Roald Amundsen: First to Reach the South Pole

Dec 26, 2011
Brian Cross

Roald Amundsen - National Library of Congress

Roald Amundsen's better equipped Norwegian team outdid the British expedition led by Robert Scott, and so were first to the southernmost point on Earth.

One hundred years ago this southern summer, polar exploration reached a climax when both Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen went as far south as it is possible to go. For Scott’s British expedition to Antarctica, scientific exploration and discovery was the main goal. The South Pole, officially at least, was just one of many objectives. Secretive and single-minded Amundsen had a different agenda. Science was of no interest to the Norwegian – he was driven by adventure and fame.

Circumstances would conspire to pitch the two men in a race to the pole. Both would get there, but only one would survive the return journey.

Polar Exploration Becomes a Contest

Scott’s expedition was one more great adventure of Empire - British interests considered it their right to plant their flag at the pole first. By comparison Amundsen made his preparations in secret, and they involved a degree of subterfuge. Having secured support for a supposed northern expedition, the Norwegian would keep his options open. Indeed his crew, expecting to sail round Cape Horn and turn north to the Arctic, only learned of their true destination while en route at Madeira.

Both expeditions departed Europe in June 1910, and unbeknown to each other both arrived in the Ross Sea the following January. So why did Scott and his team, suffering terribly from the cold and the effects of hunger, arrive at the South Pole a whole month after the Norwegians? Why, another two months on, when the British were dying on the ice, would Amundsen have long since returned to his ship and be on his way homeward?

Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott have been recognised as equally strong and brave men. But while naval officer Scott’s frame of reference was the tradition, discipline and self-belief of Edwardian England, Amundsen was an independent thinker. He was a hands-on adventurer who by the time of his greatest achievement had successfully explored both polar regions. Scott too had been on the ice, and this was his second trip to Antarctica. But tragically he relied not on practical assessment of what worked best in the conditions, but on conventional British thinking about exploration in general.

Amundsen's Faith in Traditional Methods Wins Out

Growing up in Norway, Amundsen had used skis since childhood and was accustomed to the Greenland dogs that would be so critical to his success. Scott meanwhile refused to use skis as ‘un-British’, and considered dogs inferior to new technology and horsepower. Ultimately Amundsen was calculating, even ruthless, in reaching his goal. Scott, when under pressure in his fight for success, was inclined to make decisions as he went along, causing doubt and confusion amongst his support team.

In January 1911, with Scott’s Terra Nova at anchor off Cape Evans, Amundsen’s Fram was on the other side of the Ross Sea in the Bay of Whales. James Clark Ross had discovered this large indent in the ice shelf in 1841, and 70 years later it still existed. Accepting the risks of sailing deep into the ice, Amundsen put his ship 150 km closer to the pole than Terra Nova. More than that, from here the Norwegians could skirt the treacherous glacier fields that lay directly between Scott and his goal.

Amundsen knew the value of fur clothing for protection in the polar conditions, and he knew the best source of power for heavy work on the ice. His teams of dogs would be worked in ever decreasing numbers, first pulling equipment-laden sleds to depots carefully placed along the way, then taking him and his companions on to the Pole and swiftly back to base.

Scott’s expedition was kitted out in Royal Navy issue extreme weather clothing, waterproof but not nearly as effective in keeping out the cold. The British put their faith in mechanical transport backed by a team of Shetland ponies. Scott had some dogs, but they were of limited use in combination with the much slower ponies. The motorised sledges would quickly fail the expedition, while the harsh Antarctic conditions were cruel on the ponies. When they died, Scott’s men had to pull the sleds themselves.

The expeditions set up their depots in the late summer of 1911, each unknowing of the other’s progress. Beset by bad weather, Scott’s party took four weeks to reach 79 degrees south. There, short of the intended goal but unable to go on, they were forced to lay their final depot, named One Ton Camp. Amundsen by contrast had taken just five days to get to 80 degrees south. His depot stood a full two degrees closer to the pole, still 900 kilometres away. With that, the expeditions returned to their respective Ross Sea bases to wait out the winter before making the final push.

The Norwegian Flag is Raised at the South Pole

Amundsen left base on 8 September 1911. Fourteen weeks later he was raising the Norwegian flag at the South Pole. Scott didn’t finally leave Cape Evans until late October, and was still struggling across the Beardmore Glacier as Amundsen turned for home. Scott and his companions eventually reached the pole on 17 January 1912, to discover the devastating evidence that Amundsen had been there before.

Cold, hungry and exhausted after weeks of slow progress, Scott and his men set off on the return to One Ton Camp, where help would be at hand. On 7 March Amundsen came ashore at Hobart to break the news of his accomplishment. That was 22 days before Scott’s final diary entry, written as he lay dying, just 20 kilometres short of camp.