Ernest Henry Shackleton 1909
The Southpole 2
The Irishman Shackleton is considered to be the father of all modern adventurers, although he is basically famous for his grand failures. As a participant of Scott's first Antarctic expedition in 1902, he had to retire due to illness. However, in 1907 he managed to organize his own trip. Shackleton as well as Scott decided to use ponies as draft animals, which proved as a failure. Therefore the men had to draft their sleds most of the time. On 09/01/1909, only 160 km away from the pole, they had to give up. Only by chance and half dead they survived the journey and found their ship just in time.