The Race to the South Pole
Expedition Number One:
Leader: Roald AmundsenExpedition Name: Amundsen’s South Pole ExpeditionReached on 14 December, 1911Expedition Number Two:
Leader: Robert Falcon ScottExpedition Name: Terra Nova ExpeditionReached on 17 January, 1912Amundsen’s South Pole expedition (1910-1912)
###Key people: (Total 19)
Timeline:
Had planned for a North Pole expeditionObtained Fridtjof Nansen’s polar exploration ship, FramPlan disrupted in 1909 when rival explorers, Frederick Cook and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the North PoleHe changed his focus to South PoleUncertain whether he would get the support, he kept the plan to himself up to a month after leaving for the expeditionJune 1910 - Set out for the expedition with the crew thinking they are embarking on an Arctic driftReveals the plan to go to Antarctica when Fram left the last port MadeiraTelegrams Scott of his intentions to travel southFramheim, the Antarctic Base, at Bay of Whales on the Great Ice BarrierNear disaster false start in August - September (8 September)Proper start in 19 October, 1911Use of sledge dogs for trouble free travelDiscovery of Axel Heiberg Glacier, first exploration of King Edward VII LandReached South Pole on 15 December, 1911Reached back at Farheim on 25 January, 1912Total 52 sledge dogs, 11 survived the expeditionThe expedition took 99 days and 3,440 km journeyTerra Nova Expedition (1910-1913)
Key People (Total 65)
Edgar Evans, second-in-commandHarry Pennell, navigatorGeorge Murray Levick, skiing expertEdward L Atkinson, skiing expertHenry Robertson Bowers*Lawrence Oates, an army captain*Edgar Evans, Antarctic veteran*Edward Wilson, chief scientist*George Simpson, meteorologistHerbert Ponting, photographerTimeline:
15 June, 1910 - Terra Nova sailed from Cardiff, WalesScott tied up with expedition business, joined Terra Nova in South Africa after catching a faster passenger linerLeaves the ship in Melbourne for further business, receives letter from AmundsenRejoined the ship in New Zealand with additional suppliesMet with heavy storms and loss of supplies in the SeaJanuary 1911 - Built a base at Cape Evans (named after Scott’s second-in-command)Campbell’s Eastern party to explore King Edward VII Land, meets Amundsen’s partyJanuary 1911 - Start of Depot laying with the One Ton Depay laid 48 kilometers short of its intended location1911 winter - Hut was separated using packing cases for “officers” and “men”09 February, 1911 - Campbell’s party became the Northern party and set up camp at Robertson Bay (They could not carry out experiments as per the plan and returned to base came in September 1912)Wester Parties - Conducted two geological expeditionsJourney to Cape Crozier in the winter to secure eggs of emperor penguin and to experiment with food rations and equipment before the polar journey13 September, 1911 - South polar journey plans revealed24 October, 1911 - The Motor Party left the base01 November, 1911 - Scott and his party left the base21 November, 1911 - Scott’s party caught up with the Motor party03 January, 1912 - Scott chose his party of five (instead of four) - Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Edgar Evans09 January, 1912 - Passed Shackleton’s furthest point16 January, 1912 - Saw Amundsen’s black flag17 January, 1912 - Reached South Pole (Scott’s entry - “The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected … Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority. Well, it is something to have got here”)18 January, 1912 - Finds Amundsen’s tent, supplies and letter stating they had reached on 16 December, 1911Returning homewards - Edgar Evans suffering and Lawrence Oates severe frostbite17 February, 1912 - Edgar Evans dies due to head injuries, frostbite and a hand injury which failed to healReached the meet point, but could not find the dog teams, temperature dropped sharply, and the fuel supplies were meagreLow temperature and radiation caused poor surface to pull the sledge, lack of wind made the temperatures even worse, and Oates frostbite reduced the daily average of distance covered to three to five miles down from fifteen10 March, 1912 - It became evident that the dog teams where not comingOates sacrifices himself by walking out of his tent towards his death. Last words, “I am just going outside and may be some time.”20 March, 1912 - Reached 11 miles near to the One Ton Depot but a blizzard stopped them in their tracks29 March, 1912 - Presumed date of their death and Scott’s last entry - “Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. I do not think we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more. R. Scott. Last entry. For God’s sake look after our people.”29 October 1912 - Search party sent to find Scott12 November 1912 - The tent containing Scott, Wilson, and Bowers found 11 miles south of One Ton Depot10 February, 1913 - Edward Atkinson and Lieutenant Harry Pennell reached the ports of New Zealand and relayed a message about the fate of Scott’s party.Aftermath
Scott hailed a tragic hero which overshadowed Amundsen’s achievementsCritics questioned the leadership abilities of ScottThe fate of the group said to be the result of many “ifs” with the weather playing the major partNotes
Asterisk (*) next to names means those who reached the South PoleAmundsen received help at Argentina from Peter “Don Pedro” Christophersen, a Norwegian expatriate whose brother was Norway’s Minister in Buenos AiresThe Musafir Stories Episode mentionedin the beginning: TMS Specials - Conquering Mt. Everest with Satyarup Siddhanta
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