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The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane
-
0:06 - 0:11Roald Amundsen had spent nearly two
years preparing his Arctic expedition. -
0:11 - 0:16He had secured funding from the Norwegian
Crown and hand-picked a trusted crew. -
0:16 - 0:21He’d even received the blessing of famed
explorer Fridtjof Nansen, along with the -
0:21 - 0:26use of his ship Fram, specially
constructed to withstand the ice. -
0:26 - 0:31Now, with the voyage departing, he had
one final announcement for his shipmates: -
0:31 - 0:35They were going to head in the
opposite direction. -
0:35 - 0:40By the early 20th century, nearly every
region of the globe had been visited and -
0:40 - 0:45mapped, with only two key locations
remaining: the North Pole, deep in the -
0:45 - 0:49frozen waters of the Arctic region,
and the South Pole, nestled within a -
0:49 - 0:53recently discovered icy continent
in the vast Antarctic Ocean. -
0:53 - 0:58A veteran of several expeditions,
Amundsen had long dreamed of -
0:58 - 1:03reaching the North Pole.
But in 1909, amidst his preparations, -
1:03 - 1:08news came that American explorers
Frederick Cook and Robert Peary had staked -
1:08 - 1:13rival claims to the achievement.
Instead of abandoning the planned voyage, -
1:13 - 1:19Amundsen decided to alter its course to
what he called “the last great problem.” -
1:19 - 1:23But Amundsen’s crew weren’t
the only ones kept in the dark. -
1:23 - 1:28British naval officer Robert F. Scott had
already visited the Antarctic, and was -
1:28 - 1:34leading his own South Pole expedition.
Now, as Scott’s ship Terra Nova reached -
1:34 - 1:39Melbourne in autumn 1910, he was greeted
with the news that Amundsen -
1:39 - 1:43was also heading south.
Reluctantly, Scott found himself pitted -
1:43 - 1:48against the Norwegian in what the
newspapers called a ‘race to the Pole.’ -
1:48 - 1:52Yet if it was a race,
it was a strange one. -
1:52 - 1:57The expeditions left at different times
from different locations, and they had -
1:57 - 2:01very different plans for the journey.
Amundsen was focused solely -
2:01 - 2:05on reaching the Pole.
Informed by his Arctic exploration, -
2:05 - 2:10he drew on both Inuit and Norwegian
experience, arriving with a small team of -
2:10 - 2:15men and more than a hundred dogs.
His explorers were clothed in sealskin -
2:15 - 2:18and furs, as well as specially
designed skis and boots. -
2:18 - 2:24But Scott's venture was more complicated.
Launching an extensive scientific -
2:24 - 2:28research expedition, he traveled with
over three times more men than Amundsen, -
2:28 - 2:34alongside over 30 dogs, 19 Siberian
ponies, and three state-of-the-art -
2:34 - 2:38motorized sledges.
But these additional tools and bodies -
2:38 - 2:42weighed down the ship as it battled
the storms of the southern ocean. -
2:42 - 2:46And as they finally began to lay supplies,
they found both their ponies and -
2:46 - 2:49motor-sledges ineffective
in the harsh ice and snow. -
2:49 - 2:50In the spring of 1911, after waiting out
the long polar night, both parties began -
2:50 - 2:54the journey south.
Scott’s team traveled over the Beardmore -
Not SyncedGlacier, following the path of Ernest
Shackleton’s earlier attempt -
Not Syncedto reach the pole.
But although this course had been -
Not Synceddocumented, it proved slow and laborious.
Meanwhile, despite an initial false start, -
Not SyncedAmundsen’s five-man team made good time
using a previously uncharted route through -
Not Syncedthe same Transantarctic Mountains.
They stayed ahead of Scott’s team, -
Not Syncedand on December 14, arrived first
at their desolate destination. -
Not SyncedTo avoid the ambiguity that surrounded
Cook’s and Peary’s North Pole claims, -
Not SyncedAmundsen’s team traversed the area in
a grid to make sure they -
Not Syncedcovered the Pole’s location.
Along with flags and a tent marker, -
Not Syncedthey left a letter for Scott, which would
not be found until over a month later. -
Not SyncedBut when Scott’s party finally reached
the pole, losing the ‘race’ was -
Not Syncedthe least of their problems.
On the way back towards camp, two of -
Not Syncedthe five men succumbed to frostbite,
starvation, and exhaustion. -
Not SyncedThe remaining explorers hoped for a
prearranged rendezvous with a team sent -
Not Syncedmishaps, misjudgements and
miscommunications, their rescue -
Not Syncednever arrived.
Their remains, along with Scott’s diary, -
Not Syncedwould not be found until spring.
Today, scientists from various countries -
Not Syncedlive and work at Antarctic
research stations. -
Not SyncedBut the journeys of these early
explorers are not forgotten. -
Not SyncedDespite their divergent fates,
they are forever joined in history, -
Not Syncedand in the name of the research
base that marks the South Pole.
- Title:
- The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane
- Speaker:
- Elizabeth Leane
- Description:
-
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:30
Kayla Wolf edited English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane | ||
Kayla Wolf edited English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane | ||
Kayla Wolf edited English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane | ||
Kayla Wolf edited English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane | ||
Kayla Wolf approved English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane | ||
Kayla Wolf accepted English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane | ||
Kayla Wolf edited English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane | ||
Olivia Treptow edited English subtitles for The dangerous and daring race for the South Pole - Elizabeth Leane |
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