British Army veteran Henry Worsley is en route to Antarctica to attempt the first unassisted crossing of the continent in history,聽the on Wednesday. Worsley, who is interested in Edwardian polar adventurers, has already reenacted聽two early-20th-century journeys, .聽First, in 2009, he retraced the 1907鈥09 crossing of the Transantarctic Mountains by polar explorer Ernest Shackleton.聽In 2011-12, he followed the 1912 route of explorer聽Roald Amundsen聽to reach the South Pole, unsupported, from the聽Bay of Whales,聽up the Axel Heiberg Glacier.聽
For his current journey, Worsley plans to retrace聽Shackleton鈥檚 footsteps on another expedition, marking the centennial of Shackleton's聽failed聽1915 attempt to cross Antarctica, which was thwarted when Shackleton and his crew were forced to abandon their ship, the Endurance, after it became stuck in聽ice in the Weddell Sea, leaving the group stranded for almost two years.
Worsley will set off from Berkner Island鈥檚 Gould Bay,聽west of Luitpold Coast, Coats Land, the closest mainland of Eastern Antarctica聽(near where Shackleton began his own journey 100 years ago).聽 is to head south, cross the Geographic South Pole, turn right and proceed north聽onto the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest ice shelf in Antarctica.聽He will then continue north,聽descending the Shackleton Glacier. He聽plans to complete the trip in 75 days, although he is carrying 80 days鈥 worth of food.
The 55-year-old is using his expedition to raise a goal of聽拢100,000 ($154,000) to donate to the Endeavour Fund, a charity dedicated to helping veterans of the British armed forces, . Prince William endorsed the聽fundraising effort.”It's a huge challenge, but there's no better person than you,鈥 the Duke of Cambridge told him, according to the BBC. 鈥淲e'll be thinking of you at Christmas.”
Worsley聽arrived in Chile on Wednesday, according to his聽. He plans to begin his crossing by November 10.