ROGER Smith, local climber, mountaineer and expeditioner, told a packed audience at Lunch Box in Great Malvern Priory about his latest trip entitled In the Steps of Shackleton.

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic journey into Antarctica in 1914-16 has been described as one of the most astonishing feats of exploration and human courage ever recorded. The expedition’s boat the Endurance was first trapped in the ice and then crushed before sinking; after which the party camped on ice-floes until they had to make their onward journey to Elephant Island in three open lifeboats. From here Shackleton and five others completed the 850-mile sea passage to South Georgia in the 22 foot-long James Caird. On landing on the wrong side of the island, he and two others crossed the glaciers of South Georgia, eventually reaching Stromness, from where the successful rescue of all his men began.

This lecture told the story of an Aurora Expeditions’ party, of which Roger was a member, which 95 years later in 2011, retraced some of the original journey. After visiting the Arctic Peninsular, their ice-strengthened Russian trawler, the Polar Pioneer, moved to the position where Shackleton’s party took to the lifeboats in the Weddell Sea. From there they closely followed the original route to Elephant Island and South Georgia, where they made a successful crossing from King Haakon Bay to Stomness, spending two nights camped on the glaciers.

The audience was enthralled by the story of the expedition and enjoyed seeing the stunning slides of the glaciers, interspersed with pictures from the original expedition. They noted how expedition equipment has changed over the years – Shackleton’s party wore hobnail boots, whereas the recent expedition had modern crampons and light warm clothing!

The next Lunch Box in Great Malvern Priory will be on Thursday, November 3 where musicians from the Chase School will be performing in a concert starting at 1pm. Bring your own lunch at 12.30pm.