Tim Jarvis

recreating the world's greatest journey of survival

Shackleton's epic

In celebration of the centenary of Shackleton’s legendary journey, join Tim Jarvis on his quest to become the first to re-create what sir edmund hillary called “the greatest survival story of all time” 1914–1916 One hundred years ago, in early 1914, famed British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton embarked for the South Pole on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, hoping to make the first land crossing of Antarctica. For three years there was no word from the expedition, and most assumed the men had perished, as so many polar explorers had before them. Remarkably, however, the crew was very much alive, thanks to Shackleton’s leadership. After their ship, the Endurance, was crushed by Antarctic ice and the men trapped on a small, inhospitable island, cut off from all hope of rescue, Shackleton decided to attempt a risky eighthundred-mile voyage across the notoriously treacherous Southern Ocean. For seventeen days, he and five of his crew battled constant gales, terrible cold, and mountainous seas in a leaking 22.5-foot wooden boat. In one of history’s greatest feats of navigation, they succeeded in landing on the small, remote island of South Georgia. Finally, they faced a climb over precipitous, heavily glaciated mountains to reach the whaling station at Stromness on the other side—a journey that would challenge the limits of today’s top mountaineers. Ultimately, Shackleton was able to rescue all twenty-two crew members—a heroic triumph of endurance and leadership. January 2013 Using authentic period clothing, equipment, and rations, and sailing a precise replica of Shackleton’s small, keel-less boat, explorer Tim Jarvis leads a six-man crew in an attempt to re-create Shackleton’s historic crossings for the first time. A veteran of Antarctica’s breathtaking frozen wastes, Jarvis finds himself facing one of the most dangerous journeys ever willingly undertaken, quickly gaining a firsthand appreciation for the extraordinary challenges that Shackleton overcame. While documenting the devastating impact a century of climate change has had on the region’s ice caps and glaciers, the trek proves to be a relentless struggle against poor odds and inhospitable conditions—for even today, the remote Antarctic remains as fierce and unforgiving as ever before. Vividly illustrated with historical and contemporary photography, Chasing Shackleton tells the unforgettable story of these two expeditions, separated by nearly a hundred years but unified in the spirit of epic discovery, adventure, and survival.

Re-creating the World's Greatest Journey of Survival

Chasing Shackleton

In Mawson: Life and Death in Antarctica, explorer Tim Jarvis relives Sir Douglas Mawson's extraordinary polar survival journey of 1912-13. Battling against ferocious blizzards and headwinds, Jarvis struggles to overcome extreme isolation, physical deprivation and his own self-doubt. He embarks on his hellish journey using the same equipment, clothing and starvation rations as Mawson had available to him almost a century ago in an attempt to answer some of the questions and controversies surrounding Mawson's tragic expedition in which both of his companions died. This is the story of two journeys, undertaken a century apart, to the limits of human endurance.

Life and Death in Antarctica

Mawson

How do you lose 20kg in just 47 days? Strap on a 250 kg sled and haul it 1600km across Antarctica. Adventurer Tim Jarvis was inspired to do just that, treading in the footsteps of some of the most eccentric and heroic explorers by undertaking unsupported journeys to the South and North Poles. He and trekking partner Peter Treseder pulled sleds packed with tents, medicines, food and fuel across these unforgiving landscapes of sculptured snow and ice at altitudes of up to 4000 metres, enduring temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees. When the grandson of adventurer Sir Douglas Mawson heard Tim planned to haul a sled across the Antarctic, he entrusted him with his grandfather's famous black balaclava. Prime Minister John Howard and British PM Tony Blair signed up as patrons of the trek and media baron Lachlan Murdoch donated $100,000 towards the $500,000 challenge. Tim and Peter reached the South Pole in December 2000, setting a world record for the fastest unsupported journey to the South Pole and then continued on in their attempt to cross the continent. On the journey Tim was forced to fill two of his own teeth (fillings shrink under those conditions), battled storms that kept the pair in their tiny, wind-beaten tent for 36 hours straight, and worked off a quarter of his body weight, due to the immense physical strain (even though he'd been pouring olive oil on everything he'd eaten- including breakfast cereal- to try to keep up his energy levels). The adventures of Tim Jarvis don't stop there. In 2002 he and Peter attemped to walk across the North Pole unsupported, making national headlines when they were airlifted out after Peter suffered severe frostbite. Tim hit the headlines again in April this year when he and a friend attempted to canoe and trek across a partly flooded section of the usually dry Lake Eyre. Tim Jarvis is an incredible Australian with an incredible story to tell about his polar expeditions. He believes life is what you make it and that testing yourself physically and mentally brings great rewards. His story is truly inspirational.

Tim Jarvis

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