Team Retraces Shackleton's South Georgia Trek
An eight-person expedition plans to follow Ernest Shackleton's 1916 route across the mountainous island of South Georgia.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Adventure Travel
A team of eight is preparing to retrace Ernest Shackleton's 1916 trek across South Georgia, after his ship Endurance was crushed by ice in 1915. Shackleton took five crew members on an 800-mile open-boat journey from Elephant Island and reached the whaling station at Stromness to raise the alarm.
Why it matters
The expedition revisits one of the best-known survival journeys in polar history, and its route cannot match the original because glaciers have retreated over the past century. The trek offers a direct comparison between the terrain Shackleton faced and the conditions that exist today.
Shackleton's original voyage covered 800 miles with five crew members, while the modern team consists of eight people who will land on South Georgia by rigid inflatable boat launched from a cruise ship. The precise route remains uncertain because glaciers have retreated significantly since 1916.
The players
Ernest Shackleton
Anglo-Irish polar explorer who led the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and completed a famed survival trek across South Georgia in 1916.
Dan Snow
British historian and broadcaster who is one of the eight members of the team retracing Shackleton's route.
Dr John Shears
Expedition leader who located the wreck of the Endurance in 2022 and is part of the team retracing Shackleton's South Georgia trek.
The details
The team will land on South Georgia from a rigid inflatable boat launched from a cruise ship and will follow the 1916 route as closely as possible to the whaling station at Stromness. The group includes Dan Snow, Preet Chandi and Dr John Shears, who led the 2022 expedition that located the wreck of the Endurance.
Timeline
1915: Endurance is crushed by ice during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
1916: Shackleton completes his trek across South Georgia to seek rescue.
2022: Dr John Shears' expedition locates the Endurance wreck.
November 9, 2026: The team speaks from Montevideo while preparing for the South Georgia trek.
Travel Outlook
The retracing effort mirrors a wider pattern of polar adventure tourism, in which historic routes such as Shackleton's draw visitors to South Georgia. Glacier retreat since 1916 means that each re-creation shows the island as a changed landscape rather than an unchanged one.
Reaching South Georgia requires a cruise or expedition vessel and transfer by rigid inflatable boat. Travelers considering a similar route should plan for limited landing access and weather-dependent crossings.
The takeaway
Historic routes can reveal how dramatically landscapes change over a century, and retracing them shows how much of the original experience has been reshaped by glacier retreat. Travelers can learn from this by viewing historic expeditions as snapshots of conditions that no longer exist.
Further reading
Explore more polar expedition coverage in Adventure Travel.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Evening Standard.
