Scott’s 2012 v

From 14.10.2011 to - Status: postponed

Saunders and his teammates will trying to complete History

Everyone knows what has happened to Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his team when the Bristish explorers tried to be the first to reach South Pole in 1911-12. Three Britons will try to finish their journey.

This odyssey will probably remain in History as one of the most epic journey man has ever endured in the polar world. "The most poignant journey of the golden age of Edwardian exploration", writes Ben in his expedition PDF presentation: "the expedition Captain Scott died trying to achieve remains unfinished to this day. In October 2011, on the centenary of his final expedition, a British team set out to complete his return journey to the South Pole..."

Recap : on our old 'Explorapoles' website (which is fortunately still on line), everyone can follow the complete history of this important page of the Polar History and follow on a special flash map the progression of both team, Amundsen and Scott. In the same pages, several capital questions have being raised such as : why Amundsen arrived first at the Pole (14 December 1911), how the Norwegian could escape from his country and sail south without no one (except his borther) being aware of his project, why Scott didn't make it before the Norwegians, why the british team of five (Robert Falcon Scott, Birdie Bowers, Titus Oates, Edgar Evans and Bill Wilson) died on the way back, one after the other, the three remaining being too weak to reach the last stockpile which was nevertheless at only 20 km from their mast camp.

From the PDF presentation : "In the last 100 years, twelve people have stood on the moon and more than five thousand people have climbed Everest. Yet Scott’s dream still remains unrealised. No one has ever walked from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again. Ben and his team will return to the UK in February 2012, the year of the London Olympics and the Queen’s 60th Jubilee."

The expedition team :

Ben Saunders : One of three in history to ski solo to the North Pole (and the youngest to do so by more than ten years), Ben holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton. He is an acclaimed public speaker, an Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, and a Patron of the British Schools Exploring Society. See our Saunders bio.
Alastair Humphreys : An accomplished adventurer, author, speaker and photographer. Alastair cycled over 46,000 miles around the world aged 24. Since then Alastair has rowed oceans, walked, rafted and kayaked across countries and competed in adventure races around the world. He frequently writes for newspapers and magazines and has written three books.
Martin Hartley : One of the world’s leading adventure travel photographers (recently voted one of the top 40 “Most influential nature photographers on the planet” and one of Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment), Martin specialises in documenting the most inaccessible places on earth. He has documented 20 unique polar assignments and is the only professional photographer to have crossed the Arctic Ocean on foot and with dogs.
Andy Ward : Expedition Manager, aside from professionally managing Ben’s expeditions since 2007, Andy is an accomplished adventurer and photographer. In 2004 he walked more than 3,300 miles from London to Asia to raise money for the British Red Cross. He frequently has photos published in travel books and magazines and has written for the Lonely Planet.

The expedition schedule :