WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:01.286 --> 00:00:03.869 (wind howling) 2 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:15.330 --> 00:00:17.930 A polar storm, well, especially in Antarctica, 5 00:00:17.930 --> 00:00:19.383 there is nowhere to hide. 6 00:00:20.880 --> 00:00:23.650 Australian Antarctic explorer, Geoff Wilson, 7 00:00:23.650 --> 00:00:24.980 is fighting for his life 8 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:26.880 in the midst of a violent polar storm. 9 00:00:29.420 --> 00:00:33.160 It's just a complete encapsulation 10 00:00:33.160 --> 00:00:37.193 of wind and sound and fear. 11 00:00:40.290 --> 00:00:42.027 He rang, and he said, 12 00:00:42.027 --> 00:00:44.550 "I'm not sure the tent's gonna hold." 13 00:00:44.550 --> 00:00:47.100 It's minus 47 degrees Celsius. 14 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:48.963 He's been awake for three days. 15 00:00:49.980 --> 00:00:52.090 If this storm doesn't break soon, 16 00:00:52.090 --> 00:00:55.430 his dream of becoming a successful polar explorer 17 00:00:55.430 --> 00:00:56.263 will be dead. 18 00:00:58.580 --> 00:01:01.087 If you lose your tent, that tent is gone. 19 00:01:01.087 --> 00:01:03.853 You will probably not survive. 20 00:01:07.053 --> 00:01:07.913 I think that's what those environments do. 21 00:01:07.913 --> 00:01:12.223 They take you to your darkest places, or your most inspired. 22 00:01:18.377 --> 00:01:20.950 "Men wanted for hazardous journey. 23 00:01:20.950 --> 00:01:25.650 Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, 24 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:28.567 constant danger, safe return doubtful." 25 00:01:29.660 --> 00:01:30.840 Whether these words, 26 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.840 allegedly penned by explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton 27 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:37.820 to recruit volunteers to his 1914 South Pole expedition 28 00:01:37.820 --> 00:01:39.340 are genuine or not, 29 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:40.950 they express perfectly 30 00:01:40.950 --> 00:01:43.813 why polar exploration is not for everyone. 31 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:49.020 Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, 32 00:01:49.020 --> 00:01:51.470 and driest place on Earth. 33 00:01:51.470 --> 00:01:54.210 Humans are just not equipped to live here, 34 00:01:54.210 --> 00:01:57.293 and yet, somehow we find a way to survive. 35 00:01:58.810 --> 00:02:01.760 Europeans first set eyes on the frozen southern continent 36 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.133 two centuries ago in 1819, 37 00:02:05.300 --> 00:02:08.510 but it was between 1897 and 1922 38 00:02:08.510 --> 00:02:11.720 that a rush of expeditions from Belgium, Britain, 39 00:02:11.720 --> 00:02:15.860 Norway, Germany, Sweden, France, Australia, and Japan, 40 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:18.490 spurred on by advances in technology, 41 00:02:18.490 --> 00:02:21.763 set out to test the limits of human endurance. 42 00:02:25.100 --> 00:02:27.550 It was a period of science-driven adventure 43 00:02:27.550 --> 00:02:30.893 that would become known as the Heroic Age of Exploration. 44 00:02:33.010 --> 00:02:35.270 Names like Mawson, Shackleton, 45 00:02:35.270 --> 00:02:37.790 Scott, and Amundsen would've been regarded 46 00:02:37.790 --> 00:02:40.010 in the same way that later generations 47 00:02:40.010 --> 00:02:42.163 looked upon the first men on the Moon. 48 00:02:43.721 --> 00:02:47.424 That's one small step for man, 49 00:02:47.424 --> 00:02:50.454 one giant leap for mankind. 50 00:02:50.454 --> 00:02:51.287 (people cheering) 51 00:02:51.287 --> 00:02:52.960 And in an era when it took seven months 52 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:54.960 just to reach Antarctica, 53 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.730 it was so intangible to the Victorian world 54 00:02:57.730 --> 00:03:00.323 that it might as well have been the Moon or Mars. 55 00:03:01.283 --> 00:03:03.130 (boosters roaring) 56 00:03:03.130 --> 00:03:05.770 Since then, men and women have continued 57 00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:07.670 to be drawn to Antarctica's wilderness 58 00:03:07.670 --> 00:03:11.103 for research, wildlife, and exploration. 59 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:16.140 Much has changed since those early 20th century expeditions. 60 00:03:16.140 --> 00:03:19.630 Technology has provided some huge leaps forward. 61 00:03:19.630 --> 00:03:23.090 And yet, in the most extreme environment on the Earth, 62 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:25.282 the risks have not gone away. 63 00:03:25.282 --> 00:03:27.865 (upbeat music) 64 00:03:32.067 --> 00:03:34.240 (wind howling) 65 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:38.246 End of day three. Here, a storm raging outside. 66 00:03:38.246 --> 00:03:40.853 The forecast, real big blow, like 49 plus, 67 00:03:40.853 --> 00:03:42.568 which is a tent destroyer. 68 00:03:42.568 --> 00:03:44.380 Just a psychotic storm. 69 00:03:44.380 --> 00:03:46.973 I've never seen anything like it before or since. 70 00:03:48.880 --> 00:03:51.920 And you're trying to survive that storm 71 00:03:51.920 --> 00:03:53.973 in a wind chill of minus 47. 72 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.898 You can do everything right and still end up dead. 73 00:03:57.898 --> 00:04:01.148 (tense dramatic music) 74 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:04.798 You're in this continual survival. 75 00:04:04.798 --> 00:04:09.010 Okay, I need more wall, but I need sleep. 76 00:04:09.010 --> 00:04:11.593 I can't sleep, because of the noise in the tent. 77 00:04:13.380 --> 00:04:16.383 So, there's this horrible cycle that you're watching happen, 78 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:20.080 and you know that it's just a matter of time. 79 00:04:20.080 --> 00:04:22.823 This may be one adventure too many. 80 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:26.880 Despite the grueling ordeal, 81 00:04:26.880 --> 00:04:29.520 Gold Coast-based veterinary surgeon, Geoff Wilson, 82 00:04:29.520 --> 00:04:33.550 survived his 2013 expedition, and took the world record 83 00:04:33.550 --> 00:04:35.640 for the fastest solo and unsupported 84 00:04:35.640 --> 00:04:39.340 coast-to-coast crossing of Antarctica in history. 85 00:04:39.340 --> 00:04:42.620 Now he's going back into the hostile polar interior 86 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:44.023 in pursuit of a new record. 87 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:48.310 He is going to attempt the longest solo, 88 00:04:48.310 --> 00:04:50.860 unsupported journey across Antarctica 89 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:52.370 in an endeavor to traverse 90 00:04:52.370 --> 00:04:55.580 over 5,000 kilometers of frozen ice. 91 00:04:55.580 --> 00:04:58.720 It is a journey that will take him to the middle of nowhere, 92 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.000 the furthest point from the coast in Antarctica, 93 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.770 a place more officially known 94 00:05:03.770 --> 00:05:05.893 as the Pole of Inaccessibility. 95 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:09.693 Next, Geoff will head for the South Pole. 96 00:05:10.550 --> 00:05:14.530 Then, it's onto the enigmatic Dome Argus, 97 00:05:14.530 --> 00:05:16.783 Antarctica's tallest ice feature. 98 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.330 This rarely-visited 4,000-meter-high soaring ice dome 99 00:05:22.330 --> 00:05:24.830 is the rooftop of the Antarctic Plateau, 100 00:05:24.830 --> 00:05:28.133 and the coldest naturally-occurring place on Earth. 101 00:05:29.380 --> 00:05:32.140 If successful, Geoff will be the first human 102 00:05:32.140 --> 00:05:34.443 to summit Dome Argus on foot. 103 00:05:35.380 --> 00:05:38.400 Geoff carries all the food and fuel he will need, 104 00:05:38.400 --> 00:05:39.620 and is equipped with the latest 105 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:41.633 in navigation and weather data. 106 00:05:42.520 --> 00:05:44.940 But despite these modern advantages, 107 00:05:44.940 --> 00:05:47.180 unlike historical expeditions, 108 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:49.150 Geoff will be taking on the treacherous, 109 00:05:49.150 --> 00:05:51.573 frozen emptiness alone. 110 00:05:58.960 --> 00:06:00.700 There are a lot of risks associated 111 00:06:00.700 --> 00:06:02.350 with traveling to the polar regions, 112 00:06:02.350 --> 00:06:05.090 and particularly the style of travel that we do, 113 00:06:05.090 --> 00:06:06.950 where the equipment is minimalist, 114 00:06:06.950 --> 00:06:09.080 we're going into extreme environments, 115 00:06:09.080 --> 00:06:11.210 and a long way away from help. 116 00:06:11.210 --> 00:06:12.720 I always underplay these things. 117 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:14.960 It's not that you couldn't make a fatal error, 118 00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:18.480 but we all prepare very carefully, 119 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:22.060 and hopefully will not experience a situation 120 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:24.340 that we haven't anticipated in some way. 121 00:06:24.340 --> 00:06:25.880 You always risk something 122 00:06:25.880 --> 00:06:28.170 when you go outside of the fence. 