
948
00:50:45,670 --> 00:50:49,976
and also to be close to myself,
ultimately, it's passion.
949
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:52,046
Geoff has completed the longest
950
00:50:52,070 --> 00:50:56,626
unsupported solo
expedition ever undertaken.
951
00:50:56,650 --> 00:50:59,696
Have a look at that sun on the mountains.
952
00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:01,446
He is the first Australian
953
00:51:01,470 --> 00:51:05,216
to reach the Pole of
Inaccessibility unsupported,
954
00:51:05,240 --> 00:51:07,823
and the first to summit Dome Argus,
955
00:51:08,700 --> 00:51:13,700
all in one little outing of
5,300 kilometers in 58 days.
956
00:51:15,520 --> 00:51:19,836
The why is something I
really struggle to answer.
957
00:51:19,860 --> 00:51:24,856
And I think it lies within
the core of who we are.
958
00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:28,436
And if we have to ask why,
it's been said before,
959
00:51:28,460 --> 00:51:31,496
then maybe we shouldn't be going.
960
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:34,663
Some people are just born for really,
really big things.
961
00:51:36,640 --> 00:51:39,606
I'm privileged that I get
to be on the same journey.
962
00:51:39,630 --> 00:51:40,836
It's really, really hard,
963
00:51:40,860 --> 00:51:43,933
but I am happy to be on
the journey with him, yeah.
964
00:51:57,260 --> 00:52:00,010
And just like that, I'm back at Novo.
965
00:52:00,034 --> 00:52:02,034
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