The Race to the South Pole
Expedition Number One:
Leader: Roald Amundsen
Expedition Name: Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition
Reached on 14 December, 1911Expedition Number Two:
Leader: Robert Falcon Scott
Expedition Name: Terra Nova Expedition
Reached on 17 January, 1912Amundsen’s South Pole expedition (1910-1912)
###Key people: (Total 19)
Thorvald Nilsen, a navigator who would be second-in-command
Hjalmar Fredrik Gjertsen, expedition doctor
Kristian Prestrud, a naval officer
Oscar Wisting, a naval gunner/amateur veterinarian*
Olav Bjaaland, a champion skier who was a skilled carpenter and ski-maker*
Helmer Hanssen, a skilled dog driver*
Sverre Hassel, a skilled dog driver*
Adolf Lindstrøm, the cookTimeline:
Had planned for a North Pole expedition
Obtained Fridtjof Nansen’s polar exploration ship, Fram
Plan disrupted in 1909 when rival explorers, Frederick Cook and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the North Pole
He changed his focus to South Pole
Uncertain whether he would get the support, he kept the plan to himself up to a month after leaving for the expedition
June 1910 - Set out for the expedition with the crew thinking they are embarking on an Arctic drift
Reveals the plan to go to Antarctica when Fram left the last port Madeira
Telegrams Scott of his intentions to travel south
Framheim, the Antarctic Base, at Bay of Whales on the Great Ice Barrier
Near disaster false start in August - September (8 September)
Proper start in 19 October, 1911
Use of sledge dogs for trouble free travel
Discovery of Axel Heiberg Glacier, first exploration of King Edward VII Land
Reached South Pole on 15 December, 1911
Reached back at Farheim on 25 January, 1912
Total 52 sledge dogs, 11 survived the expedition
The expedition took 99 days and 3,440 km journeyTerra Nova Expedition (1910-1913)
Key People (Total 65)
Edgar Evans, second-in-command
Harry Pennell, navigator
George Murray Levick, skiing expert
Edward L Atkinson, skiing expert
Henry Robertson Bowers*
Lawrence Oates, an army captain*
Edgar Evans, Antarctic veteran*
Edward Wilson, chief scientist*
George Simpson, meteorologist
Herbert Ponting, photographerTimeline:
15 June, 1910 - Terra Nova sailed from Cardiff, Wales
Scott tied up with expedition business, joined Terra Nova in South Africa after catching a faster passenger liner
Leaves the ship in Melbourne for further business, receives letter from Amundsen
Rejoined the ship in New Zealand with additional supplies
Met with heavy storms and loss of supplies in the Sea
January 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 party
January 1911 - Start of Depot laying with the One Ton Depay laid 48 kilometers short of its intended location
1911 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 expeditions
Journey to Cape Crozier in the winter to secure eggs of emperor penguin and to experiment with food rations and equipment before the polar journey
13 September, 1911 - South polar journey plans revealed
24 October, 1911 - The Motor Party left the base
01 November, 1911 - Scott and his party left the base
21 November, 1911 - Scott’s party caught up with the Motor party
03 January, 1912 - Scott chose his party of five (instead of four) - Scott, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Edgar Evans
09 January, 1912 - Passed Shackleton’s furthest point
16 January, 1912 - Saw Amundsen’s black flag
17 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, 1911
Returning homewards - Edgar Evans suffering and Lawrence Oates severe frostbite
17 February, 1912 - Edgar Evans dies due to head injuries, frostbite and a hand injury which failed to heal
Reached the meet point, but could not find the dog teams, temperature dropped sharply, and the fuel supplies were meagre
Low 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 fifteen
10 March, 1912 - It became evident that the dog teams where not coming
Oates 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 tracks
29 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 Scott
12 November 1912 - The tent containing Scott, Wilson, and Bowers found 11 miles south of One Ton Depot
10 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 achievements
Critics questioned the leadership abilities of Scott
The 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 Pole
Amundsen received help at Argentina from Peter “Don Pedro” Christophersen, a Norwegian expatriate whose brother was Norway’s Minister in Buenos Aires
The Musafir Stories Episode mentionedin the beginning: TMS Specials - Conquering Mt. Everest with Satyarup Siddhanta