123 00:06:28.170 --> 00:06:31.980 And I think it's appealing to explorers, actually, 124 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:33.630 because in the society here, 125 00:06:33.630 --> 00:06:36.380 you follow rules, everything is just so safe, 126 00:06:36.380 --> 00:06:39.270 but when you are on an expedition, 127 00:06:39.270 --> 00:06:42.090 to handle that risk is a part of the challenge. 128 00:06:42.090 --> 00:06:43.133 It's very defining. 129 00:06:45.320 --> 00:06:46.690 Okay, everything's freezing, 130 00:06:46.690 --> 00:06:50.700 the batteries in every single unit did fail this morning. 131 00:06:50.700 --> 00:06:52.800 I've had to stick this GoPro down my pants 132 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:54.320 for 20 minutes to get it at start. 133 00:06:54.320 --> 00:06:56.970 It's giving me 3% on a full battery. 134 00:06:56.970 --> 00:07:01.150 So, the challenges at this temperature are unbelievable. 135 00:07:01.150 --> 00:07:02.613 I've got an upwind beat this morning. 136 00:07:02.613 --> 00:07:07.000 It doesn't get any tougher. A climbing altitude at minus 24. 137 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:08.440 Anyway, enough whining. 138 00:07:08.440 --> 00:07:10.426 Day one. Let's go get it. 139 00:07:10.426 --> 00:07:13.176 (brooding music) 140 00:07:14.490 --> 00:07:15.390 The start over an expedition 141 00:07:15.390 --> 00:07:17.763 is always the most tricky part for me. 142 00:07:19.610 --> 00:07:20.890 Nobody done it before. 143 00:07:20.890 --> 00:07:22.980 You don't know what's going to happen. 144 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:24.433 It's a shock for the system. 145 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:29.990 That shock, I think, it's even bigger in Antarctica 146 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:31.897 than, for instance, the North Pole. 147 00:07:31.897 --> 00:07:35.450 At the North Pole, you have pack ice, you have open leads, 148 00:07:35.450 --> 00:07:39.270 you have polar bears, you have things to concentrate on, 149 00:07:39.270 --> 00:07:41.963 while Antarctica, it's an endless expansive of snow, 150 00:07:41.963 --> 00:07:44.500 with so few impulses from the outside. 151 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:47.320 So, I think that a big solo trip in Antarctica 152 00:07:47.320 --> 00:07:51.343 is a bigger mental challenge than many other places. 153 00:07:52.260 --> 00:07:55.280 For Geoff, the first stage of his expedition 154 00:07:55.280 --> 00:07:57.143 will be crucial to its success. 155 00:07:58.130 --> 00:07:59.410 As an Aussie explorer, 156 00:07:59.410 --> 00:08:03.750 you're dropped in from beautiful, sunny 35 degrees. 157 00:08:03.750 --> 00:08:06.370 Boom, suddenly you're at altitude, 158 00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:08.500 you've got less oxygen floating around, 159 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:10.450 and your body's just shivering continually, 160 00:08:10.450 --> 00:08:12.053 because you're not acclimatized. 161 00:08:14.570 --> 00:08:16.700 So, that first 72 hours is, 162 00:08:16.700 --> 00:08:20.470 if we look historically at most polar expeditions that fail, 163 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:22.680 it's in that first period. 164 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.570 In 2016, British-born Henry Worsley 165 00:08:25.570 --> 00:08:27.880 was attempting to complete the unfinished journey 166 00:08:27.880 --> 00:08:30.320 of his hero, Sir Ernest Shackleton, 167 00:08:30.320 --> 00:08:32.910 by crossing Antarctica from coast to coast, 168 00:08:32.910 --> 00:08:37.130 solo, unsupported, and on foot. 169 00:08:37.130 --> 00:08:38.650 We're almost (indistinct), 170 00:08:38.650 --> 00:08:41.080 trundling up there through with his with his dogs, climbing. 171 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:43.630 In a grueling 75-day expedition, 172 00:08:43.630 --> 00:08:47.020 Henry dragged a sled that contained all his food, shelter, 173 00:08:47.020 --> 00:08:51.090 and fuel, known as manhauling, through brutal conditions. 174 00:08:51.090 --> 00:08:54.060 Well, it's pretty filthy weather out there today. 175 00:08:54.060 --> 00:08:55.490 No visibility whatsoever. 176 00:08:55.490 --> 00:08:58.700 Henry's margin for error was slim. 177 00:08:58.700 --> 00:09:01.890 From his first day on the ice, he was walking a knife edge, 178 00:09:01.890 --> 00:09:03.440 as he literally couldn't eat enough 179 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:05.963 to replace the calories he used each day. 180 00:09:06.970 --> 00:09:09.300 Just 50 kilometers shy of his goal, 181 00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:13.070 after 71 days, and nearly 1,500 kilometers, 182 00:09:13.070 --> 00:09:15.240 his body could continue no more, 183 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:17.790 and he made the toughest choice of the expedition, 184 00:09:17.790 --> 00:09:19.690 and called for an airlift. 185 00:09:19.690 --> 00:09:22.230 In his last audio diary from the ice, 186 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:24.653 he echoed the words of his hero, Shackleton. 187 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:30.559 Well, today I have to inform you with some sadness 188 00:09:30.930 --> 00:09:33.513 that I, too, have shot my bolt. 189 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.057 My journey is is at an end. 190 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.326 I have run out of time. 191 00:09:41.326 --> 00:09:46.247 The sheer inability to slide one ski in front of the other. 192 00:09:46.247 --> 00:09:48.993 My summit is just out of reach. 193 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:54.033 Henry tragically passed away two days later. 194 00:09:58.470 --> 00:10:02.540 104 years earlier, a group of three polar explorers 195 00:10:02.540 --> 00:10:06.050 had reached an equally dire place in their journey. 196 00:10:06.050 --> 00:10:07.960 Having just been beaten to the South Pole 197 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.010 by the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, 198 00:10:11.010 --> 00:10:14.083 Robert Falcon Scott was on his way back to base camp. 199 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.803 After two weeks, he lost his first man to a fatal accident. 200 00:10:20.880 --> 00:10:22.410 Obviously, a lot of things 201 00:10:22.410 --> 00:10:24.360 went seriously wrong with Captain Scott. 202 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:26.900 They were, by our standards, 203 00:10:26.900 --> 00:10:30.220 woefully ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-equipped. 204 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:34.060 But then again, all of those expeditions of that era were. 205 00:10:34.060 --> 00:10:36.720 Next, Lieutenant Lawrence Oates, 206 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:38.750 who, in an act of self sacrifice, 207 00:10:38.750 --> 00:10:41.020 walked out of their tent into a blizzard, 208 00:10:41.020 --> 00:10:42.407 uttering the words, 209 00:10:42.407 --> 00:10:45.877 "I'm just going outside, and may be some time." 210 00:10:47.730 --> 00:10:49.880 The three remaining men struggled on, 211 00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:53.430 but on March 29, 1912, Robert Falcon Scott 212 00:10:53.430 --> 00:10:57.267 recorded his final diary entry, huddled in a tent. 213 00:10:57.267 --> 00:11:00.570 "I do not think we can hope for any better things now. 214 00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:01.790 We shall stick it out to the end, 215 00:11:01.790 --> 00:11:03.877 but we are getting weaker, of course, 216 00:11:03.877 --> 00:11:05.627 and the end cannot be far." 217 00:11:07.160 --> 00:11:10.480 Eight months later, a search party found the tent, 218 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:13.340 the bodies, and Scott's diary, 219 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:16.033 just 20 kilometers from a supply depot. 220 00:11:22.710 --> 00:11:24.820 It's day seven of Geoff's longest 221 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:27.240 solo, unsupported expedition. 222 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:30.230 These are the coldest conditions he has ever encountered. 223 00:11:30.230 --> 00:11:35.230 Yeah, it's pretty wild. Really cold, and pretty dangerous. 224 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:37.960 His first week in the Big Freeze 225 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:40.850 has been spent tacking into unfavorable winds, 226 00:11:40.850 --> 00:11:43.950 which means his extremities, his hands and face, 227 00:11:43.950 --> 00:11:47.650 are exposed to the icy cold and the bitter wind chill. 228 00:11:47.650 --> 00:11:49.660 Little bit of concern from home 229 00:11:49.660 --> 00:11:52.360 re: some frost injury on my fingers. 230 00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:54.963 My right hand is fine, as you can see. 231 00:11:55.890 --> 00:11:58.063 Just a loss of sensation, which is normal. 232 00:11:59.210 --> 00:12:02.650 The left hand, the rude finger has a pretty nasty 233 00:12:04.310 --> 00:12:06.070 section of skin that's gonna die on the end. 234 00:12:06.070 --> 00:12:07.970 I'll probably lose that nail. 235 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:12.160 It just means I can't risk getting cold to that degree again 236 00:12:12.160 --> 00:12:17.043 and try and avoid upwind kiting in 40 below ever again. 237 00:12:18.050 --> 00:12:19.490 At home on the Gold Coast, 238 00:12:19.490 --> 00:12:24.040 Geoff is a veterinary surgeon, so his hands are his life. 239 00:12:24.040 --> 00:12:27.010 The weather has left him with frostbite on his finger, 240 00:12:27.010 --> 00:12:30.240 and he's having trouble gripping his kite handle. 