Planning an expedition to Alaska was clearly a method for entertaining the expedition during the long empty hours. But the prospect provided an engaging alternative to dwelling on their predicament or thinking about the potential dangers that lay ahead. The Boss kept the group engaged, for example, with a lively discussion about-remarkably-the prospect of an expedition to Alaska! For a group stranded in the middle of a frozen Antarctic sea, the idea of another polar undertaking could have seemed preposterous. But he took heart from the optimistic spirit of the team and, in return, ShackletonвЂ™s presence and demeanor engendered optimism among his crew.Д¤ Lessons in Crisis Leadership from a Captain Their fate remained uncertain, and Shackleton felt a heavy burden of responsibility. His expedition sat on a dwindling cake of ice, buffeted by wind and weather and threatened by collision and heavy swells. It was a difficult time for вЂњThe Boss,вЂќ as Shackleton was affectionately called. They continued to deal with the anxiety of waiting, hoping to drift to open water.ДЄs their food supply dwindled there were occasional moments of excitement, but mostly they waited. Exhausted and discouraged, the expedition again made camp. This second sled march was no more successful than the first. On day 384, though still a long way from the sea, they once more attempted to drag the boats across the ice. He realized that something had to be done to More than a year since they had set sail from South Georgia, ShackletonвЂ™s leadership had kept the They sat at Ocean Camp from October 30, 1915, until the end of December. They agreed to stay on the floe until the drift of the ice carried them closer to open water. Realizing that it was futile to go on, the men found a large floe more than half a mile in diameter, made camp, and came to a decision. The task was grueling and, after two days of hauling, the team had covered less than two miles. The crew began pulling the lifeboats in harness on sledges that weighed almost 1000 pounds. Shackleton proposed heading toward open water by undertaking a march across hundreds of miles of solid pack ice. The masts toppled and the sides were stove in, as shards of ice ripped strong timber to shreds. After 327 days trapped in the ice, Endurance was lost. Trapped in the ice, the crew found themselves isolated on the ship for months. The expedition was stuck some sixty miles from the Antarctic Continent. The ice of the Weddell Sea had movedДЇarther north than usual, and the pack closed around Endurance like a vise. Forty-five days later, on January 19, 1915, disaster struck.

Dysmantle the first expedition