December 14 - Race to the South Pole

This Day in History: 14 December 2019

 

14 December 1911

 

108 years ago, today, Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, became the first person to reach the South Pole, and thus beat his British rival, Robert Falcon Scott. Roald was one of the greatest figures in polar exploration, and in 1897, he was aboard the Belgian expedition that was the first ever to visit the Antarctic in Winter. 6 years later, he guided theGjöa through the Northwest Passage, and around the Canadian coast. This was the first time the passage had been navigated, and the journey was nothing but difficult and potentially dangerous. This made Roald aspire to become the first man to reach the North Pole, but his dream was crushed in 1909 when he found that American, Robert Peary, had beaten him to it.

 

In response to this, Roald decided to, instead, aim for Antarctica, with the intention of finding the South Pole, which his rival, Robert F. Scott was also trying to achieve. In early 1911, Roald set sail into Antarctica's Bay of Whales, and set up base camp 60 miles closer to the pole than Scott, giving him a slight head start. In October, both men set off from here, and the race begun, with Roald using sleigh dogs, and Scott operating by Siberian motor sledges, ponies and dogs. On this day, Roald's expedition won the race to the pole, and in late January, he returned back to base. The expedition went a lot poorer for Scott, as his motor sleds broke, his ponies had to be shot and the dogs had to be sent back. He eventually reached the South Pole by January 18, 1912, and his frozen body was found later that year.

 

As well as this, although not achieving his dream of being the first person to reach the North Pole, he was the first to fly over it, in a dirigible. Sadly, Roald disappeared on 18 June 1928 while flying on a rescue mission in the Artic, attempting to find members from the new airship Italia. It is believed his plane crashed in a fog in the Barents Sea, but the wreckage of the plane was never found.

 

Want to find out more on Roald Amundsen and his historic achievements? Visithttps://www.south-pole.com/p0000101.htm for more details.