241 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:32.540 Frostbite, it's one of those nasty things 242 00:12:32.540 --> 00:12:35.850 that every adventurer that goes into 243 00:12:35.850 --> 00:12:40.453 these extreme cold environments will at some stage feel. 244 00:12:44.290 --> 00:12:47.850 Normally, it happens on your fingers or toes, 245 00:12:47.850 --> 00:12:50.630 and that's also the most dangerous place to get frostbitten, 246 00:12:50.630 --> 00:12:52.480 because that could easily mean 247 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.123 that you lose some of your body parts. 248 00:12:59.205 --> 00:13:02.140 This finger's been a constant management issue. 249 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:04.760 Every time I take my gloves off, 250 00:13:04.760 --> 00:13:07.893 I kinda wonder how it's gonna look. 251 00:13:09.350 --> 00:13:11.463 Oh, it's looking bad now, look. 252 00:13:12.488 --> 00:13:14.463 It's split on the end, and dying. 253 00:13:16.831 --> 00:13:17.664 Ugh. 254 00:13:18.910 --> 00:13:19.743 It's bad. 255 00:13:22.300 --> 00:13:25.593 Oh, it's gone all mushy. That's a big change today. 256 00:13:26.730 --> 00:13:28.293 Okay, it's all good. 257 00:13:29.161 --> 00:13:31.744 (wind howling) 258 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.160 Antarctica is one of the most 259 00:13:35.160 --> 00:13:38.220 extreme environments on Earth. 260 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:40.080 And it's perhaps for that very reason 261 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.190 that it is has lured a certain kind of person 262 00:13:42.190 --> 00:13:45.680 to try and endure the worst it can throw at them. 263 00:13:45.680 --> 00:13:46.880 To survive here, 264 00:13:46.880 --> 00:13:49.830 you have to carry all the basic human needs with you, 265 00:13:49.830 --> 00:13:52.740 heat, food, and shelter. 266 00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:56.600 The only thing that's in abundant supply is water, 267 00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:57.920 but to drink it, 268 00:13:57.920 --> 00:14:01.713 you've got to carry bottles and bottles of fuel to melt it. 269 00:14:05.570 --> 00:14:07.370 There are a number of things that are paramount 270 00:14:07.370 --> 00:14:09.160 to your survival out on the ice. 271 00:14:09.160 --> 00:14:10.630 And, of course, you need calories. 272 00:14:10.630 --> 00:14:12.790 It's the only way that you can fuel your body 273 00:14:12.790 --> 00:14:15.920 to get across the ice and to combat the cold. 274 00:14:15.920 --> 00:14:17.740 The only way that you can melt water 275 00:14:17.740 --> 00:14:22.450 in order to reconstitute that food is to take fuel with you. 276 00:14:22.450 --> 00:14:24.280 I don't think it's really possible 277 00:14:24.280 --> 00:14:26.420 to identify one thing or another 278 00:14:26.420 --> 00:14:29.470 as the most important thing you carry on an expedition. 279 00:14:29.470 --> 00:14:32.970 The preparation of a long-distance polar expedition, 280 00:14:32.970 --> 00:14:34.630 by its very nature, 281 00:14:34.630 --> 00:14:39.150 means that every single item in your sled 282 00:14:39.150 --> 00:14:41.133 is critical to the expedition. 283 00:14:42.206 --> 00:14:44.910 Of everything in this weird little life support system 284 00:14:44.910 --> 00:14:47.760 you're dragging behind you, what is most important? 285 00:14:47.760 --> 00:14:50.450 Is it the tent, is it the stove, is it food, is it fuel? 286 00:14:50.450 --> 00:14:52.240 You need fuel to get water. 287 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:54.560 You have to produce water every morning, 288 00:14:54.560 --> 00:14:56.670 every evening, on a stove, melting snow. 289 00:14:56.670 --> 00:14:58.370 So, in some ways when it comes to 290 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:00.750 how many days would you survive, 291 00:15:00.750 --> 00:15:03.710 I guess fuel is more important than food. 292 00:15:03.710 --> 00:15:05.417 You could go a few days without food, 293 00:15:05.417 --> 00:15:08.000 but you wouldn't survive long without any water at all. 294 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:09.230 It's been a week, 295 00:15:09.230 --> 00:15:12.390 and Geoff's frostbitten finger seems to be healing. 296 00:15:12.390 --> 00:15:14.750 Yesterday was another brutal day. 297 00:15:14.750 --> 00:15:17.870 I've actually climbed 500 meters in altitude, 298 00:15:17.870 --> 00:15:21.523 so that's 1,500 feet vertically over 122K. 299 00:15:22.730 --> 00:15:25.180 That brought with it another drop in temperature. 300 00:15:26.790 --> 00:15:29.360 Obviously, that finger is not in a good state, 301 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.550 but it's supernaturally healing. 302 00:15:31.550 --> 00:15:35.933 I've never, ever heard of frostbite actually healing. 303 00:15:36.855 --> 00:15:38.090 It's rock hard. 304 00:15:38.090 --> 00:15:39.470 I was expecting to have to do 305 00:15:39.470 --> 00:15:41.730 a self-amputation of that first digit, 306 00:15:41.730 --> 00:15:46.220 and I'd prepared myself to do that in the tent, mentally. 307 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:49.860 It was the one massive miracle on this journey 308 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:51.490 that I kept that finger, 309 00:15:51.490 --> 00:15:54.310 and could put the veterinary tools away, 310 00:15:54.310 --> 00:15:57.253 and not do a self-amputation, which was a great relief. 311 00:15:59.470 --> 00:16:01.700 But what Antarctica gives with one hand, 312 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:03.440 it takes away with another. 313 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.930 A leaking fuel canister has spilled fuel through his sled, 314 00:16:06.930 --> 00:16:09.560 and eaten into Geoff's fuel reserves. 315 00:16:09.560 --> 00:16:13.180 The lid's vibrated loose, and all the feel has spilled out. 316 00:16:13.180 --> 00:16:15.540 Luckily, most of my food is separately packed, 317 00:16:15.540 --> 00:16:16.980 so it didn't get damaged, 318 00:16:16.980 --> 00:16:21.360 but some of the food tastes a little bit like fuel. 319 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:25.023 This granola this morning has got a fuel undertone. 320 00:16:26.780 --> 00:16:30.150 I need the calories. I can't afford to throw it out. 321 00:16:30.150 --> 00:16:33.970 Yet more polar challenges. What more could go wrong? 322 00:16:33.970 --> 00:16:36.130 As an unsupported expedition, 323 00:16:36.130 --> 00:16:39.050 Geoff must carry all his fuel and food with him. 324 00:16:39.050 --> 00:16:41.790 He has estimated the time he will spend on the ice, 325 00:16:41.790 --> 00:16:43.810 and calculated how much food and fuel 326 00:16:43.810 --> 00:16:46.380 he will need to achieve his goals. 327 00:16:46.380 --> 00:16:48.950 Now he's lost five days worth of fuel, 328 00:16:48.950 --> 00:16:52.160 he has some life-threatening number-crunching to do. 329 00:16:52.160 --> 00:16:54.800 You can't create water without fuel, 330 00:16:54.800 --> 00:16:56.600 and you can't cook without fuel. 331 00:16:56.600 --> 00:16:59.070 Food and fuel are absolutely critical, 332 00:16:59.070 --> 00:17:01.250 and if you get those balances wrong, 333 00:17:01.250 --> 00:17:03.970 then death is the result. 334 00:17:03.970 --> 00:17:06.530 And if you look at Scott's return journey, 335 00:17:06.530 --> 00:17:08.980 he got them wrong just by a fraction. 336 00:17:08.980 --> 00:17:12.390 11 nautical miles, I think it was, from his next depot, 337 00:17:12.390 --> 00:17:15.260 where he had food and fuel in abundance. 338 00:17:15.260 --> 00:17:17.150 He only missed it by a small amount, 339 00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:18.620 and he met a similar storm 340 00:17:18.620 --> 00:17:21.650 to what I met on the Antarctic Plateau, 341 00:17:21.650 --> 00:17:23.917 and it locked him down for too many days, 342 00:17:23.917 --> 00:17:26.800 and they ran out of fuel, ran out of food, 343 00:17:26.800 --> 00:17:28.483 and then died of exposure. 344 00:17:29.810 --> 00:17:33.270 He was found his hand on his best mate's chest. 345 00:17:33.270 --> 00:17:34.780 It's an incredible image. 346 00:17:34.780 --> 00:17:38.090 I never really understood how that happened, 347 00:17:38.090 --> 00:17:40.620 until that fuel broke, and you realize, 348 00:17:40.620 --> 00:17:43.957 you can prep and prepare, and things just happen. 349 00:17:43.957 --> 00:17:46.970 (dramatic music) 350 00:17:46.970 --> 00:17:49.230 Over the a 100-plus years since his death, 351 00:17:49.230 --> 00:17:51.900 debate has continued over Robert Falcon Scott's 352 00:17:51.900 --> 00:17:53.940 rightful place in history. 353 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:56.910 Was he a noble hero carrying on to the bitter end, 354 00:17:56.910 --> 00:17:58.950 or a miscalculating risk-taker, 355 00:17:58.950 --> 00:18:02.320 who led the polar team to failure and death? 356 00:18:02.320 --> 00:18:06.050 In 1912, there was certainly incredible pressure to succeed, 357 00:18:06.050 --> 00:18:07.400 coming from the home front. 358 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.650 Leonard Darwin, president of the Royal Geographical Society, 359 00:18:11.650 --> 00:18:15.357 and son of Charles Darwin, said in a speech at the time, 360 00:18:15.357 --> 00:18:17.000 "They mean to do or die. 361 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:19.810 That is the spirit in which they are going to the Antarctic. 