Race to the South Pole

Roald Amundsen was an explorer from Norway. He was among the first group of men ever to spend the winter in Antarctica. He had also been exploring the Arctic. In 1909, he was planning an expedition to become the first man at at the North Pole; however, while Amundsen was plannig his trip, American explorer Robert Peary beat him to the North Pole.

Amundsen did not give up. He turned his attention to the South Pole. Robert Falcon Scott, and English explorer, was also leading an expedition to the South Pole. He and Amundsen were competing to get there first.

Amundsen's team set up their camp 60 miles closer to the South Pole than Scott's team. The Norwegian team relied on sled dogs for transportation, while the English team used motorized sleds, Siberian horses, and sled dogs. These two factors made the difference, not only in winning the race, but in life and death.

Because Amundsen's camp was 60 miles closer, his return trip was shorter. Scott made it to the South Pole a full month after Amundsen. To make matters worse, the weather was very bad on his long trip back to camp. His motorized sleds broke down, and his animals had to be put down. Many of Scott's men, including Scott himself, froze to death.

Roald Amundsen had another notable achievement, but it was mistakenly attributed to Richard Byrd until 1996! Amundsen attempted many times to become the first to fly an airplane over the North Pole, and he came within 150 miles of his target. He finally accomplished the feat in a dirigible, or a zeppelin, in 1926. Unfortunately, Richard Byrd beat him to it by three days. In 1926, Byrd's diary was discovered. It seems, according to the diary, that Byrd actually turned back before reaching the North Pole, because he had a oil leak. This new information means that Amundsen was not only the first person to reach the South Pole, he was also the first person to fly over the North Pole. Because Amundsen died in 1928, he never knew about his North Pole flight's success.