Scott vs Amundsen: The Race to The South Pole
Niall Groome takes a closer look at the fateful race between Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen as they battled to be the first to reach the South Pole.
By the dawn of the 20th century, almost every region of the Earth had been explored, with two exceptions – the North Pole, on the frozen waters of the Arctic Ocean, and the South Pole at the heart of Antarctica. These two regions became the pinnacle of exploration at the time, with their respective poles representing the crown jewels. Expeditions were not undertaken in search of lands to settle or resources to exploit, but more for the pursuit of discovery, along with fame and glory, of course. This era, heralded as the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration, was headlined by a swashbuckling race to the South Pole between two heavyweight explorers – Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen.
The South Pole sits in the heart of the vast, formidable continent of Antarctica, the coldest, driest, iciest, windiest, and highest continent on Earth. It set a grueling stage for those courageous enough to visit. The existence of Antarctica was not even confirmed until first sighted in 1820 and it was not until 1895 that Henryk Bull became the first person to set foot on the mystic land. Over the next few decades, voyages surveyed the edges of the continent, steadily creeping into the interior.
Scott, a British Navy officer, was at the forefront of British Antarctic exploration. He led the first British Antarctic expedition, establishing a base on the Ross Ice Sheet in 1901- 1904. While his previous expedition had been largely motivated by money and career advancement, his second voyage would be driven by the desire to reach the South Pole. Scott saw former crewmate Ernest Shackleton’s attempt fall just short in 1908 from a hastily planned campaign, proving that success was achievable with proper planning. Scott, being territorial over Antarctic operations, knew that he needed to reach the South Pole soon or somebody else would.
Amundsen was from a maritime family on the outskirts of Oslo, the capital of Norway. Although his mother wanted him to have a career as a doctor, Amundsen was drawn to the Arctic seas by tales of adventure from his upbringing. He was part of a Belgian expedition to Antarctica, but his sights were firmly set on being the first man to reach the North Pole. After leading the first traverse of the Northwest Passage, Amundsen announced his North Pole intentions in 1908. However, in September 1909, less than a week apart, American explorers Robert Peary and Frederick Cook both claimed to have reached the North Pole on separate expeditions, a tale filled with its own drama, controversy, and rivalry. Amundsen’s highest ambition was seemingly gone.
Between 1909-1911, Amundsen continued planning his polar voyage, but not to the pole that was expected. His own crew did not find out that they were headed to Antarctica until they had already reached Madeira. Scott was only blindsided by the news while in New Zealand, his final stop before Antarctica. Amid hype from the press, Scott was adamant that he would not be drawn into a race and would undertake his expedition as planned. One would imagine that he felt quite differently in private. Upon reaching their respective Antarctic basecamps, the crews met invertedly whilst some of Scott’s crew surveyed the coast. "There is no doubt that Amundsen’s plan is a very serious menace to ours”, Scott wrote. There was no denying now, that the race was on.
Scott led a massive 65-man expedition, with many scientific projects running alongside his attempt on the South Pole. Amundsen on the other hand, was focused entirely on the South Pole and had a smaller crew built for the task, including a champion skier as his frontrunner. Both camps were established on the Ross Ice Shelf, with Amundsen starting slightly closer to the pole.
The two crew’s approaches somewhat mirrored their cultures. Amundsen, relied on skis and dogs for transport, both of which were commonplace in Norway. They also based their clothing and diets on that of Inuit tribes Amundsen had encountered along the Northwest Passage. Scott on the other hand, opted for specially designed clothing, with cutting-edge motorised sledges and ponies to transport cargo. In true fashion, one of those three sledges was lost immediately while unloading the ship.
The setup of Scott’s expedition did not go well as their modes of transport quickly backfired. As a result, supply depots were not set up in their intended positions, with One Ton Depot significantly set up 48 km short of its planned location to spare the struggling ponies. Both crews set off a week apart in October 1911, although Amundsen, eager to get ahead, had suffered a near-catastrophic false start a month earlier. Scott sent two of his crew ahead carrying supplies on sledges, which promptly failed after just 80 km, leaving the crew to lug their cargo by hand for the rest of the journey.
Fully utilising dogs and skis, Amundsen’s crew made quick work of the journey and reached the South Pole on 14th December 1911, setting up a tent with a flag atop, named Polheim. They made it back to camp in just 99 days, completing the 3440 km round trip, and promptly set sail for Tasmania. Amundsen was still fearful that Scott could get back to civilisation first and steal his achievement.
The mismatch between the approaches was clear as Scott’s crew continued to slog through the snow and ice on foot, dragging their supplies by hand. Their food supplies also lacked sufficient nutrients needed to sustain them. They reached the South Pole on 17th January 1912, 34 days after Amundsen. One can only imagine the crushing disappointment of seeing Polheim gradually becoming visible in the distance through the icy mist. “All daydreams must go; it will be a wearisome return” wrote a dejected Scott.
Understandably devastated, they made their way back to camp and for the first three weeks, made good progress. Exhaustion, frostbite, illness, and injury soon befell them though, with two of the five-man crew perishing along the way. The 29th March marked Scott’s last journal entry as temperatures plummeted below -40˚C and blizzards howled, grounding the remaining three men in their tent. They froze just 18 km from One Ton Depot.
As the tragic news reached the world, Scott was branded a national icon thanks in large part to his literary prowess and colourful chronicles that he kept writing until he could no longer. Amundsen, although not cast as a villain as such, became overshadowed by Scott’s tragic hero status. He also had to endure accusations about the questionable way he turned the expeditions into a race.
Despite the tragic fate of the South Pole team, Scott’s Terra Nova voyage was undoubtedly a scientific success. Revolutionary geographical data were recorded, and a treasure trove of flora, fauna and fossils were collected, many of which were new to science. Included were a set of plant fossils found in Scott’s recovered cargo, which the team had collected on their return journey. The fossils provided groundbreaking evidence that shaped our understanding of Earth’s geological history.