the first serious exploration of the antarctic land was the nimrod expedition led by ernest shackleton in 1907–09. they were the first to climb mount erebus and to reach the south magnetic pole. shackleton himself and three other members of his expedition made several firsts in december 1908 – february 1909. they were the first humans to cross the ross ice shelf, and the transantarctic mountain range (via the beardmore glacier). they were the first to set foot on the south polar plateau.