Descendants to follow in Shackleton's footsteps

Ninety-nine years ago their ancestors were forced to call off an attempt to become the first to reach the south pole - fewer than 100 miles from their goal. Now descendants of Ernest Shackleton and his team are preparing to retrace the steps of the Nimrod expedition to finish the job.

Among the team are Patrick Bergel, Shackleton's great grandson, and Tim Fright, whose great great uncle was Frank Wild, Shackleton's companion on all his expeditions. Also on board is Henry Adams, great grandson of Jameson Boyd Adams, Shackleton's second in command who was known as "Mate" because that is what he called everyone, even the king.

The team will start next year. The journey is expected to take around 80 days to cover 400 miles, though some of the team will only join the expedition for the final 97 miles.

They will begin, as the Nimrod adventurers did, by climbing Mount Erebus, the world's most southerly volcano. Then they plan to depart from the Shackleton Hut at Cape Royds on October 29 2008 at 10am, exactly 100 years after Shackleton and his men set out.

Travelling on skis, they will cross the Ross ice shelf, hauling their expedition supplies in sledges. They will pick their way across the Beardmore glacier, collecting ice samples for scientific analysis in the UK.

They intend to reach the 97-mile point, again precisely a century on from Shackleton, but then continue, completing the "unfinished business".

The expedition is the first fundraising event for a charity, the Shackleton Foundation, which aims to "promote, benefit from and encourage in others the accomplishments and spirit of Shackleton and his men". Henry Adams, a shipping lawyer, said one of his reasons for joining the expedition was to learn more about what his great grandfather, Jameson Boyd Adams, went through. On the expedition's website, he writes: "I never met the Mate but my father, his grandson, remembers him fondly. He was by all accounts terrific company, which helps when you need to survive, in every sense of the word, as part of a small team on a long polar expedition.

"I dearly wish I knew more about what he went through personally. I can only imagine how it must have felt to get within 97 miles of the pole, the closest in history at the time, having sacrificed and risked so much over many months, before having to turn back in order to stay alive as their supplies dwindled.

"I owe the Mate an enormous debt of gratitude. He came back from the Antarctic alive, but for which I wouldn't exist. We will discover for ourselves what the original team must have gone through. We will also, like them, discover a lot about ourselves."

Before they set off, the team will train in Norway, Baffin Island, Greenland, Scotland and Austria, and will work on their fitness with the Olympic Medical Institute.

MA student Tim Fright, a descendent of Frank Wild, said he was inspired by the bravery of the Shackleton expedition in trying to reach the pole - and by their courage in turning back.

"What is more inspiring is not being afraid of failure. It is this point which strikes me as the most important legacy of Shackleton and the brave men that accompanied him on his missions," he said.