362 00:18:19.810 --> 00:18:22.450 Captain Scott is going to prove once again 363 00:18:22.450 --> 00:18:25.087 that the manhood of the nation is not dead." 364 00:18:25.930 --> 00:18:29.280 But more recently, a completely different line of inquiry 365 00:18:29.280 --> 00:18:32.740 has been opened up regarding Scott's failed expedition, 366 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:35.890 and one man whose actions have been called into question, 367 00:18:35.890 --> 00:18:39.313 his second-in-command, Lieutenant Edward "Teddy" Evans. 368 00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:42.940 There've been dubious decisions 369 00:18:42.940 --> 00:18:46.120 made by polar leaders over the millennia, 370 00:18:46.120 --> 00:18:47.360 and Scott did likewise. 371 00:18:47.360 --> 00:18:51.370 He held back from his team who the final party would be 372 00:18:51.370 --> 00:18:52.920 skiing to the South Pole. 373 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:56.820 That had a serious impact on his plans. 374 00:18:56.820 --> 00:18:58.040 Scott's race for the pole 375 00:18:58.040 --> 00:19:01.400 began with a crew of 16 in November, 1911, 376 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:03.180 but as they drew closer to the pole, 377 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:07.170 small groups of men peeled off and returned to base. 378 00:19:07.170 --> 00:19:09.120 Just who would be included in the final 379 00:19:09.120 --> 00:19:11.340 history-making team to reach the pole 380 00:19:11.340 --> 00:19:14.350 was a secret Scott appears to have kept to himself. 381 00:19:14.350 --> 00:19:17.420 Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen, 382 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:18.930 their race to the pole is, of course, 383 00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:23.510 one of the most iconic stories in polar history, 384 00:19:23.510 --> 00:19:25.680 with two very different outcomes. 385 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:27.420 The Scott story is tragic, 386 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:30.930 and he often gets painted as being a disorganized fool, 387 00:19:30.930 --> 00:19:33.610 and he should've known better, and all that kind of thing. 388 00:19:33.610 --> 00:19:36.930 Second-in-charge, Teddy Evans, was furious, 389 00:19:36.930 --> 00:19:39.320 when just a few hundred kilometers from their goal 390 00:19:39.320 --> 00:19:42.730 Scott announced the final four men that would accompany him, 391 00:19:42.730 --> 00:19:44.238 and Evans was overlooked. 392 00:19:44.238 --> 00:19:46.617 (ominous music) 393 00:19:46.617 --> 00:19:49.730 "Captain Scott took one of my people, Bowers, 394 00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:52.540 to make his hauling easier, thus having five men 395 00:19:52.540 --> 00:19:55.140 to do what I was expected to accomplish with three." 396 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.030 It was no secret that Scott and Evans didn't see eye to eye, 397 00:20:00.030 --> 00:20:02.440 but Scott's dismissal of his second-in-charge 398 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:04.090 may have been too much for Evans. 399 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:08.800 After Scott reached the pole and began his run home, 400 00:20:08.800 --> 00:20:11.130 he notes in his diary on a number of occasions 401 00:20:11.130 --> 00:20:14.293 that food that he expects to find is not there. 402 00:20:15.557 --> 00:20:16.740 "I've come to the conclusion 403 00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:20.400 that private Antarctic expeditions are a public fraud." 404 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:21.730 Professor Chris Turney 405 00:20:21.730 --> 00:20:24.530 has researched the history of Scott's expedition, 406 00:20:24.530 --> 00:20:26.870 and discovered previously-unnoticed documents 407 00:20:26.870 --> 00:20:28.340 in the British Library. 408 00:20:28.340 --> 00:20:31.140 What became really clear very quickly was, 409 00:20:31.140 --> 00:20:34.730 it contradicted the classic story of what happened to Scott. 410 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:36.410 And effectively, what it claimed, 411 00:20:36.410 --> 00:20:39.510 was that the second-in-command, Lieutenant Teddy Evans, 412 00:20:39.510 --> 00:20:41.900 had removed and consumed 413 00:20:41.900 --> 00:20:45.150 more than his fair share of food from the depots 414 00:20:45.150 --> 00:20:47.730 as the teams had returned back from South Pole, 415 00:20:47.730 --> 00:20:49.370 back towards the base. 416 00:20:49.370 --> 00:20:51.950 February 7th. "First panic. 417 00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:54.170 Certainly, that biscuit box was short. 418 00:20:54.170 --> 00:20:56.801 The shortage is a full day's allowance." 419 00:20:56.801 --> 00:20:58.367 10th of March. 420 00:20:58.367 --> 00:21:00.890 "Shortage on our allowance all round. 421 00:21:00.890 --> 00:21:02.350 I don't know that anyone is to blame, 422 00:21:02.350 --> 00:21:05.577 but generosity and thoughtfulness have not been abundant." 423 00:21:07.050 --> 00:21:09.340 Piecing together rediscovered letters and notes 424 00:21:09.340 --> 00:21:12.470 taken by the Royal Geographical Society from the time, 425 00:21:12.470 --> 00:21:14.180 Professor Turney's research 426 00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:16.553 suggests an alternative reading of history. 427 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:18.530 And this is dynamite, 428 00:21:18.530 --> 00:21:20.060 because you would imagine, at the time, 429 00:21:20.060 --> 00:21:23.580 here is this classic story, it's everywhere. 430 00:21:23.580 --> 00:21:28.300 This was one of the defining moments of the Edwardian age. 431 00:21:28.300 --> 00:21:30.649 It was the Edwardian equivalent of space travel. 432 00:21:30.649 --> 00:21:33.850 (dramatic music) 433 00:21:33.850 --> 00:21:35.240 Resentful of Scott's decision 434 00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:37.410 to leave him out of the polar team, 435 00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:39.260 Professor Turney has found evidence 436 00:21:39.260 --> 00:21:41.590 that suggests Teddy Evans may have removed 437 00:21:41.590 --> 00:21:44.800 more than his fair share of food from the supply depots. 438 00:21:44.800 --> 00:21:48.917 Scott actually wrote at to his expedition manager. 439 00:21:48.917 --> 00:21:52.240 "Teddy Evans is a thoroughly well-meaning little man, 440 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.167 but on closer acquaintance, proves to be a bit of a duffer." 441 00:21:56.048 --> 00:21:59.130 It's just extraordinary. They really didn't get on. 442 00:21:59.130 --> 00:22:00.620 There have also been questions asked 443 00:22:00.620 --> 00:22:02.580 about Evans' failure to communicate 444 00:22:02.580 --> 00:22:05.310 orders from Scott to the rest of the crew, 445 00:22:05.310 --> 00:22:07.240 a failure that meant that a dog team 446 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:10.063 was never sent to rescue the ailing polar team. 447 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:14.940 It looks like that when they were sending Teddy Evans back 448 00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:17.120 he sent back the order with Teddy Evans 449 00:22:17.120 --> 00:22:19.760 for the dog sledging teams to race back 450 00:22:19.760 --> 00:22:22.350 across the Ross Ice Shelf and bring 'em home, 451 00:22:22.350 --> 00:22:24.130 'cause they had to get back to the ship to tell the news, 452 00:22:24.130 --> 00:22:26.850 whatever happened, if beaten Amundsen or not. 453 00:22:26.850 --> 00:22:29.370 Extraordinary thing is, when you look at Scott's diaries, 454 00:22:29.370 --> 00:22:31.470 when he gets down to bottom of the Beardmore Glacier, 455 00:22:31.470 --> 00:22:33.407 there's about two or three entries where he says, 456 00:22:33.407 --> 00:22:36.003 "We're always hungry. We're looking for food. 457 00:22:37.230 --> 00:22:39.860 We daren't break it out yet. And where are the dogs? 458 00:22:39.860 --> 00:22:42.930 Where are the dogs? We keep looking for the dogs." 459 00:22:42.930 --> 00:22:44.690 It's incredible, because it doesn't look 460 00:22:44.690 --> 00:22:47.460 like those orders were properly relayed. 461 00:22:47.460 --> 00:22:50.130 We know that from various different sources. 462 00:22:50.130 --> 00:22:51.900 While it's unlikely Lieutenant Evans 463 00:22:51.900 --> 00:22:53.660 intended any serious harm, 464 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:57.000 and Scott may have simply miscalculated, or been unlucky, 465 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:58.850 the tragic result was the heroic 466 00:22:58.850 --> 00:23:01.093 polar team lost their lives. 467 00:23:01.990 --> 00:23:05.260 Scott's always waiting, poised with the team, 468 00:23:05.260 --> 00:23:06.150 looking on the horizon. 469 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:08.150 He cannot see the dogs, cannot see the dogs, 470 00:23:08.150 --> 00:23:09.900 and they never came. 471 00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:13.109 And I think that's the tragedy of his story, actually. 472 00:23:13.109 --> 00:23:15.960 There's been questions about his leadership, unfairly so, 473 00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:17.730 and it seems an incredible shame, actually, 474 00:23:17.730 --> 00:23:20.400 these amazingly brave men died, 475 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:22.800 and the stories became completely mixed up 476 00:23:22.800 --> 00:23:25.050 with what actually happened there on the ice. 477 00:23:30.996 --> 00:23:33.746 (dramatic music) 478 00:23:37.260 --> 00:23:40.150 Okay, had a major stress last night. 