MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South Georgia Mountain Climb by Shackleton Expedition

A six member team of British adventurers have successfully completed an arduous climb in atrocious weather across South Georgia's formidable mountains to re-trace the perilous journey by Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton from King Haakon Bay to Stromness.

All are safe and well, and jubilant. Embarking on the Russian ship Professor Multanovskiy in South Georgia on their way home by way of the Falkland Islands, they sent news of their success in this graphic message to Mercopress Correspondent Harold Briley:

"Great news! The climb across South Georgia has been successfully completed and all are safe and well ,despite atrocious weather, including white- out and thigh-high snow for most of the time. Becca (Rebecca Harris, the only woman member of the expedition) has managed to keep her tent up at Grytviken in gale force 10 /11 winds, with king penguins, fur seals etc as neighbours, keeping watch while the boys did the climb. We are embarked for Ushuaia via the Falklands".

Harold Briley sent this reply:

"Congratulations on your successful climb across South Georgia's daunting mountains in Shackleton's footsteps, in similar challenging weather conditions. You are worthy successors to an intrepid explorer, showing the same kind of qualities he deemed essential for such adventures: ?Optimism, Idealism and Courage'".

In fact, this latest team of adventurers travelled even further than Shackleton. Appalling weather prevented their ship dropping them at their start point at King Haakon Bay, but at Possession Bay instead. Undeterred, the climbers trekked back to King Haakon Bay, and so achieved the entire route the long way around, including the extra section before they could even begin. Unlike some other expeditions in recent times who used skis, they did it all on foot in the fashion of Shackleton and his companions, Tom Crean and Frank Worsley.

Congratulating them on their arrival in the Falkland Islands, Government officials praised this remarkable achievement by what they called "an extraordinarily pleasant and self- effacing team". They can expect a warm welcome when they return to the United Kingdom on March 24.

They encountered the same kind of challenge and conditio