Mountaineer Stephen Venables will this week recount his adventures on the remote island of South Georgia, writes Nick Elvin

One of the great tales of 20th Century exploration is that of Ernest Shackleton’s failed Antarctic voyage.

In 1914, the explorer set off from Britain to attempt a crossing of the frozen continent. But trouble ensued when his ship, the Endurance, was crushed by ice, prompting Shackleton and a few of his men to set out across hundreds of miles of treacherous ocean to the island of South Georgia, the nearest inhabited place, to summon rescue.

It’s a story that captivated mountaineer Stephen Venables, who over the past decade has twice repeated Shackleton’s crossing of South Georgia.

“I first read about the story of the Endurance expedition when I was a teenager, about the same time man first went to the moon,” says Stephen. “But I thought this was more exciting.”

Shackleton made a 16-day, 800-mile journey across the icy, rough Southern Ocean in a small boat, and on reaching South Georgia, he and his companions had to continue on foot across the frozen mountains with minimal supplies to reach civilization. They finally made it to a whaling station where they were able to summon a successful rescue for their remaining 22 companions marooned in Antarctica – by which time it was August 1916.

Stephen has nothing but respect for what Shackleton and his men achieved.

“What they did was walk 30 miles through unknown, unmapped, glaciated mountains without mountaineering equipment or a tent, knowing if they got caught in a storm that would probably be it,” he says. “It was an astonishing story of mountain exploration.”

Shackleton and his party returned to a war-ravaged Europe, and some of the men were to perish on the battlefield. Shackleton died of a heart attack in 1922 on South Georgia – on his way back to the Antarctic – and is buried there.

South Georgia is a remote place with just a handful of scientists and other temporary inhabitants.

“You can’t get there on easyJet; there is no airstrip there. The nearest habitation is the Falklands, 800 miles away.

“It’s an interesting place; it’s quite melancholic. There are rusting hulks of ships that came to grief and rusting old settlements with corrugated metal flapping in the breeze. It’s only because of whaling that Shackleton could organise the rescue.”

Among 56-year-old Stephen’s many achievements, he is the first Briton to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen. How did he not suffer altitude sickness on the 29,000ft mountain?

“There’s a lot of luck; it’s nothing to do with strength and fitness,” says Stephen. “Some people are more physiologically suited.

“The whole expedition was such a huge adventure and the chance to get to the summit felt like a wonderful gift. It was frightening because it was getting late and I had ten minutes on the summit. I was as weak as a kitten.”

Stephen’s plans for this year involve leading a high trek in Nepal. Then, in October, he will go back to South Georgia, leading a group who hope to travel Shackleton’s route. Where does Stephen’s love of adventure come from?

“I always liked mountainous country. If a walk involved a rocky climb it make it more exciting. Like a lot of mountaineers, I was hopeless at organised sport. I had to find something physical I was good at.”

Stephen will be at Maltings Arts Theatre, St Albans on Saturday, February 19. Details: 01727 844222.

He will then be at The Radlett Centre, Aldenham Avenue, on Wednesday, February 23, 8pm. Details: 01923 859291