In 1915, the ship of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his 28 men became trapped in ice during his famous Antarctic expedition.

What happened next was the inspiration for a new expedition by a team from Bristol.

Following the loss of his ship which was crushed by ice, Shackleton led his team to Elephant Island in three small boats. Then, he and a crew of five crossed 800 miles to King Haakon Bay on the south coast of South Georgia.

Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean next had to cross "high peaks, impassable cliffs, steep snow slopes and sharply descending glaciers with hidden ravines" up to 4,500ft, to reach the whaling station at Stromness – an extraordinary feat never previously accomplished.

Shackleton then set about rescuing his crew and not a single life was lost from the original expedition party.

The Beyond Endurance team, named after Shackleton's stricken ship the Endurance, will endeavour to follow Shackleton's route.

For Stephen Tetlow, chief executive of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, the expedition is set to be a journey of a lifetime.

"We will be able to experience something of what Shackleton went through," said the 54-year-old, who spent 25 years in the Army.

Helpfully, this included three winters in northern Norway leading expeditions and training in the Arctic.

"There is also the unique wildlife and the environment of South Georgia, which is considered one of least- visited places on Earth," he continued.

"When I've been in the Arctic Circle it can be quiet and then horrendously noisy.

"You get a sense of your own mortality and how small we are in the great scheme of things.

"You rely totally on the other members of your team. That sense of teamwork and fellowship is something else."

One of the seven-strong team is Bath mountaineer Stephen Venables, the first Briton to climb Everest with no supplementary oxygen.

Mr Venables' career has taken him through the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to Tibet, making "first ascents" of many previously unknown mountains.

His adventures have also taken him to the Rockies, the Andes, South Georgia itself, East Africa, South Africa and the Alps, where he has climbed and skied for more than 40 years.

The Beyond Endurance expedition will sail the 750 miles from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia across the notoriously wild Southern Ocean in three to four days.

The team will spend 18 days on the island, including three days retracing Shackleton's journey.

The Combined Forces Expedition of 1964 was the first to try to retrace the route. The Beyond Endurance team will seek to follow this route described by Shackleton with minor deviations.

Since global warming some of the flat terrain of 1916 is now marked with treacherous crevasses and so the going will be slower.

The 2008 expedition intends to make the crossing in three days, but will be equipped for longer, should the weather close in

When they left England in 1914, Shackleton and his team took a huge supply of chocolate.

At the time of Shackleton's expedition, Carsons chocolates were made at the former Elizabeth Shaw chocolate factory in Greenbank.

In an innovative link with the past, original Carsons moulds have been used to make a small amount of chocolate for the Beyond Endurance team.

Malachy McReynolds is the executive chairman of Elizabeth Shaw, the Pucklechurch firm that is one of the sponsors of Beyond Endurance.

He presented the chocolates to Mr Tetlow and Mr Venables as they were taking part in mountaineering practice at the Avon Gorge.

He explained: "It seemed like a fun way to celebrate our partnership by providing the team with Carsons chocolate.

"It's as original as we can make it. We have had the moulds for many years.

"It's a wonderful link with Bristol's manufacturing history."