By the early 20th century, the South Pole was the last remaining prize for explorers around the world. To reach the Pole would bring fame and glory to both explorer and nation. Many attempts were made, but none more famous than the two attempts of 1911 that would be later become known as The Race To The South Pole.
British explorer, Robert Falcon Scott was a naval officer, with some experience of the region following his part in the 1901-1904 Discovery expedition to Antarctica. His goal to reach the South Pole and return first was one fuelled not only by personal ambitions, but also by a strong sense of national pride. It was a matter of great importance to the Royal Navy and the country as a whole.
With financial support from both the Royal Society and Royal Geographical Society, as well as a crew mostly supplied by the Admiralty, there was a considerable amount of backing behind Scott, especially as the expedition had become a race with his Norwegian counterpart.
Amundsen was an already celebrated explorer, who had, several years earlier, discovered the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific. He was also driven by his country, however, as Norway had only recently obtained freedom from its Danish and Swedish masters, there was a gap in the international pecking order between the two.
The preparations for the journey were elaborate. Amundsen had originally planned to be the first to reach the North Pole, with his investors, government and ship all agreeing to this journey as one that would not step on the toes of the British Empire, who were set on the South Pole. However, news arrived to him in 1909 that the North Pole had already been reached by two separate explorers, and so Amundsen turned to the only remaining goal in his eyes, the South Pole.
However, this prompted some difficulties for Amundsen, who kept this decision secret. Not only did he fear that his supporters would leave his side, but also Scott had previously sent Amundsen equipment to compare their opposite destinations, not realising they were in competition. Meanwhile Scott had his own distractions to say the least. He had spent a large amount of time fundraising for this expensive journey, notably travelling around the southern nations of the world to gather the required funds. He also stated that he did not want to sole purpose of the expedition to be a simple journey to the Pole, and believed that it should be a part of a larger scientific mission throughout the Antarctic, which included time spent with an emperor penguin colony. All of this delayed Scott vastly, which would go on to have fatal consequences.
Both teams travelled to the Antarctic and began to set up their depot spots, places where they left food and fuel, in order for them to carry less and also to allow them to restock their supplies on the way back. It is importantly to note that Amundsen carried this process out with significantly more efficiency. His food supplies were up to ten times larger and his depots were placed at more regular intervals than Scott’s. In particular, Scott’s One Ton Depot was laid 37 miles north of its original position due to bad weather.
They gathered their crews of scientists, explorers, naval officers and in Amundsen’s case, a champion skier, and prepared their equipment. This was another point where the two explorers differed greatly. Amundsen relied on previously used techniques to combat the freezing Antarctic, such as lighter clothing and a transport method of entirely dog pulled sleds, with 52 dogs selected for the voyage. Scott used more mixed methods of motor, horse pulled and man pulled sledges, as well as heavier clothing.
When Scott encountered Amundsen’s camp, he was understandably furious, with reports saying he wanted to go over and confront the Norwegian, however, his crew was greeted with kindness and were even offered help with some of their sledges. Despite the fact that the two were racing with the world watching on, both understood the danger of the task ahead of them and feared for not only their own lives, but the lives of each other. Many had attempted to reach the Pole before, such as Shackleton’s failed attempt years before.
Amundsen began the race with a significant advantage. Not only did he depart 11 days earlier, but his base of Framheim was 60 miles closer to the Pole than the British Cape Evans. Their first challenge was the Great Ice Barrier, a shelf of ice that stretched far ahead of them, and it is here that Amundsen began to extend his advantage. A false start, criticised by his subordinates as obsessive behaviour in beating the British, allowed them to leave most of their equipment at their first depot, allowing their sledges to be much lighter. These dog pulled sledges proved to be extremely fast and efficient, whereas Scott began to struggle, running out of fuel and with his ponies, who struggled in the terrain. This left him forced to pull his sledges by hand, a process that was both slow and exhausting.
