In February of 2010, restoration specialists were trying to preserve the hut used by Ernest

Shackleton and his team during their Nimrod expedition a century ago, when they found

something beneath the floorboards.

Keep in mind, Shackleton is something of legend. Born in Ireland in 1874, raised in London

and exploring Arctic regions by his 25th birthday, this man was about as tough as they come.

He was a naval officer, a real life explorer, a best-selling author, and even had the honor

of being knighted by a king. I can't think of anyone more interesting to invite to a party.

When restoration began on the Nimrod Base Camp Hut in 2010, there was a sense of awe. It

was the structure that had once played host to impossible dreams and a spirit that few

today are willing to embrace. That little hut was a refuge against a hostile environment.

And it was also, apparently, the hiding place for a treasure buried by Shackleton himself.

It wasn't gold or silver, though. It wasn't a relic or some piece of history. No, beneath

those bare floorboards, restorationists found something else. Three cases of Scottish whiskey.

And this whiskey, trapped in the permafrost for a century, was insanely valuable. Not

just because of its age, and not just because of the opportunity it offered to explore a rare

lost blend of scotch. This whiskey was valuable, you see, because it offered the chance to

taste the liquid that fueled the legend. We're obsessed with those who venture out into

the wild. We resonate with those who risk their lives. And while the successful ones often

live on as legends in their own right, it's the ones that fail that often stick with

us the longest. For some people, nothing is more frightening than when the natural world

reaches out and crushes our best laid plans. When Sir John Franklin set sail from England

in 1845, it was his fourth expedition into the Arctic Circle. For years, nations had been

...