Shackleton and 5 of his crew had reached South Georgia from Elephant Island after their epic voyage in the tiny James Caird.King Haakon Bay on the south side of South Georgia. There were no whaling stations on this side of South Georgia, so they had to cross the mountains to reach help. He decided to leave the weakest three men at King Haakon Bay, and try to make the journey with the two strongest.
So Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean, set off at 3am on 19 May 1916 to try to reach the whaling station at Stromness.
Shackleton had barely enough food and fuel for three days. He had a Primus stove, 15 m of rope, a makeshift ice axe and screws in their boots for grip. They had also, binoculars, a chronometer and two compasses. They also had a blue-print copy of a sketch map prepared by the 1911 German Deutschland Expedition.
The map showed them the distance to Stromness was 27 km, but they would have three major ridges to cross. Moreover, if they failed to reach Stromness whaling station , the three men at King Haakon Bay and and the rest of his crew at Elephant Island were doomed.
They had to slog through knee-deep soft snow, and then cross The Ridgeback. They failed to cross Compass Glacier directly, but eventually crossed at the most northerly col. At the top, in the twilight they used the coiled rope as a toboggan, to descend the other side
By the light of the moon they crossed Nineteen-Sixteen Snowfield, and on towards Fortuna Glacier.
They made a bad mistake here and mistook Fortuna Bay for Stromness Bay. They started to descend Turnback Glacier. When they realised their mistake they had to climb back up towards Breakwind Ridge and the col at Breakwind Gap. It was here that they saw Busen Point in the distance and heard the steam whistle at the whaling stations calling the men to work.
To get down from Breakwind Ridge dangerous as they did not have proper equipment. But they did make it to Fortuna Bay. They walked towards Stromness, as it was the easiest whaling station to reach. They reached the final ridge and saw the whaling station and a whale-catcher steaming into the bay. To avoid more icy slopes they followed a stream, which entered a deep gully. Here they were forced to climb down what we now refer to as Shackleton Falls with the aid of the rope.
Eventually, they staggered into Stromness. They had travelled continuously for 36 hours, before reaching Stromness And the rest is history, they rescued all the scattered crew, and not a man was lost
The route that they followed has been the subject of much debate, and there are several different possibilities.