Shackleton’s hut at Cape Royds was constructed during the British
Antarctic Nimrod Expedition in 1907-1909, the third British expedition
to the Ross Sea region within 10 years. Since being invalided at home
with scurvy in 1903 from Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery expedition,
Shackleton was fixated on getting back to the ice. Unable to land at
King Edward VII Island, Shackleton entered McMurdo Sound. He had
assured Scott that he wouldn’t make use of Scott’s 1902 Discovery
hut at Hut Point, so he selected Cape Royds for the winter quarters.
In late 1908 Shackleton led a party of four in an attempt to be the first
to reach the Geographic South Pole. After man-hauling sleds for two
and a half months, and less than 97 nautical miles from the Pole, he
made a decision considered the finest in early polar history – to turn
for home. If time and weather permit, you will have the opportunity to
view the historic hut along with the resident wildlife.
