This is a modern telling of the expedition of Australian Douglas Mawson in the Antarctic. It is a story that was recently given some attention with photos in National Geographic and one that deserves much more attention. Because it was not an American it is often overlooked. In addition, unlike Shackleton, Scott and Amundson, this expedition never intended to go to the pole. Instead the concept was to fill in a blank on the Antarctic map and traverse the shore.
This was an adventure led by a scientist, someone who cared about the results of their research more than glory and yet by the time he got back to Australia he had completed the most grueling survival story in Antarctic history.
His mapping crew - Mawson, Ninnes, and Mertz was covering a virtually unknown part of the earth and they were doing it by foot and dog team, except for the Scandinavian Mertz who wore skis.
The tragedy began when Ninnes and his dog team broke through an ice bridge and dropped to their death down a huge crevasse with the teams food for both humans and dogs. This left Mertz and Mawson with meager provisions and meager resources but over a 100 miles to travel.
The brutal conditions of the Antarctic, more crevasses, devasting blizzards, and savage cold wore on the two men until Mertz encumbered to the elements. Having eaten the dogs, lost his companions and left with little food, Mawson continued to battle elements that the rest of us can only read about, but never truly understand.
But he made it, he made it a day after the boat that would have returned him to Australia left and he and a handful of men who had been left to maintain the camp had to shift their thoughts to surviving an additional year.
This too, was a test and a difficult one. At least one party member lost sanity. But they came through, Mawson went on to teach at University and the expedition eventually gained the fame it deserved.
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