In the footsteps of Scott and Amundsen ?

Published on 30.01.2011 - General Info

Before coming to the new Arctic adventures that are already sniffing the air, we would like to finish this Antarctic 2010-2011 season by zooming in on the extravaganza that the adventurers are preparing for themselves for the next season on the 6th Continent. And which is intending to celebrate the centenary of a great date in polar history.

The Tragic Conquest of the South Pole

Inevitable reminder: on 20 October 1911, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen left his Whales Bay base accompanied by 4 men, 4 sledges and 86 huskies. They were intending to be the first to get to the South Pole. They had chosen to travel light: carpenters had spent several months planing away the slightest protruding ends of wood on the sledges; on the eve of his departure, the Norwegian decided to leave with only four men instead of the six that had been envisaged.

On 11 November of the same year, the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott set out in turn in conquest of the South Pole from his Cape Evans base (on other side of the Ross Ice Shelf): he on the other hand had chosen a heavy trek with a whole stable of ponies and some sledges, which, at the beginning of the voyage, weighed more than 300 kilos each. When it left the base, it was a 50-kilometre-long convoy that got under way towards the North. At that time, the Englishman didn’t know that Amundsen already left with the same objective as he!

The continuation of the conquest of the South Pole was crowned with success for the former and tragically dramatic for the latter. The Norwegian arrived at the goal on 14 December 1911, leaving a tent and a message on the spot. He was the first man to conquer the so-coveted Pole. While Scott, for his part, was to get there only on 17 January 1912 and was to perish of hunger and cold with his four companions on the way back, whereas the men were no more than twenty-odd kilometres from a food deposit and at 180 km from their starting point!

How to Celebrate the Centenary

20 October, 1 November, 14 December and 17 January: these are definitely the red-letter dates on the polar tourism calendar. 1911-2011: moreover, a fabulous centenary is on the cards. It hardly needed any more than the little polar story of tourists to want to flirt with the big one - that of the pioneers and the true explorers!

And all that is on the cards as well. We’ll not talk here about the great experienced adventurers who have not waited for the centenary to organise adventures in the Polar Regions but who have not hesitated either to launch out on a great adventure in the very season of the centenary. They are not in any case relying on the historical achievements mentioned above for securing media coverage of their projects. We will talk of the latter when the time comes – that is to say at the beginning of November, as “Explorapoles” does each year.

"South Pole Champagne Flights"

What we would on the other hand like to highlight, while waiting for the “Northerners” of the Arctic to get to the area (in approximately one month’s time), is this somewhat obsolete not to say ridiculous fashion that raises energies and rakes as widely as possible so that the average tourist can come to ski for a few days on the Antarctic polar icecap and can if not compare at least get closer to the exploits of two of the pioneers of the great period.

Admittedly, we don’t yet know all that will be happening by way of celebrations on the Antarctic ice; but according to what the Tour Operators are offering, we suspect that some will repeat all or part of the route of one or other pioneer on skis while referring to the historical logs of Amundsen or Scott. Others will be getting themselves dropped at 200 kilometres from the Pole and will open champagne on arrival, saying with a stupidly conspiratorial wink to the pioneers: “We’ve made it…”

There will also be a race to the Pole which is already making a lot of noise on the Net and which is happening for the third time: the teams seem to be getting ready… The participants will be leaving from Novolazarevskaia, will be deposited at 704 km from the Pole and, in small groups of two or three (a three-girl team is already on the starting blocks), will begin the race to the Pole. Following and safety matters will be ensured by trucks or pick-ups. Already 51 teams have registered. And of course all that is being done in the pure spirit of the pioneers: "... We’re marking the 100th Anniversary of the Amundsen-Scott race to the South Pole in the way we know best: with a race of our own. The EWR Centenary Race to the South Pole is a celebration of the achievements of two of the world’s most notable explorers; Britain’s Robert Falcon Scott and the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Now it’s your turn. Not only can you walk in their giant footsteps but also, in the true spirit of their epic journey, race."

And it obviously should never be said that because the polar tourism trade is in decline due to the  worldwide crisis, agencies are benefiting from the centenary of the conquest of the South Pole to promote the great deeds of the past and to sell a phoney sense of adventure.

More Seriously

More seriously: there are in addition descendents of the famous families who also want to try something. In particular, a ceremony of commemoration organized by the descendents of Scott and Edward Wilson (his naturalist) will be taking place on 17 January. The director of the Norwegian Polar Institute wants to reach the Pole on the same day as Amundsen; he is part of a four-man team that will be repeating Amundsen’s route.

A last little note from the side of the adventure professionals: let us note the wager launched by the British Ben Saunders, who wants to be the first, accompanied by Alastair Humphreys, to repeat the route of Scott while trying to finish the job, i.e. to make a success of the shore/South Pole return journey from Cape Evans and by the Ross Ice Shelf, which nobody to date has ever managed to do. Before that, Saunders is embarking on a speed record to the North Pole.

Between now and November, there will of course be other announcements that will be reflected on this website. But even now the National Science Foundation (NSF), which runs the Amundsen Scott Research Station, has already announced for those who would like to visit the South Pole at the time of the centenary that they should not expect an overly warm welcome from the Americans living on the spot. A word to the wise…

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