479 00:23:40.150 --> 00:23:42.720 After hammering through really bad sastrugi, 480 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:44.140 the smell of fuel, 481 00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:47.250 and one of the major fuel bottles 482 00:23:47.250 --> 00:23:52.140 had vibrated the top completely open. 483 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:53.740 I'm already critically low, 484 00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:58.333 because I lost two bottles in the first week. 485 00:24:00.450 --> 00:24:02.370 There's a tough choice to be made. 486 00:24:02.370 --> 00:24:04.380 A supply drop will end Geoff's attempt 487 00:24:04.380 --> 00:24:07.933 at the longest unsupported solo journey across Antarctica. 488 00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:12.050 Every day there's some new stress, but this is a big one. 489 00:24:12.050 --> 00:24:16.130 This is really, it could end the expedition. 490 00:24:24.670 --> 00:24:26.450 British Antarctic explorers, 491 00:24:26.450 --> 00:24:27.800 Scott and Shackleton, 492 00:24:27.800 --> 00:24:30.000 have received much of the attention over the years 493 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:31.853 since their respective expeditions. 494 00:24:33.040 --> 00:24:35.020 But it was Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, 495 00:24:35.020 --> 00:24:37.420 who was the first to reach the South Pole, 496 00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:40.436 famously beating Scott's team by five weeks. 497 00:24:40.436 --> 00:24:43.686 (bright baroque music) 498 00:24:45.750 --> 00:24:50.160 I don't think competition was such an important part 499 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:51.373 of Amundsen's expedition. 500 00:24:51.373 --> 00:24:54.330 I think the reason he went to the South Pole 501 00:24:54.330 --> 00:24:56.280 was that the South Pole was still up for grabs, 502 00:24:56.280 --> 00:24:57.635 and North Pole was not. 503 00:24:57.635 --> 00:24:59.450 (dramatic music) 504 00:24:59.450 --> 00:25:01.230 A career explorer, 505 00:25:01.230 --> 00:25:03.150 Amundsen's first experience in Antarctica 506 00:25:03.150 --> 00:25:07.570 was as a member of the 1897 Belgica Expedition. 507 00:25:07.570 --> 00:25:10.270 They were the first team to spend a winter on the ice. 508 00:25:11.330 --> 00:25:12.950 More than 10 years later, 509 00:25:12.950 --> 00:25:14.570 Amundsen was absorbed in plans 510 00:25:14.570 --> 00:25:17.410 to become the first to reach the North Pole by ship. 511 00:25:17.410 --> 00:25:19.350 But when news broke that an American team 512 00:25:19.350 --> 00:25:21.057 had reached the North Pole, 513 00:25:21.057 --> 00:25:23.540 "I decided on my change of front, 514 00:25:23.540 --> 00:25:26.507 to turn to the right about, and face to the South." 515 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:31.620 Amundsen landed on the Ross Ice Shelf in January, 1911, 516 00:25:31.620 --> 00:25:34.590 and set off for the pole in September. 517 00:25:34.590 --> 00:25:35.930 But the conditions they faced 518 00:25:35.930 --> 00:25:38.950 so early in the season were horrific. 519 00:25:38.950 --> 00:25:41.710 Four days in, he proclaimed in his diary 520 00:25:41.710 --> 00:25:44.360 that they must abandoned the expedition until spring. 521 00:25:45.497 --> 00:25:47.240 "To risk men and animals 522 00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:49.730 by continuing stubbornly once we have set off 523 00:25:49.730 --> 00:25:51.570 is something I couldn't consider. 524 00:25:51.570 --> 00:25:52.960 If we are to win the game, 525 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:54.890 the pieces must be moved properly. 526 00:25:54.890 --> 00:25:57.577 A false move, and everything could be lost." 527 00:25:58.580 --> 00:25:59.920 Amundsen's ability to recognize 528 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:02.570 when to turn back and when to push on 529 00:26:02.570 --> 00:26:04.060 has been hailed as one reason 530 00:26:04.060 --> 00:26:06.650 that he succeeded where others failed, 531 00:26:06.650 --> 00:26:10.170 along with meticulous planning and testing of his equipment, 532 00:26:10.170 --> 00:26:12.500 a wealth of experience with sled dogs, 533 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:14.500 and an attitude to exploration 534 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:17.130 that was famously Scandinavian. 535 00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:19.630 It appears to me that Amundsen 536 00:26:19.630 --> 00:26:23.650 was quite ruthless in his methodology. 537 00:26:23.650 --> 00:26:25.280 Ruthless in that, of course, 538 00:26:25.280 --> 00:26:29.030 he had a whole swag of dogs at his disposal 539 00:26:29.030 --> 00:26:31.480 that he could slaughter from time to time 540 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:32.840 and feed to the other dogs. 541 00:26:32.840 --> 00:26:34.370 And this was a technique 542 00:26:34.370 --> 00:26:37.043 that was commonly used back in that era. 543 00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:39.740 Unlike the British romantic hero, 544 00:26:39.740 --> 00:26:42.400 born out of suffering, in Amundsen's eyes, 545 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:46.060 the hero was the last man standing, the survivor. 546 00:26:46.060 --> 00:26:47.920 Amundsen famously took dogs as well, 547 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:48.753 and did it in record time. 548 00:26:48.753 --> 00:26:50.200 In fact, they actually put on weight, 549 00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:51.290 the Norwegian expedition. 550 00:26:51.290 --> 00:26:53.790 They beat Scott a month beforehand. 551 00:26:53.790 --> 00:26:56.950 He was also incredibly meticulous about his planning, 552 00:26:56.950 --> 00:27:01.260 in ways that that Scott and Shackleton perhaps weren't. 553 00:27:01.260 --> 00:27:04.090 It's no wonder, it's no mistake, 554 00:27:04.090 --> 00:27:06.220 that he arrived at the South Pole 555 00:27:06.220 --> 00:27:08.658 almost a month before Scott's team did. 556 00:27:08.658 --> 00:27:10.350 (dramatic music) 557 00:27:10.350 --> 00:27:12.940 The Norwegian team reached the South Pole 558 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:15.950 on December 14, 1911, 559 00:27:15.950 --> 00:27:17.220 and on the spot they reckoned 560 00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:19.080 was the most southerly point on Earth, 561 00:27:19.080 --> 00:27:20.990 raised a tent, a flag, 562 00:27:20.990 --> 00:27:23.260 and left a note for Scott to take back, 563 00:27:23.260 --> 00:27:24.623 confirming their claim. 564 00:27:25.840 --> 00:27:28.740 I think easily the biggest development 565 00:27:28.740 --> 00:27:32.750 between historic expeditions and modern-day expeditions, 566 00:27:32.750 --> 00:27:37.750 in terms of technology and our ability to move efficiently 567 00:27:37.780 --> 00:27:40.000 and accurately across these environments, 568 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:42.810 is the development of GPS technology. 569 00:27:42.810 --> 00:27:47.810 Back in the day, explorers had to use sextants and charts, 570 00:27:47.870 --> 00:27:49.710 and take sun sites, 571 00:27:49.710 --> 00:27:52.800 and it was time-consuming and complicated, 572 00:27:52.800 --> 00:27:56.403 and their ability to be accurate was highly compromised. 573 00:28:01.630 --> 00:28:06.317 Okay, Pole of Inaccessibility is 35 kilometers that way, 574 00:28:06.317 --> 00:28:08.620 but the wind is so strong, 575 00:28:08.620 --> 00:28:12.030 and with the sled so heavy, I'm getting pushed off the mark, 576 00:28:12.030 --> 00:28:14.960 so I'm not gonna make it with the weight I've got. 577 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.120 So, I've set up a case 578 00:28:17.120 --> 00:28:20.680 which is everything I don't need for the next few days, 579 00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:22.233 fuel, food, 580 00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:25.960 extra skis, all of that. 581 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:29.103 I've set that up here, and I've GPS marked it. 582 00:28:30.620 --> 00:28:33.800 So, I'll come back in a couple of days and pick that up. 583 00:28:33.800 --> 00:28:35.807 So, that's the story for today. 584 00:28:38.550 --> 00:28:41.150 To become the first unsupported and solo Aussie 585 00:28:41.150 --> 00:28:43.270 to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility, 586 00:28:43.270 --> 00:28:46.530 Geoff needs to cache one of his 100-kilo sleds. 587 00:28:46.530 --> 00:28:50.646 But leaving half his supplies on the ice is a risky move. 588 00:28:50.646 --> 00:28:53.396 (brooding music) 589 00:28:57.330 --> 00:28:59.290 Well, I remember looking at the GPS, 590 00:28:59.290 --> 00:29:01.340 and it's saying it's two kilometers out, 591 00:29:01.340 --> 00:29:02.581 and I couldn't see anything, 592 00:29:02.581 --> 00:29:06.248 and then you start to doubt your navigation. 593 00:29:10.030 --> 00:29:13.020 And then suddenly you see what looks like a man, 594 00:29:13.020 --> 00:29:16.060 and then you realize he's not moving, 595 00:29:16.060 --> 00:29:17.793 and it's Lenin with no arms. 596 00:29:22.210 --> 00:29:23.840 But he's life size, 597 00:29:23.840 --> 00:29:27.120 and your eyes are desperate to see something human 598 00:29:27.120 --> 00:29:29.482 that it's convincing you that there's a human there, 599 00:29:29.482 --> 00:29:31.270 and you're excited to see someone. 600 00:29:31.270 --> 00:29:36.080 Then you get in and realize it's this bronze bust of Lenin, 601 00:29:36.080 --> 00:29:38.993 in the most bleak, isolated part of the planet. 602 00:29:38.993 --> 00:29:40.083 It's just crazy. 