Eight years ago, while still at university, Robert Swan became possessed by the idea of a journey on foot to the South Pole. No such attempt had been made since Captain Scott and his companions, beaten by the Norwegian explorer Amundsen, perished on their return march in 1912. Swan wanted to gain some insight into the realities faced by those who took part in that first hotly-debated race for the Pole, and also to draw attention to the political and environmental issues which threaten the last great wilderness left on Earth. With his partner, mountaineer Roger Mear, an expedition nucleus as formed; Sir Peter Scott became its Patron and was later joined by Lord Shackleton, both sons of the Antarctic explorers.