-
Roald Amundsen had spent nearly two
years preparing his Arctic expedition.
-
He had secured funding from the Norwegian
Crown and hand-picked a trusted crew.
-
He’d even received the blessing of famed
explorer Fridtjof Nansen, along with the
-
use of his ship Fram, specially
constructed to withstand the ice.
-
Now, with the voyage departing, he had
one final announcement for his shipmates:
-
They were going to head in the
opposite direction.
-
By the early 20th century, nearly every
region of the globe had been visited and
-
mapped, with only two key locations
remaining: the North Pole, deep in the
-
frozen waters of the Arctic region,
and the South Pole, nestled within a
-
recently discovered icy continent
in the vast Antarctic Ocean.
-
A veteran of several expeditions,
Amundsen had long dreamed of
-
reaching the North Pole.
But in 1909, amidst his preparations,
-
news came that American explorers
Frederick Cook and Robert Peary had staked
-
rival claims to the achievement.
Instead of abandoning the planned voyage,
-
Amundsen decided to alter its course to
what he called “the last great problem.”
-
But Amundsen’s crew weren’t
the only ones kept in the dark.
-
British naval officer Robert F. Scott had
already visited the Antarctic, and was
-
leading his own South Pole expedition.
Now, as Scott’s ship Terra Nova reached
-
Melbourne in autumn 1910, he was greeted
with the news that Amundsen
-
was also heading south.
Reluctantly, Scott found himself pitted
-
against the Norwegian in what the
newspapers called a ‘race to the Pole.’
-
Yet if it was a race,
it was a strange one.
-
The expeditions left at different times
from different locations, and they had
-
very different plans for the journey.
Amundsen was focused solely
-
on reaching the Pole.
Informed by his Arctic exploration,
-
he drew on both Inuit and Norwegian
experience, arriving with a small team of
-
men and more than a hundred dogs.
His explorers were clothed in sealskin
-
and furs, as well as specially
designed skis and boots.
-
But Scott's venture was more complicated.
Launching an extensive scientific
-
research expedition, he traveled with
over three times more men than Amundsen,
-
alongside over 30 dogs, 19 Siberian
ponies, and three state-of-the-art
-
motorized sledges.
But these additional tools and bodies
-
weighed down the ship as it battled
the storms of the southern ocean.
-
And as they finally began to lay supplies,
they found both their ponies and
-
motor-sledges ineffective
in the harsh ice and snow.
-
In the spring of 1911, after waiting out
the long polar night, both parties began
-
the journey south.
Scott’s team traveled over the Beardmore
-
Not Synced
Glacier, following the path of Ernest
Shackleton’s earlier attempt
-
Not Synced
to reach the pole.
But although this course had been
-
Not Synced
documented, it proved slow and laborious.
Meanwhile, despite an initial false start,
-
Not Synced
Amundsen’s five-man team made good time
using a previously uncharted route through
-
Not Synced
the same Transantarctic Mountains.
They stayed ahead of Scott’s team,
-
Not Synced
and on December 14, arrived first
at their desolate destination.
-
Not Synced
To avoid the ambiguity that surrounded
Cook’s and Peary’s North Pole claims,
-
Not Synced
Amundsen’s team traversed the area in
a grid to make sure they
-
Not Synced
Along with flags and a tent marker,
they left a letter for Scott, which would
-
Not Synced
not be found until over a month later.
But when Scott’s party finally reached
-
Not Synced
the pole, losing the ‘race’ was
the least of their problems.
-
Not Synced
On the way back towards camp, two of
the five men succumbed to frostbite,
-
Not Synced
starvation, and exhaustion.
The remaining explorers hoped for a
-
Not Synced
prearranged rendezvous with a team sent
from their base, but due to a series of
-
Not Synced
mishaps, misjudgements and
miscommunications, their rescue
-
Not Synced
never arrived.
Their remains, along with Scott’s diary,
-
Not Synced
would not be found until spring.
Today, scientists from various countries
-
Not Synced
live and work at Antarctic
research stations.
-
Not Synced
But the journeys of these early
explorers are not forgotten.
-
Not Synced
Despite their divergent fates,
they are forever joined in history,
-
Not Synced
and in the name of the research
base that marks the South Pole.