603 00:29:44.429 --> 00:29:45.762 Oh, massive day. 604 00:29:46.950 --> 00:29:50.740 First Australian in our 200-year polar history 605 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:52.390 to make it to this point. 606 00:29:52.390 --> 00:29:56.013 It's pretty amazing, I don't know, when you think about it. 607 00:29:57.260 --> 00:30:00.700 Ah, that was a phenomenal feeling, 'cause that leg, 608 00:30:00.700 --> 00:30:02.510 there were multiple times during that leg 609 00:30:02.510 --> 00:30:04.920 where I felt like I wasn't gonna make it, 610 00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:06.144 and then, if I did make it, 611 00:30:06.144 --> 00:30:07.670 that that would be my only goal. 612 00:30:07.670 --> 00:30:09.453 I'd be happy with just the POI, 613 00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:12.930 because I felt I made mistakes earlier, 614 00:30:12.930 --> 00:30:14.503 nothing had gone to plan. 615 00:30:15.470 --> 00:30:19.060 Considering it's taken 200 years to get an Aussie here, 616 00:30:19.060 --> 00:30:22.860 I don't think I'll be back to see Lenny anytime soon. 617 00:30:22.860 --> 00:30:25.430 While he is at the Pole of Inaccessibility, 618 00:30:25.430 --> 00:30:28.863 Geoff is the most isolated person on the planet. 619 00:30:31.630 --> 00:30:34.260 He is closer to the space station astronauts, 620 00:30:34.260 --> 00:30:36.900 orbiting 400 kilometers above the planet, 621 00:30:36.900 --> 00:30:39.903 than he is to anyone else on Earth. 622 00:30:43.870 --> 00:30:46.430 I've been talking to Lenny over here. 623 00:30:46.430 --> 00:30:50.763 He agrees with me, not a good idea to separate your gear. 624 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:55.000 So, the job today is to get back to that. 625 00:30:56.464 --> 00:30:57.714 See you, Lenny. 626 00:31:02.064 --> 00:31:04.981 (melancholy music) 627 00:31:18.140 --> 00:31:19.780 Back at the cache, 628 00:31:19.780 --> 00:31:21.803 Geoff talks to his support crew at home, 629 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.650 and makes a tough call about his fuel loss. 630 00:31:25.650 --> 00:31:30.050 Looks like I will not continue this way to the pole. 631 00:31:30.050 --> 00:31:34.240 I'm gonna divert, and go straight for Dome Argus. 632 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:37.760 So, no more fuel loss, longest journey continues, 633 00:31:37.760 --> 00:31:40.613 But there will be an angle change tomorrow. 634 00:31:42.830 --> 00:31:45.280 Perhaps the most compelling feat of navigation 635 00:31:45.280 --> 00:31:47.830 undertaken in Antarctica is the story 636 00:31:47.830 --> 00:31:49.860 of Sir Ernest Shackleton's dramatic 637 00:31:49.860 --> 00:31:53.530 and determined recovery mission in 1916. 638 00:31:53.530 --> 00:31:58.220 I'm fascinated by how he led that team, 639 00:31:58.220 --> 00:32:00.300 specifically, the Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 640 00:32:00.300 --> 00:32:02.850 and how he kinda kept them motivated. 641 00:32:02.850 --> 00:32:06.920 Like, their boats crushed by the ice, gone. 642 00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:09.240 That was your only way home. "We've gotta figure this out. 643 00:32:09.240 --> 00:32:11.250 We're gonna crack on over the sea ice, that way. 644 00:32:11.250 --> 00:32:12.820 Right, follow me, lads." 645 00:32:12.820 --> 00:32:16.320 It's an incredible story of leadership. 646 00:32:16.320 --> 00:32:19.450 He arrived in Antarctica in 1915, 647 00:32:19.450 --> 00:32:22.680 late in the year for an expedition, and by October, 648 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:25.873 his ship, the Endurance, was trapped in the sea ice. 649 00:32:27.590 --> 00:32:29.200 Forced to make the ship their camp, 650 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:31.690 they planned to wait it out until summer. 651 00:32:31.690 --> 00:32:35.260 But as the winter wore on, the Endurance was slowly crushed 652 00:32:35.260 --> 00:32:37.193 by the enormous pressures of the ice, 653 00:32:38.140 --> 00:32:41.023 and Shackleton soon needed a plan B. 654 00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:45.650 The crew manhauled their lifeboat over the ice 655 00:32:45.650 --> 00:32:47.843 to Elephant Island, and made camp. 656 00:32:49.760 --> 00:32:51.600 Shackleton had no other choice 657 00:32:51.600 --> 00:32:53.890 but to leave his team on Elephant Island, 658 00:32:53.890 --> 00:32:55.620 because they didn't have a vessel 659 00:32:55.620 --> 00:32:57.680 big enough to take them all out. 660 00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:59.710 Shackleton selected a small crew 661 00:32:59.710 --> 00:33:00.950 to go for help. 662 00:33:00.950 --> 00:33:03.130 In a remarkable feat of navigation, 663 00:33:03.130 --> 00:33:07.330 and with gritty determination, over 17 stormy days, 664 00:33:07.330 --> 00:33:09.630 Shackleton's captain, Frank Worsley, 665 00:33:09.630 --> 00:33:11.460 navigated the seven-meter boat 666 00:33:11.460 --> 00:33:14.310 across 1,500 kilometers of rough seas, 667 00:33:14.310 --> 00:33:16.350 until they reached a whaling station 668 00:33:16.350 --> 00:33:19.400 on the remote island of South Georgia. 669 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:22.160 Frank Worsley was a ship's captain. 670 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:24.690 Anyone that spends a lot of time at sea 671 00:33:24.690 --> 00:33:26.740 lives and breathes navigation. 672 00:33:26.740 --> 00:33:30.360 So, of course, it was his task to take that boat 673 00:33:30.360 --> 00:33:33.660 across that Southern Ocean to South Georgia, 674 00:33:33.660 --> 00:33:35.280 and he was really the only person 675 00:33:35.280 --> 00:33:36.800 on the team that could do it. 676 00:33:36.800 --> 00:33:38.760 He had the skills, he had the knowledge, 677 00:33:38.760 --> 00:33:42.430 he had the sense of mind, and boy, he pulled it off, 678 00:33:42.430 --> 00:33:45.980 one of the most incredible navigation feats ever. 679 00:33:45.980 --> 00:33:48.460 After four unsuccessful attempts, 680 00:33:48.460 --> 00:33:49.990 Shackleton finally rescued 681 00:33:49.990 --> 00:33:52.730 his stranded crew on Elephant Island, 682 00:33:52.730 --> 00:33:54.780 saving every last one of them 683 00:33:54.780 --> 00:33:57.903 from what many considered to be a certain death. 684 00:34:06.060 --> 00:34:09.710 I think for a lot of people, the most difficult thing 685 00:34:09.710 --> 00:34:13.060 to deal with mentally on an expedition 686 00:34:13.060 --> 00:34:17.140 is being away from loved ones for long periods of time. 687 00:34:17.140 --> 00:34:19.140 In historic days, 688 00:34:19.140 --> 00:34:20.750 when the early expeditions 689 00:34:20.750 --> 00:34:22.610 were first encountering these places, 690 00:34:22.610 --> 00:34:24.870 they would be away from home and families 691 00:34:24.870 --> 00:34:27.460 for as much as three years at a time. 692 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:31.223 And today, it's only probably three months at a time. 693 00:34:33.200 --> 00:34:34.810 There are times when, 694 00:34:34.810 --> 00:34:37.180 certainly early on on these big expeditions, 695 00:34:37.180 --> 00:34:41.250 where the goal seems so far away, 696 00:34:41.250 --> 00:34:44.163 and so hard to reach that it's, 697 00:34:45.260 --> 00:34:46.810 it almost becomes demotivating. 698 00:34:51.090 --> 00:34:54.403 It's very difficult for people to adjust to the slow, 699 00:34:55.310 --> 00:34:59.200 unforgiving, relentless emptiness 700 00:34:59.200 --> 00:35:03.210 and quiet of a polar landscape, 701 00:35:03.210 --> 00:35:05.963 and to exist within it. 702 00:35:13.940 --> 00:35:18.290 I do reflect into the universe when I'm on an expedition, 703 00:35:18.290 --> 00:35:23.290 because you do feel closer to the universe, 704 00:35:23.290 --> 00:35:27.290 and you also feel closer to both the nature here on Earth, 705 00:35:27.290 --> 00:35:28.560 and also the universe, 706 00:35:28.560 --> 00:35:32.200 where maybe 1,000 kilometers from there is people. 707 00:35:32.200 --> 00:35:33.450 And it's a great feeling. 708 00:35:36.534 --> 00:35:40.923 Okay, it's a big morning this morning. It's day 33. 709 00:35:42.120 --> 00:35:44.273 Dome Argus is that way. 710 00:35:46.275 --> 00:35:49.000 The wind's allowing me to go that way. 711 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:50.797 We're 301 kilometers out. 712 00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:53.820 So, with a really solid day today, 713 00:35:53.820 --> 00:35:58.040 we'll be within striking distance of the Dome, 714 00:35:58.040 --> 00:36:00.410 which is pretty momentous, really. 715 00:36:00.410 --> 00:36:02.563 No one's ever crossed this ice before. 716 00:36:05.350 --> 00:36:08.913 Yeah, it's pretty wild. Amazing thought. 717 00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:11.330 This wind's meant to hold all day, 718 00:36:11.330 --> 00:36:15.593 so we should get a good 100, 150, maybe even 200K out of it. 719 00:36:16.591 --> 00:36:17.641 It's pretty exciting. 720 00:36:20.130 --> 00:36:21.750 To the Dome! 721 00:36:21.750 --> 00:36:24.570 Geoff is navigating a path over the ice 722 00:36:24.570 --> 00:36:27.580 that nobody has ever crossed before. 723 00:36:27.580 --> 00:36:28.860 He's hoping for wind, 724 00:36:28.860 --> 00:36:31.300 but knows that a favorable wind is unlikely, 725 00:36:31.300 --> 00:36:32.850 and if he is forced to tack, 726 00:36:32.850 --> 00:36:35.890 he will need to make sure that he doesn't drift off course. 727 00:36:35.890 --> 00:36:38.397 When Geoff was planning his expedition, I said to him, 728 00:36:38.397 --> 00:36:39.980 "There's no way that you're going to be able 729 00:36:39.980 --> 00:36:42.000 to kite up onto dome Argus." 