Nearly 100 years later, a group of British and Australian adventurers have discovered why. They re-enacted Ernest Shackleton's journey to save his crew when their ship got stuck in Antarctica's icy waters.
Tim Jarvis and Barry Gray on Monday reached an old whaling station on the remote island of South Georgia, 19 days after leaving Elephant Island. Just as Shackleton did in 1917, Jarvis and his team sailed 800 nautical miles across the Southern Ocean in a small lifeboat and then climbed over crevasse-filled mountains in South Georgia.
The modern-day team of six used similar equipment and clothes. But the harsh conditions forced several of them to abandon their attempt along the way.