10 Utterly Epic Stories Of Human Survival Against All Odds
From the wilds of the U.S. and Russia, through the empty vastness of the Pacific, to the bitter cold of night on Everest, there are some places you do not want to find yourself alone. But these people did, and with only themselves to rely on, they survived to tell the tale. Here are ten of the best survival stories that you’ll ever read...
10. Ernest Shackleton – Antarctica
Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton knew before he set out on his 1914 expedition how tough Antarctica could be. After all, he’d been forced to turn back after falling ill while slogging on foot towards the South Pole with Robert Falcon Scott in 1901. But it hadn’t put him off going back to the frozen continent, as he led 27 men into the wintry world of the far south.
The plan in 1914 was to quite literally walk across the coldest continent. But Shackleton’s vessel, the Endurance, didn’t make it as far as Antarctica. The Weddell Sea, bordering his destination, is renowned for its treacherousness, and so it proved. The ship became caught fast in sea ice which had formed early that year.
For nearly a year, Shackleton and his crew survived deep in his ship. But the ice that had gripped the vessel eventually broke it apart. So the men had to move out onto the surface of the frozen sea. Eventually, they sledded to Elephant Island, an inhospitable berth, but at least relatively dry land. Meanwhile, back home, Shackleton and his crew had been given up for dead.
Aware that he and his crew could not hope for rescue, Shackleton decided to make for the island of South Georgia, where a station for whaling could be found. All that stood in the way was 800 miles of freezing cold water. So he and a hand-picked team of five fellow crew members climbed aboard a lifeboat open to the elements and set off to seek help. To make things tougher, Shackleton landed across the island from the station and had to finish off his amazing adventure with a hike over mountains. Incredibly, every single member of his original 27-strong crew survived the ordeal.