Bogged down by blizzards and forced to change strategy half way through, Scott lost a lot of time here. Both were faced with climbing a glacier, with Amundsen choosing the Axel-Heiberg Glacier, and Scott choosing the Beardmore Glacier, so that he could use the path set by Shackleton before him. Amundsen had left on the 21st October and arrived at the base of the glacier on the 17th November, Scott while left on the 1st November and arrived only on the 9th December, 22 days behind.
The climb was difficult for both teams, with Amundsen having to find his own route up the glacier, and Scott making the error of sending the dogs back, believing they would not be any help. In the end, the dogs were the deciding factor for Amundsen. Scott also reduced his party to five, sending many men home. This involved some complications as they had planned all their depots for a four man group, but they decided to push on with the extra man.
Both teams made it onto the Polar Plateau within their schedule, with Scott following the same schedule that Shackleton had made in his failed attempt. Amundsen raced through this next obstacle, slaughtering many of his dogs for food and reaching the South Pole, the first man in history on the 14th December 1911, after 56 days. He placed his flag down and left a letter for Scott, before making the return journey to Framheim. In 99 days he had gone to the South Pole and back, travelling 1,600 miles in freezing conditions, and reaching the last point on Earth.
After his journey, he sent telegraphs from Tanzania and had communications with King Haakon of Norway, King George of England and President Roosevelt. In Norway, there were national celebrations, but the reaction in England was quite forced. Newspapers were instructed to not speak badly of the explorer who had beaten their own champion, and the Times only put in one line that criticised Amundsen for not informing Scott earlier. The general consensus from Britain was that Scott had been in favour of co-operation and Amundsen’s victory was a ‘dirty trick’. Many hoped that Scott would return and claim that he had in fact reached the Pole first. Only Shackleton did not join in the attack, calling Amundsen the ‘greatest polar explorer’. Amundsen’s return left a certain amount of mystery. What had happened to Scott?
Well, Scott had in fact reached the Pole 34 days after Amundsen and had been heartbroken as he saw the Norwegian black flag placed there, as well as a letter for the Norwegian king. However, his journey was not over yet; the return journey loomed in front of them. They began their journey confidently, traversing a great distance in the first few days, but soon the difficulties began to arise. Not only were they travelling later on in the year, with the conditions worsening, but they had also spent around 3 months in the Antarctic cold and frostbite was setting in. The worst of the team was Edgar Evans who was completely drained and frostbitten, and dropped dead on the 7th February.
Scott and his men continued on towards their planned meeting spot with the dog teams. To Scott’s dismay, there were no dog teams in site, as the order had never been carried out. Not only this, but they were lacking in fuel and the temperatures were dropping rapidly. The terrain became more difficult, snowing increased and the frostbite gnawed constantly. On the 17th March, the next to go was Titus Oates who sacrificed himself by walking away from the tent, never to be seen again. This gave them a little more speed and soon they were past the original spot of One Ton Depot. If you remember, Scott had laid this depot too far north, and so they made camp within 11 miles of fresh supplies. The next morning they found themselves trapped by a blizzard that continuously raged for days, as the explorers remained trapped in their tents, Scott recording everything in his diary. The last entry on this diary was 29th March 1912, the presumed death of Scott the Explorer.
Back in Britain, the result of Scott’s expedition became evident as time went on, and several attempts to find them were made. Eventually on the 12th November, their frozen bodies were found and the news was spread around the world. There is now a wooden cross on Observation Hill to commemorate the Terra Nova Expedition and the lives of those five explorers. Inscribed into the cross is the famous quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s Ulysses: “To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.”
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Rob Houston (2015) What Happened When in the World, DK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amundsen%27s_South_Pole_expedition
https://www.historyhit.com/scott-vs-amundsen-the-race-to-the-south-pole/
https://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/History/race-to-the-pole-amundsen-scott.php
https://discoveringantarctica.org.uk/science-and-exploration/journey-south/the-race-to-the-pole
https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/earth/race-to-the-south-pole
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/maritime-history/race-south-pole-scott-amundsen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_Expedition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_Amundsen_and_Scott_expeditions