730 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:43.210 The wind doesn't exist there, 731 00:36:43.210 --> 00:36:45.820 and in fact, his wind maps told him that. 732 00:36:45.820 --> 00:36:48.350 Probably my favorite part of the day 733 00:36:48.350 --> 00:36:52.093 is getting in, getting the GPS, working out my lat and long. 734 00:36:53.290 --> 00:36:55.380 It's an incredible feature, 735 00:36:55.380 --> 00:36:57.430 in that it's where all of the ice 736 00:36:57.430 --> 00:37:00.280 for Antarctica gets generated from. 737 00:37:00.280 --> 00:37:02.890 All of the warm air from the tropics gets dumped 738 00:37:02.890 --> 00:37:06.000 on Dome A, B, and C, Dome A being the highest, 739 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:07.700 and then it works its way to the coast 740 00:37:07.700 --> 00:37:10.580 through the fringe mountains. 741 00:37:10.580 --> 00:37:14.850 You imagine that point being where all the wind comes from, 742 00:37:14.850 --> 00:37:17.920 to try and get to the top of it using wind power 743 00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:20.663 was completely thought to be impossible. 744 00:37:23.690 --> 00:37:26.370 One of the greatest stories of survival alone 745 00:37:26.370 --> 00:37:30.410 against impossible odds is the story of Sir Douglas Mawson. 746 00:37:30.410 --> 00:37:33.080 As the head of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 747 00:37:33.080 --> 00:37:34.670 and a leading geologist, 748 00:37:34.670 --> 00:37:37.980 Mawson's task was to ensure valuable scientific specimens 749 00:37:37.980 --> 00:37:40.433 were collected and brought home for analysis. 750 00:37:42.890 --> 00:37:44.640 Mawson and his two companions, 751 00:37:44.640 --> 00:37:47.580 Xavier Mertz and Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis 752 00:37:47.580 --> 00:37:49.710 left their base camp in Commonwealth Bay 753 00:37:49.710 --> 00:37:52.523 on a survey mission in January, 1912. 754 00:37:53.830 --> 00:37:56.730 The survey went according to plan, but on the return trip, 755 00:37:56.730 --> 00:38:00.820 Ninnis, his sled, and full dog team were swallowed up 756 00:38:00.820 --> 00:38:05.220 by one of Antarctica's most deadly features, a crevasse. 757 00:38:05.220 --> 00:38:06.450 I've been in situations 758 00:38:06.450 --> 00:38:09.050 where I've lowered people down into crevasses, 759 00:38:09.050 --> 00:38:12.460 and peered down into them, and they are black. 760 00:38:12.460 --> 00:38:15.470 And you know that if one were to plunge in there, 761 00:38:15.470 --> 00:38:17.513 that there would be no returning. 762 00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:20.500 Not only did Mawson and Mertz 763 00:38:20.500 --> 00:38:22.620 lose their companion to the abyss, 764 00:38:22.620 --> 00:38:25.610 but a full sled containing their tent, tools, 765 00:38:25.610 --> 00:38:28.210 and most of their rations went with him. 766 00:38:28.210 --> 00:38:30.290 Hundreds of kilometers from safety, 767 00:38:30.290 --> 00:38:34.013 they had no option but to leave Ninnis behind and push on. 768 00:38:35.420 --> 00:38:38.440 When Mawson and Mertz needed to make that decision 769 00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:40.790 to leave Ninnis inside that crevasse, 770 00:38:40.790 --> 00:38:44.593 and then to move away from that situation, 771 00:38:45.610 --> 00:38:47.650 would've been absolutely heartbreaking, 772 00:38:47.650 --> 00:38:50.010 and spelled kind of the end of the expedition, 773 00:38:50.010 --> 00:38:53.363 or at least, the emotional side of the expedition. 774 00:38:54.550 --> 00:38:56.270 With no rations for themselves 775 00:38:56.270 --> 00:38:57.390 or their huskies, 776 00:38:57.390 --> 00:39:00.240 the men were forced to begin killing their dogs for food. 777 00:39:01.400 --> 00:39:04.120 Mertz could only stomach the softer parts of the dog, 778 00:39:04.120 --> 00:39:05.720 leaving Mawson the tougher meat. 779 00:39:06.820 --> 00:39:08.610 A reason that huskies are able to survive 780 00:39:08.610 --> 00:39:11.330 such cold conditions is their ability to store 781 00:39:11.330 --> 00:39:14.440 huge amounts of vitamin A in their livers. 782 00:39:14.440 --> 00:39:16.820 So, as Mertz chewed through the tender liver meat, 783 00:39:16.820 --> 00:39:19.080 he was unknowingly poisoning himself 784 00:39:19.080 --> 00:39:21.520 with an overdose of vitamin A. 785 00:39:21.520 --> 00:39:25.130 He soon fell ill, and collapsed into fits. 786 00:39:25.130 --> 00:39:27.650 When Mertz collapsed for the final time, 787 00:39:27.650 --> 00:39:30.463 Mawson was left to face the ice alone. 788 00:39:31.550 --> 00:39:33.570 Isolated and exposed, 789 00:39:33.570 --> 00:39:36.130 Mawson trudged on through the snow and ice. 790 00:39:36.130 --> 00:39:39.263 The skin on the soles of his feet literally fell away. 791 00:39:40.300 --> 00:39:43.280 For 300 kilometers, Mawson pushed on, 792 00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:46.730 until it last, a month later, he stumbled into base 793 00:39:46.730 --> 00:39:49.690 just in time to witness his ship, the Aurora, 794 00:39:49.690 --> 00:39:53.533 steaming over the horizon on its way back home to Australia. 795 00:39:54.870 --> 00:39:56.157 A small group had been left behind 796 00:39:56.157 --> 00:39:58.610 in the hope he would return. 797 00:39:58.610 --> 00:40:01.140 Mawson overwintered in Antarctica, 798 00:40:01.140 --> 00:40:03.080 his physical wounds healed, 799 00:40:03.080 --> 00:40:07.134 and by spring, he was able to return home to Australia. 800 00:40:07.134 --> 00:40:09.884 (brooding music) 801 00:40:12.850 --> 00:40:17.120 Going up Dome Argus, it's just a long, slow progression 802 00:40:17.120 --> 00:40:18.560 over hundreds of kilometers. 803 00:40:18.560 --> 00:40:21.620 It's not like a mountain, per se. It's more like a dome. 804 00:40:23.170 --> 00:40:24.003 It's a tough one. 805 00:40:24.003 --> 00:40:25.910 You don't feel like you're doing anything, 806 00:40:25.910 --> 00:40:28.330 but you feel shortness of breath. 807 00:40:28.330 --> 00:40:29.163 When you're breathing, 808 00:40:29.163 --> 00:40:30.830 it feels like someone's sitting on your chest, 809 00:40:30.830 --> 00:40:32.680 and you can get panicky quite easily. 810 00:40:50.970 --> 00:40:55.970 It's day 34, and fatigue is really starting to kick in. 811 00:40:56.641 --> 00:40:59.200 The other thing that's making it really difficult is, 812 00:40:59.200 --> 00:41:01.650 there's obviously been fresh snowfall up here, 813 00:41:01.650 --> 00:41:03.403 and this is all fresh powder. 814 00:41:05.130 --> 00:41:06.990 It's all soft powder, 815 00:41:06.990 --> 00:41:08.900 so it's bogged the sleds to the point 816 00:41:09.990 --> 00:41:13.747 where I've had to put 'em in tandem, one behind the other, 817 00:41:15.980 --> 00:41:19.600 so that they're going in each other's tracks. 818 00:41:19.600 --> 00:41:22.809 But yeah, let's pack up and get going. 819 00:41:22.809 --> 00:41:25.559 (brooding music) 820 00:41:29.990 --> 00:41:31.927 Yeah, we've been married for, oh, 821 00:41:33.860 --> 00:41:38.010 28 years, together 32. 822 00:41:38.010 --> 00:41:39.250 Yeah, he's love of my life. 823 00:41:39.250 --> 00:41:41.143 Honestly, absolute love of my life. 824 00:41:45.880 --> 00:41:48.653 I think it's really true that he's inherently selfish, 825 00:41:49.630 --> 00:41:52.570 by the standards and the rules 826 00:41:52.570 --> 00:41:55.320 that we're told we need to live by. 827 00:41:55.320 --> 00:41:57.960 But what would be more selfish, I think, 828 00:41:57.960 --> 00:42:00.700 would be to rob myself and the kids 829 00:42:00.700 --> 00:42:02.530 of the person that he actually is. 830 00:42:02.530 --> 00:42:04.680 But it's not easy. Yeah, it's getting worse and worse. 831 00:42:04.680 --> 00:42:09.330 The older he gets, the more hysterical people get about it. 832 00:42:09.330 --> 00:42:11.653 It's very isolating, actually, yeah. 833 00:42:14.600 --> 00:42:16.700 Geoff has hit his lowest point. 834 00:42:16.700 --> 00:42:20.270 The wind is gone, and he's been forced to spend day 35 835 00:42:20.270 --> 00:42:23.383 relaying one slide at a time through fresh-fallen snow. 836 00:42:26.740 --> 00:42:29.470 He realized that the wind had stopped completely, 837 00:42:29.470 --> 00:42:30.810 and that he'd gone off course. 838 00:42:30.810 --> 00:42:32.930 I don't think it was a huge amount off course, 839 00:42:32.930 --> 00:42:35.450 but it was like 30 or 40 kilometers. 840 00:42:35.450 --> 00:42:38.780 He'd spent that day doing two kilometers, I believe, 841 00:42:38.780 --> 00:42:40.780 over I don't know how many hours it was. 842 00:42:41.960 --> 00:42:44.790 He's 120 kilometers short of his goal, 843 00:42:44.790 --> 00:42:46.700 the summit of Dome Argus, 844 00:42:46.700 --> 00:42:50.690 in the heart of the most inhospitable place on Earth. 845 00:42:50.690 --> 00:42:53.050 Geoff is off course, exhausted, 846 00:42:53.050 --> 00:42:54.710 and owing to the high altitude, 847 00:42:54.710 --> 00:42:57.853 an emergency airlift would be virtually impossible. 848 00:42:58.740 --> 00:43:02.860 He just rang, and just, he was like just in tears. 849 00:43:02.860 --> 00:43:05.430 I remember I was, and I just burst into tears, 850 00:43:05.430 --> 00:43:07.990 and we both just sat and sobbed for a bit. 851 00:43:07.990 --> 00:43:11.460 It was hysterical, actually, just trying to talk him 852 00:43:11.460 --> 00:43:14.188 into getting out the tent, and keep moving. 853 00:43:14.188 --> 00:43:16.188 I've pretty grim slog, 854 00:43:18.180 --> 00:43:21.343 but let's see what I can do. 855 00:43:21.343 --> 00:43:23.400 Over the next three days, 856 00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:26.230 Geoff logs only 14 kilometers, 857 00:43:26.230 --> 00:43:29.927 manhauling his two sleds across the powdery snow one by one. 858 00:43:33.130 --> 00:43:35.560 I'd actually said to her that I was done. 859 00:43:35.560 --> 00:43:37.443 I needed, I can't do anymore. 