Mark Reed is a Scottish mountain guide and polar expedition leader who has spent the past fifteen years building a life and career in the outdoors, working between the Scottish Highlands and Antarctica.
While working in Antarctica with Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions, Mark met Kelly Tyler-Lewis, author of *The Lost Men*. Her account of Shackleton’s forgotten support team, the Ross Sea Party, introduced him to what he believes is one of history’s greatest—and least recognised—stories of courage, sacrifice and interdependence.
Stranded, starving and injured, the men continued laying supply depots for Shackleton’s planned crossing of Antarctica because they believed that other lives depended upon them. Shackleton never arrived, and their final depot at Mount Hope was never collected.
Mark has since become determined to bring their story to a new generation. Through *The Last Cache*, he is bringing together an international team to complete the journey Shackleton should have made but never did: travelling to the South Pole before continuing to Mount Hope as a pilgrimage to the men who gave everything in support of others.
For Mark, their story is not simply about Antarctic history. It is a reminder that no great journey is achieved alone—and that challenges such as climate change cannot be met through individual ambition. They require trust, shared purpose and the willingness to act for people, places and species we may never know.