The Race to the South Pole

Jun 1910 – Feb 191346 items

antarcticaice
Roald Amundsen takes a sight of the Sun while Helmer Hanssen tends the artificial horizon at the South Pole, 14–17 December 1911. Photographer unknown; National Library of Norway. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Roald Amundsen takes a sight of the Sun while Helmer Hanssen tends the artificial horizon at the South Pole, 14–17 December 1911. Photographer unknown; National Library of Norway. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Two routes to 90° South, 1910–1913

In the southern summer of 1911–12 two expeditions set out for the South Pole from opposite corners of the Ross Ice Shelf. Roald Amundsen’s five Norwegians, on skis behind dogs, reached it on 14 December 1911 and were all home at their hut six weeks later. Robert Falcon Scott’s five Britons, hauling their own sledges, reached it on 17 January 1912, found the Norwegian tent, and died on the way back.

How it is built

  • Two sets of legs, each a period drawn as a route: the Fram from Norway by way of Madeira, and the Terra Nova from Cardiff by way of Melbourne and New Zealand; then the depot journeys, the march out and the march back on each side. Read the two sets of bands against each other: they overlap for most of 1911 and early 1912.

  • Waypoints as events: the telegram, the depots, the Butcher’s Shop, the black flag, each man’s death, the tent, the cables that carried the news.

  • Dates are Gregorian and at most a day wide, taken from the diaries the men kept. Where they disagree, as over the day Oates walked out, the date is widened.

Filter by amundsen or scott for one route at a time, depots for the food caches that decided both outcomes, maritime for the ships, news for what the world heard and when, and losses for the five deaths on Scott’s polar party.

The last entry

It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more. … For God’s sake look after our people.

Scott’s journal, 29 March 1912, as published in 1913 and transcribed by the Scott Polar Research Institute. Positions on the ice shelf are where things stood in 1912: the shelf has flowed seaward since, and the last tent has gone with it.

Items

  1. Fram leaves Christiania

    Christiania (Oslo) harbour

  2. Terra Nova: Cardiff to Melbourne

    3 months, 29 days · Terra Nova: Cardiff to Melbourne

  3. Fram: Norway to Madeira

    28 days · Fram: Kristiansand to Madeira

  4. Fram: Madeira to the Bay of Whales

    4 months, 7 days · Fram: Madeira to the Bay of Whales

  5. Amundsen tells his crew at Madeira

    Funchal Roads, Madeira

  6. “Am going South”

    Port Melbourne

  7. Terra Nova: New Zealand to Cape Evans

    1 month, 9 days · Terra Nova: New Zealand to Cape Evans

  8. Scott lands at Cape Evans

    Scott’s hut, Cape Evans, Ross Island

  9. Fram moors in the Bay of Whales

    Framheim, on the Ross Ice Shelf

  10. Scott’s depot journey to One Ton

    29 days · The depot journey to One Ton

  11. Terra Nova finds the Fram

    Bay of Whales, Ross Ice Shelf

  12. Amundsen’s depot journeys

    2 months · Amundsen’s depot line, 80° to 82° S

  13. One Ton Depot laid

    One Ton Depot, 79°29′ S

  14. Scott learns where Amundsen is

    Safety Camp, near Hut Point

  15. The winter journey to Cape Crozier

    1 month, 5 days · The winter journey to Cape Crozier

  16. The false start

    8 days · The false start, Framheim to 80° S and back

  17. Amundsen: south to the Pole

    1 month, 26 days · Amundsen: Framheim to the Pole

  18. The motor sledges set out

    Scott’s hut, Cape Evans, Ross Island

  19. Scott: across the Barrier

    1 month, 8 days · Scott: across the Barrier

  20. The Butcher’s Shop

    The Butcher’s Shop, 85°36′ S, above the Axel Heiberg Glacier

  21. Shackleton’s farthest south passed

    88°23′ S, Shackleton’s farthest south

  22. Shambles Camp

    Shambles Camp, below the Beardmore Glacier

  23. Scott: up the Beardmore Glacier

    11 days · Scott: up the Beardmore Glacier

  24. The dog teams turn back

    Shambles Camp, below the Beardmore Glacier

  25. Amundsen at the Pole

    The South Pole

  26. Amundsen: back to Framheim

    1 month, 9 days · Amundsen: the Pole to Framheim

  27. Polheim

    Polheim, Amundsen’s tent near the Pole

  28. Scott: across the polar plateau

    26 days · Scott: across the polar plateau

  29. The last supporting party turns back

    87°32′ S, on the polar plateau

  30. Shirase’s ship in the Bay of Whales

    Bay of Whales, Ross Ice Shelf

  31. The black flag

    Amundsen’s black flag, about 89°43′ S

  32. Scott at the Pole

    The South Pole

  33. Scott: the return march

    2 months, 11 days · Scott: the return march

  34. Scott at Amundsen’s tent

    Polheim, Amundsen’s tent near the Pole

  35. Amundsen back at Framheim

    Framheim, on the Ross Ice Shelf

  36. Fram: the Bay of Whales to Hobart

    1 month, 7 days · Fram: the Bay of Whales to Hobart

  37. Edgar Evans dies

    Below the Lower Glacier Depot, foot of the Beardmore Glacier

  38. Crean’s solo walk

    1 day · Crean’s walk to Hut Point

  39. Cherry-Garrard waits at One Ton

    7 days · Cherry-Garrard’s dog run to One Ton

  40. The cable from Hobart

    Hobart, Tasmania

  41. Oates walks out

    The Barrier, south of the last camp

  42. The last camp, 11 miles short

    Scott’s last camp, south of One Ton Depot

  43. Scott’s last entry

    Scott’s last camp, south of One Ton Depot

  44. ≈ 7 months, 17 days

  45. The search party finds the tent

    Scott’s last camp, south of One Ton Depot

  46. ≈ 2 months, 29 days

  47. The news reaches the world

    Oamaru harbour, New Zealand

  48. Memorial service at St Paul’s

    St Paul’s Cathedral, London