What Really Happened to the ‘Berserk’?

[AntarcticPilot]

Enjoying this thread, thanks, do not know enough about Antartica. I like an adventure more than anyone, and I admire his tenacity to keep the memory of his friends alive, but in this case, I find myself even more re-assured that Antartica is being protected from just any adventure tourist with a couple of weeks and some spare money.

And a big thanks to those who took the time to clean up after these guys, it makes me shudder to think they would use Scott's base as a fuel store, and leave plastics lying about, not counting all the fuel and contaminates in the wreck.

Question, is there any good way to experience these wildernesses, without wrecking them? Maybe there are some places we need to only experience through technology and prose.

The problem in Antarctica is that the places where landing is possible are also the places where there is a very delicate ecosystem. Ice is pretty bomb-proof - but places where you can land onto ice are few and far between; ice normally forms a cliff at the sea. Other areas are so delicate that (for example) footprints in a moss bed may not recover for decades, if not longer. Most places where landing is allowed are places where there has been long-standing human presence, and the damage is already done. Even there, you are enjoined to keep to specific pathways. Just for example, there is a part of Rothera Point - immediately adjacent to the man British research station - which is completely out-of-bounds except for infrequent monitoring visits, which have to be logged. I happened to have a reason for going there on one of the monitoring visits, but that was to delineate a sub-area where human presence is totally forbidden! And round Rothera point, there are areas that are open to any activity, and ones where activities are restricted. That's in the immediate vicinity of the main British base in Antarctica!
IAATO - the Antarctic tour operators organization - have a code of practice that works pretty well; cruises are probably the best way to see Antarctica without causing too much havoc. They will have knowledgeable staff who will keep you away from sensitive areas, and who will usually have specialist knowledge of what you are seeing - many of my former colleagues went as guest lecturers on such cruises.
Note that the precautions these days include ensuring that boots etc. are disinfected before landing, to ensure that invasive species are not introduced.

Cruises are really the only way for the ordinary person to experience Antarctica; there have been a few alternatives, but I think that most of them have dropped out. Adeventure Networks International used to run flights to places like the Ellsworth Mountains, but I don't know if they still operate, and they were really aiming at hard-core mountaineering types.

 

[dom]

Really interesting and well-explained posts AntarcticPilot !

I never understood quite how sensitive this hidden environment truly is.

 

[Metabarca]

When I was down Ushuaia way, I met a few skippers who had experience sailing across Drake Passage and had met the skipper of Beserk. Let's say that the name was appropriate.

 

[Stemar]

The thing with berserkers is that they were so off their heads on magic mushrooms or henbane that they were as dangerous to their mates as to to the enemy. I think I'm drawing my own conclusion on the modern version.

 

[Barbaria]

It’s only acceptable for the special selected and political correct, like Monica Kristensen.
But she made a BIG mess, one man dead and a lot of garbage left on the ice, huge lawsuit and bankruptcy in the end.
But it does not matter when you are well connected.

Hats of for Jarle, and his crew may they rest in peace.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It’s only acceptable for the special selected and political correct, like Monica Kristensen.
But she made a BIG mess, one man dead and a lot of garbage left on the ice, huge lawsuit and bankruptcy in the end.
But it does not matter when you are well connected.

Hats of for Jarle, and his crew may they rest in peace.

The expedition I was thinking of took place in 1986-1987, and no-one was killed. She behaved incredibly courageously when she took the decision to turn back despite having enough stores to reach the South Pole, but then being ion the position that she and her companions would have to depend on the US to return. I knew Monika well; as I mentioned, she and i shared and office. I do not recognize your description of her at all - politically correct is one thing she was not! Nor was she particularly well-connected. I'm afraid that crevasse falls are a known hazard; recovery from them is a routine part of field training.

 

[penfold]

That video vividly demonstrates how little respect for themselves or the environment they had; they had no business going anywhere near Antarctica. Wildlife in the wild is not a petting zoo, they are not there for entertainment. Disrespectful boors.

 

[dom]

Unhinged

 

[Stemar]

Wildlife in the wild is not a petting zoo

I can't help thinking that anyone who thinks differently should be encouraged to visit the Arctic, with all those cute polar bears...

Added bonus, it would reduce the number of idiot wokeists

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I can't help thinking that anyone who thinks differently should be encouraged to visit the Arctic, with all those cute polar bears...

Added bonus, it would reduce the number of idiot wokeists

They can't be woke as they are unaware. We need to stop denigrating the definition of woke. You are woke in the context of understanding the fragility of remote eco systems, AntarcticPilot is an expert woke, in YBW, regarding the place being discussed. Beserker are not woke, not even when it comes to viking fancy dress, preferring to dress in a style romanticised by the Victorians.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

... It’s only acceptable for the special selected ...

