Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/10/19/in-1911-three-men-struggled-f.html
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“Can’t we just have toast and bacon for breakfast instead?”
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Is that scrambled eggs that they are eating?
There is a book about the expedition, entitled The Worst Journey in the World. But I don’t think this expedition was actually the worst of the Antarctic expeditions. At least it had a lot of competition for that title.
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Came here to post about this.
IDK - crossing eight foot pressure waves in the antarctic winter? They basically had to carry the sled. It quite clearly was a tougher journey than Scott’s - he messed up by taking ponies. If you can name a tougher expedition, give it your best shot.
It is one fantastic book. You’ve got it in the neck, stick it, stick it…
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Memorable bits…
- Orca hunting ponies.
- Apsley’s frostbite blisters.
- When the tent blew away.
Helluva good book. Recommended.
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The Franklin Expedition?
Or how about one of the ones where the guys went mad and their skin fell off from vitamin A poisoning?
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Franklin wasn’t that tough until they got ice bound - by which time it doesn’t exactly count as an expedition as it was stationary.John Rae’s rescue attempt was pretty epic, though.There’s a Ray Mear’s episode about him which is cool.
I think the other one you’re talking about is Mawson - it was summer, they had bad luck and yes, poisoned themselves with husky liver. Ugly way to die, I agree.
Both of these were deeply unpleasant but I think Cherry-Garrard and chums beat them hands down - not least by successfully completing the operation despite enormous privations.
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- When they are always too exhausted to pitch the tent
- Delivering the egg and being stopped from entering the NHM curator’s office by an officious PA.
‘Just leave it in the in tray’
‘I don’t think so, b*tch.’
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oh god, the cold, the cold!
so, don’t bring ponies, don’t eat your dog’s liver. any other advice? i have to spend six months in toronto next year.
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The really bad news is strong drink accelerates hypothermia - cocco only. Soz
The Trail of Tears?
Category error. That was part of the genocidal ethnic cleansing on which the American dream was built. But, yup, that was notably unpleasant.
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That last bit was what i think made the author of the book title it the way he did. Because several people died over an expedition whose collected data and items were routinely ignored, so it was all pointless and the author had a hard time reconciling the events. To him it was definitely The Worst Journey In the World.
I listening to the episode early in the week and it’s a good listen.
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What happened to afterwards is also interesting. He was invalided out of WW1 - ulcers probably brought on by Antarctica , severe depression and what we would now probably called PTSD.
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Thanks for the tip. Luckily I’m a teetotaller and I’ll be arriving just as Canada starts the sale of legal weed.
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