860 00:43:41.480 --> 00:43:46.200 It was, "Okay, I can tell you're nearly done, 861 00:43:46.200 --> 00:43:50.160 but let's just sleep on it, double your calories tonight, 862 00:43:50.160 --> 00:43:52.860 get eight hours sleep, and let's talk in the morning." 863 00:43:54.041 --> 00:43:57.553 I do not feel regenerated. I'm smashed. 864 00:44:00.440 --> 00:44:01.960 It was finite. 865 00:44:01.960 --> 00:44:05.360 He either did it, or he didn't, 866 00:44:05.360 --> 00:44:08.743 and the chances of him coming out alive were pretty slim. 867 00:44:14.406 --> 00:44:15.239 Yeah. 868 00:44:22.520 --> 00:44:26.823 I tell ya, that is absolutely knackering. 869 00:44:27.705 --> 00:44:30.455 I take my hat off to anyone who does a manhauling trip. 870 00:44:33.570 --> 00:44:37.132 I miss the wind. We need the wind. 871 00:44:37.132 --> 00:44:39.715 Ah, there's just too much gear. 872 00:44:42.037 --> 00:44:44.620 (wind howling) 873 00:44:47.831 --> 00:44:50.069 I don't remember how this went. 874 00:44:50.069 --> 00:44:51.840 I don't think he told me about the wind. 875 00:44:51.840 --> 00:44:54.612 He'd got off the phone, and then it started flapping. 876 00:44:54.612 --> 00:44:57.195 (wind howling) 877 00:44:58.060 --> 00:45:00.510 And he just packed and went as quick as he could. 878 00:45:03.338 --> 00:45:04.590 I was with friends the next morning, 879 00:45:04.590 --> 00:45:07.645 and I got a call at a really weird time, 880 00:45:07.645 --> 00:45:09.030 and he said, "You'll never believe where I am," 881 00:45:09.030 --> 00:45:10.605 and it was really cool. 882 00:45:10.605 --> 00:45:12.629 (chuckles) Yeah. 883 00:45:12.629 --> 00:45:15.379 (brooding music) 884 00:45:26.620 --> 00:45:28.703 Yeah, it was really cool. 885 00:45:31.002 --> 00:45:31.835 Yeah. 886 00:45:35.648 --> 00:45:38.398 (dramatic music) 887 00:45:48.114 --> 00:45:51.380 Ugh, this is just amazing. 888 00:45:51.380 --> 00:45:54.970 This place has been the toughest I've ever tried to cross. 889 00:45:54.970 --> 00:45:56.753 It's just mentally taxing. 890 00:45:57.760 --> 00:46:00.213 In a place with no wind and no hope, 891 00:46:01.060 --> 00:46:03.360 Geoff somehow finds both, 892 00:46:03.360 --> 00:46:05.540 and skis onto the summit of Dome Argus, 893 00:46:05.540 --> 00:46:07.543 and into the record books. 894 00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:14.920 Well, against all odds, made it today on a zephyr of wind. 895 00:46:15.360 --> 00:46:17.090 You can see the flags are moving. 896 00:46:17.090 --> 00:46:18.850 I've just made it to Kunlun Station 897 00:46:18.850 --> 00:46:21.150 right at the top of Dome Argus. 898 00:46:21.150 --> 00:46:23.450 No one's ever climbed or skied 899 00:46:23.450 --> 00:46:25.550 to the top of Dome Argus before. 900 00:46:25.550 --> 00:46:27.770 It's quite amazing to be here. 901 00:46:27.770 --> 00:46:32.770 It is close to minus 40, really cold, 14,000 feet, 902 00:46:33.180 --> 00:46:34.793 and the base is abandoned. 903 00:46:35.780 --> 00:46:39.140 I've set my tent, go have a hot meal, and get some sleep. 904 00:46:39.140 --> 00:46:40.270 After a rest day 905 00:46:40.270 --> 00:46:42.400 on the highest point in Antarctica, 906 00:46:42.400 --> 00:46:45.250 Geoff is beginning to feel the effects of altitude, 907 00:46:45.250 --> 00:46:47.980 and keen to harness the winds blowing off Dome Argus 908 00:46:47.980 --> 00:46:51.063 to ski back to Novo Station as fast as he can. 909 00:46:52.285 --> 00:46:53.300 I'm getting a bit of Khumbu cough, 910 00:46:53.300 --> 00:46:57.063 which is extreme called damaging the alveoli, so, 911 00:46:57.063 --> 00:47:01.650 the sooner we get off altitude, the better. 912 00:47:01.650 --> 00:47:03.000 Just beautiful. I am alone. 913 00:47:07.569 --> 00:47:10.721 (melancholy music) 914 00:47:10.721 --> 00:47:11.690 In the 200 years 915 00:47:11.690 --> 00:47:15.010 since Russian and British ships spotted Antarctica, 916 00:47:15.010 --> 00:47:17.530 nobody has ever called it home. 917 00:47:17.530 --> 00:47:21.730 It is dramatic and vast, beautiful and epic, 918 00:47:21.730 --> 00:47:24.160 but it is hopelessly inhospitable, 919 00:47:24.160 --> 00:47:27.263 and to journey across it is to put your life in jeopardy. 920 00:47:28.610 --> 00:47:32.720 It is a place of constant danger and tantalizing reward. 921 00:47:32.720 --> 00:47:35.530 For Scott, it was where he met his end, 922 00:47:35.530 --> 00:47:38.870 for Mawson, it is where he made his name, 923 00:47:38.870 --> 00:47:42.410 for Amundsen, it was a swift victory, 924 00:47:42.410 --> 00:47:46.270 and for Shackleton, it was a place where he snatched victory 925 00:47:46.270 --> 00:47:48.350 from the jaws of defeat. 926 00:47:48.350 --> 00:47:51.170 And since that Heroic Age of Exploration, 927 00:47:51.170 --> 00:47:54.070 many more have felt compelled to measure their worth 928 00:47:54.070 --> 00:47:55.593 against the Big Freeze. 929 00:47:57.360 --> 00:47:59.630 So, as Geoff begins his final leg, 930 00:47:59.630 --> 00:48:01.970 he is aware that he's standing on the shoulders 931 00:48:01.970 --> 00:48:05.373 of modern adventurers as well as historic giants. 932 00:48:06.470 --> 00:48:10.500 From the first solo and unsupported crossing in 1997, 933 00:48:10.500 --> 00:48:13.930 and the longest solo Antarctic journey ever made, 934 00:48:13.930 --> 00:48:15.960 to the use of innovation, 935 00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:19.200 and the first woman to reach the pole solo, 936 00:48:19.200 --> 00:48:22.900 a special mention must be made to the accomplishments 937 00:48:22.900 --> 00:48:25.060 of the late Henry Worsley. 938 00:48:41.238 --> 00:48:44.060 Okay, so, she's pretty wild and wooly out here. 939 00:48:44.060 --> 00:48:46.403 Phenomenal wind that's carried me 940 00:48:46.403 --> 00:48:49.000 1,300 kilometers in a week. 941 00:48:49.000 --> 00:48:50.370 And tomorrow's as a big day. 942 00:48:50.370 --> 00:48:55.017 We break Rune Gjeldnes' record, 4,814 kilometers, 943 00:48:55.017 --> 00:48:57.050 for the longest solo, 944 00:48:57.050 --> 00:49:01.220 unsupported polar journey in our history. 945 00:49:01.220 --> 00:49:03.810 Now that Geoff is pointing towards the coast, 946 00:49:03.810 --> 00:49:06.240 he can take advantage of the katabatic winds 947 00:49:06.240 --> 00:49:07.883 that blow out of Dome Argus. 948 00:49:12.872 --> 00:49:17.789 780K to go. I'm coming home, Sarah and the kids, woo-hoo! 949 00:49:19.460 --> 00:49:21.180 Winds that will propel Geoff 950 00:49:21.180 --> 00:49:25.097 at phenomenal speeds towards Novo Station, and home. 951 00:49:26.710 --> 00:49:28.210 That's the backside of Thor's Hammer. 952 00:49:28.210 --> 00:49:30.270 I've just pulled through the gap. 953 00:49:30.270 --> 00:49:32.610 The wind is easterly, but it's coming up this hill, 954 00:49:32.610 --> 00:49:34.800 so I'm gonna use a novel approach 955 00:49:34.800 --> 00:49:36.447 to get to the bottom of the hill. 956 00:49:36.447 --> 00:49:39.197 (dramatic music) 957 00:49:41.010 --> 00:49:46.010 I always get a sense of sadness and loss 958 00:49:46.030 --> 00:49:48.384 at the idea that this experience 959 00:49:48.384 --> 00:49:52.137 that is so extraordinary, so unique, is about to end. 960 00:49:53.345 --> 00:49:55.983 Okay, we're 20 out, 20K out from Novo. 961 00:49:57.480 --> 00:50:01.340 Finally, Novo Station ceases to be a dream, 962 00:50:01.340 --> 00:50:02.823 and appears on the horizon. 963 00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:05.160 Reaching the destination 964 00:50:05.160 --> 00:50:07.830 is somewhat of a letdown sometimes, 965 00:50:07.830 --> 00:50:11.450 because you are so focused and so in the moment 966 00:50:11.450 --> 00:50:13.990 on every day of a journey that suddenly, 967 00:50:13.990 --> 00:50:18.453 that, for all to be over is like, well, what now? 968 00:50:20.760 --> 00:50:22.730 Why do I do what I do? 969 00:50:22.730 --> 00:50:25.500 That's always the hardest question to answer, actually. 970 00:50:25.500 --> 00:50:27.293 I think for me, it's, 971 00:50:28.440 --> 00:50:31.113 it's passion. 972 00:50:34.753 --> 00:50:39.753 (giggles) So hard to believe after so many miles. 973 00:50:40.871 --> 00:50:43.200 To be outside of that fence, to go into the wild, 974 00:50:43.200 --> 00:50:45.670 and to live, and to be close to nature, 975 00:50:45.670 --> 00:50:50.000 and also to be close to myself, ultimately, it's passion. 976 00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:52.070 Geoff has completed the longest 977 00:50:52.070 --> 00:50:56.650 unsupported solo expedition ever undertaken. 978 00:50:56.650 --> 00:50:59.720 Have a look at that sun on the mountains. 979 00:50:59.720 --> 00:51:01.470 He is the first Australian 980 00:51:01.470 --> 00:51:05.240 to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility unsupported, 981 00:51:05.240 --> 00:51:07.823 and the first to summit Dome Argus, 982 00:51:08.700 --> 00:51:13.700 all in one little outing of 5,300 kilometers in 58 days. 983 00:51:15.520 --> 00:51:19.860 The why is something I really struggle to answer. 984 00:51:19.860 --> 00:51:24.860 And I think it lies within the core of who we are. 985 00:51:24.880 --> 00:51:28.460 And if we have to ask why, it's been said before, 986 00:51:28.460 --> 00:51:31.520 then maybe we shouldn't be going. 987 00:51:31.520 --> 00:51:34.663 Some people are just born for really, really big things. 988 00:51:36.640 --> 00:51:39.630 I'm privileged that I get to be on the same journey. 989 00:51:39.630 --> 00:51:40.860 It's really, really hard, 990 00:51:40.860 --> 00:51:43.933 but I am happy to be on the journey with him, yeah. 991 00:51:57.260 --> 00:52:00.010 And just like that, I'm back at Novo.