That is correct. Too many people think they have a right to do something just because they want to without understanding or even considering why controls exist, let alone trying to follow those controls. Those that can comply are special when they do so and deliver their remit without damage or endangering. Those who cant comply are not special, their ordinariness is their weakness, which was tragically exploited by the environment, in this case.

 

[Kelpie]

Added bonus, it would reduce the number of idiot wokeists

I've never fully understood the meaning of 'woke'. I'm starting to think it's just another way of saying 'someone I don't agree with'.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I've never fully understood the meaning of 'woke'. I'm starting to think it's just another way of saying 'someone I don't agree with'.

The OED describe the adjective, Woke as "aware of social and political issues, especially racism". Wiki explains the word, the historical origin is interesting: -

Woke - Wikipedia

The term wide awake, used in 1854 by New York City's nativist paramilitarists,[11] in 1860 became adopted among supporters of Abraham Lincoln.[12][13][14] Lincoln's Republican Party cultivated the Wide Awakes movement primarily to oppose the spread of slavery.[15][16] Historian Jon Grinspan writes that the group's progressive themes, especially appealing among youth, were expressed by iconography of an open eye and "talk of throwing off past stupor".[17]

 

[Stemar]

The OED describe the adjective, Woke as "aware of social and political issues, especially racism"

By that definition, I hope I am Woke.

By idiot wokeists, I was referring to the kind of person who thinks black pudding is racist and believes the plethora of similar ideas across climate change, feminism and pollution, but has no idea of the complexity of the genuine issues.

 

[AndrewfromFal]

By that definition, I hope I am Woke.

By idiot wokeists, I was referring to the kind of person who thinks black pudding is racist and believes the plethora of similar ideas across climate change, feminism and pollution, but has no idea of the complexity of the genuine issues.

I don’t think the people you refer to really exist other than in the mind of writers for specific media outlets who look for click bait and to trivialise issues that impact a lot of people on the planet, as part of their tedious culture war nonsense.

There are of course idiots across any belief spectrum...but that’s par for the course

 

[dom]

By that definition, I hope I am Woke.

By idiot wokeists, I was referring to the kind of person who thinks black pudding is racist and believes the plethora of similar ideas across climate change, feminism and pollution, but has no idea of the complexity of the genuine issues.

Black pudding is racist, white pudding an icon of white privilege, and as for Frederick Gibson Garton and his HP Brown Sauce, probably something worse with a German name like that.

Bound to be another statue that needs pulling down somewhere!

 

[Barbaria]

Yeh, they are wild ones modern adventures free of silicon boobs and bleached
I’ll rather follow the Berserk than Monica Kristensen, or Scott for that matter

Great and real entertainment as well.

 

[Barbaria]

That is correct. Too many people think they have a right to do something just because they want to without understanding or even considering why controls exist, let alone trying to follow those controls. Those that can comply are special when they do so and deliver their remit without damage or endangering. Those who cant comply are not special, their ordinariness is their weakness, which was tragically exploited by the environment, in this case.

Ah, you are just envious, I am too, but I am not bitter and sour on other’s behalf.

 

[Kelpie]

By that definition, I hope I am Woke.

By idiot wokeists, I was referring to the kind of person who thinks black pudding is racist and believes the plethora of similar ideas across climate change, feminism and pollution, but has no idea of the complexity of the genuine issues.

Do you meet many of these people in real life?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Ah, you are just envious, I am too, but I am not bitter and sour on other’s behalf.

I have worked 4 years below the artic circle in Russia’s tundra and Taiga region, all year round; another 4 years in the Bearing Sea both on the seasonal ice and at sea. In a previous career I delivered yachts from UK across the Atlantic, to the Med and western seaboard of Europe, as Skipper and 1st mate. I have also been involved in risk assessment, personal safety and major accident hazard assessment for the last 5 years. I also have direct supervisory experience of work that has involved 4 fatalities, preventable, which I still wonder if I could have done more to prevent. I have refitted a sailing boat and currently developing plans for sailing to northern latitudes, when retirement comes my way.

That’s the context in which I have made my opinion of Berserk. I do have sympathy for him, especially around the death of his friends and the lack of information from the military that talked to the yacht. I do wonder if their actions pressured the yacht to sail. Nevertheless, vessels with permission did safely manage the storm and search. This too makes me wonder if Berserk was ready for the situations they may have faced. We will likely never know. As far as I am concerned, Jarle Andhoy, was not ready for the trials and tribulations that this area presented to him and the article suggests he is using diversionary tactics to transfer blame from himself, as the over all leader.