British explorer dies on Antarctic trek
Henry Worsley attempted 1,770-kilometre journey solo
A British explorer attempting the first unassisted solo crossing of Antarctica has died 71 days after setting out and possibly within a week of his goal, his wife said Monday.
Henry Worsley, 55, had been suffering from increasing exhaustion and dehydration during the voyage, posting updates by satellite phone.
“This is just the best place on Earth right now,” he said on the first day of the trip in November.
Worsley was airlifted off the ice on Friday — after covering more than 1,450 kilometres of the 1,770-kilometre trek — and died at a medical facility in Punta Arenas, Chile, his wife Joanna said.
Her statement described the cause of death as “complete organ failure.”
Worsley, a former British military officer, pulled his own sled with food and supplies in an attempt to complete the projected route of Sir Ernest Shackleton a century ago.
Worsley had expected his journey to take between 75 and 80 days — which would have been the first without assistance from sled dogs or other support such as airdrops.
On Friday, with his voice still strong but tinged with sorrow, he posted an audio message saying he could no longer continue.
“My journey is at an end,” he said. “I have run out of time . . . the sheer ability to slide one ski in front of the other to travel the distance required to reach my goal.”
He sought to raise money for a fund to assist injured and ailing military personnel.
Worsley had noted his fascination with early polar explorers, including Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who in 1911 became the first person to reach the South Pole. But Shackleton had a special significance for Worsley, who came across a photo of the failed expedition as a boy.
“That fired my imagination,” he told the podcast Inspiring Adventurer.
In the winter of 1915, Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, became trapped in an ice floe in the Weddell Sea.
As their rations dwindled, he brought his men to nearby Elephant Island, then embarked on a trip across open ocean in a tiny lifeboat to seek help.
Twenty months after their ship was first caught in the ice, the entire crew of the Endurance landed in Punta Arenas battered but alive.
“Shackleton and his style of leadership became an important part of my character,” Worsley told Inspiring Adventurer.
Shackleton’s granddaughter, Alex- andra Shackleton, said Worsley’s death was “a huge loss to the adventuring world.”
Prince William, a patron of the expedition, said he and his brother, Prince Harry, had lost a friend.
“We are incredibly proud to be associated with him,” William said.
Worsley’s wife said the expedition had raised more than $200,000 for wounded troops.