Shackleton gets the short end of the stick when it comes to Antarctic
glory. He may not have made the south pole on either of his
expeditions (and first as an officer on one of Scott's early
expeditions) but unlike Scott, on his first expedition he turned back
from the pole when he realized his crew was in danger, and on the
second, as a result of his epic & heroic open-boat sail to S. Georgia
to effect a rescue, not a single life was lost under his leadership.
Scott may have made the pole, but his poorly-planned assault ended in
tragedy.
Far from "cursed," I think Shackleton deserves more from history for
the strong leadership he showed in keeping his men safe, first of all.
Anyone seriously interested in this period of exploration should read
Beau Riffenbugh's book Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition -- The Voyage
of the Nimrod. It's a fascinating read, if you're into exploration, as
I assume most of you out there in Caver-land are. :-)
Chris
On Dec 12, 2009, at 1:49 PM, Fofo wrote:
Oh, that would have been interesting! There would have been web
pages on the "Shackleton curse."
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