The dangerous race for the South Pole – Elizabeth Leane

Roald Amundsen had spent nearly two years preparing for his Arctic expedition. He secured funding from the Norwegian Crown and selected a trusted crew. He even received the endorsement of the renowned explorer Fridtjof Nansen, along with the use of his ship, Fram, which was specially constructed to withstand ice. As the voyage was about to depart, Amundsen made a final announcement to his shipmates: they would be heading 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 Arctic waters, and the South Pole, located 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. However, in 1909, amidst his preparations, news arrived that American explorers Frederick Cook and Robert Peary had made rival claims to this achievement. Rather than abandon his planned voyage, Amundsen chose to change its course to what he referred to as “the last great problem.”

Amundsen’s crew were not the only ones kept in the dark. British naval officer Robert F. Scott had already visited Antarctica and was leading his own South Pole expedition. When Scott’s ship, Terra Nova, reached Melbourne in 1910, he learned that Amundsen was also heading south. Reluctantly, Scott found himself in competition with the Norwegian in what the newspapers dubbed a ‘race to the Pole.’ However, it was an unusual race, as the expeditions departed at different times from different locations and had very different plans for the journey.

Amundsen focused solely on reaching the Pole. Drawing on his Arctic exploration experience, he relied on both Inuit and Norwegian knowledge, arriving with a small team and over a hundred dogs. His explorers were equipped with sealskin and furs, as well as specially designed skis and boots. In contrast, Scott’s expedition was more complex. Launching an extensive scientific research mission, he traveled with over three times as many men as Amundsen, along with more than 30 dogs, 19 Siberian ponies, and three state-of-the-art motorized sledges. However, these additional resources weighed down the ship as it faced the storms of the Southern Ocean. When they finally began to lay supplies, they found their ponies and motor sledges ineffective in the harsh ice and snow.

In the spring of 1911, after enduring the long polar night, both parties began their journey south. Scott’s team traversed the Beardmore Glacier, following the path of Ernest Shackleton’s earlier attempt to reach the Pole. Although this route had been documented, it proved slow and laborious. Meanwhile, despite an initial false start, Amundsen’s five-man team made good progress using a previously uncharted route through the Transantarctic Mountains. They stayed ahead of Scott’s team and, on December 14, arrived first at their desolate destination.

To avoid the ambiguity surrounding Cook and Peary’s North Pole claims, Amundsen’s team traversed the area in a grid to ensure they covered the Pole’s location. Along with flags and a tent marker, they left a letter for Scott, which would not be found until over a month later. However, when Scott’s party finally reached the Pole, losing the ‘race’ was the least of their problems. On the return journey to their camp, two of the five men succumbed to frostbite, starvation, and exhaustion. The remaining explorers hoped for a prearranged rendezvous with a team sent from their base, but due to a series of mishaps, misjudgments, and miscommunications, their rescue never arrived. Their remains, along with Scott’s diary, would not be discovered until spring.

Today, scientists from various countries live and work at Antarctic research stations. The journeys of these early explorers are not forgotten. Despite their divergent fates, they are forever linked in history and in the name of the research base that marks the South Pole.