Celebrating the South Pole

It was 99 years ago today when British explorer Robert F. Scott arrived the South Pole to discover that Roald Amundsen and his team of Norwegians had beaten him there one month earlier. The ill-fated Terra Nova expedition arrived the pole on January 18, 1912, a trek that saw Scott and his team perish on their return journey. And while it was widely thought that Scott and Amundsen had raced to be the first explorers to the pole, others tried to quash the popular theory in the name of science.

“There was no question of racing or conquering,” wrote Sir Clements Markham, ex-President of the Royal Geographical Society in a 1912 letter to the New York Times. “The grand object was very far from that. It was valuable research in every branch of science.”

Perhaps, but there is something to be said for being first. Like garnering the ultimate bragging rights or telling a stirring tale of one’s latest greatest adventure, which is exactly what hundreds of tourists, historians and thrill-seekers are trying to do as they honor the 100th anniversaries of Amundsen’s and Scott’s arrival this year.

“We’re going to have lots of Champagne toasts and take a lot of pictures, and you can call home to your loved ones from the pole,” said Annie Aggens of Polar Explorers, a Chicago company that’s charging a whopping $40,500 for a flight to the south pole on either anniversary according to the New York Times. “It’s super exciting just to walk in the footsteps of these early explorers.”

As the newspaper reported over the weekend, some people plan to ski Amundsen and Scott’s exact routes, reading the explorers’ diaries daily and blogging about the experience, while other well-heeled travelers will hop on expensive flights that will let them off just a few miles from the pole so they can ski the remaining stretch to “feel the thrill of victory.” Those looking for even more adventure can join a competition sponsored by the London-based company Extreme World Races, where after paying $95,000, they’ll compete in a 440-mile ski race pulling 200 pounds of gear.

“I want to know how far, physically, I can go,” said Matt Elliott, a 28-year-old Windsor, Britain resident who entered the race. “It would be great to get there first and run the Union Jack at the South Pole before the Norwegians get there,” he told the Times.

These trips are a far cry from what Amundsen and Scott endured during those initial expeditions—after all, the two explorers had limited supplies and were blindly navigating an unforgiving icy landscape—but however polar adventurers are recreating this year’s anniversaries, they’ll have to come prepared for the worst. As Robert Swan, an environmentalist who walked Scott’s route to the South Pole in 1985 recently told the Times: “It’s a place that wants you dead. Scott found that out 100 years ago.”

To learn more about David LaHuta's life in Bermuda read Bermuda Shorts at http://DavidLaHuta.blogspot.com

And to follow his adventures on Twitter visit https://twitter.com/DavidLaHuta

Photograph courtesy of Extreme World Races