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Jackie: The 14th December 2011 marks 100 years since the first successful expedition to the South Pole. So for this week's podcastsinenglish.com, we're looking at the rival expeditions for the Antarctic. So Richard, who got there first?
Richard: The first person to the South Pole was a Norwegian called Roald Amundsen. And um… he got there and back in three months. But obviously the other expedition led by a British Royal Naval officer Captain Scott, even though he died, is in many ways more famous.
Jackie: So Richard, apart from being British and apart from dying, which is rather sad, what made him become such a tragic hero?
Richard: Well, with Amundsen, he was first to the Pole and he should’ve got all the publicity etc etc but he didn’t really write a diary, he wasn’t very media savvy, I think. And although poor Captain Scott died on the way back with all of his team he wrote a diary every day um… there’s photographic evidence of him at the South Pole and um… when the search party, when they found the bodies in the tent, they uncovered his diary and it had all of the diary entries right up to the very end so a very, very tragic tale.
Jackie: From… from when they got off the boat to… to get to the South… to get to the South Pole what was the distance?
Richard: Well, Antarctica is a huge continent. They sailed to the nearest point of land and from there it was 650kms* to the Pole.
Jackie: Right, so that’s an astonishing journey to do even nowadays let alone
100 years ago.
Richard: Exactly, yes.
Jackie: And am I right in saying that when Scott… ‘cos he actually still got to
the South Pole…
Richard: Yes
Jackie: …but when he got there he saw the Norwegian flag.
Richard: Yes, they’d arrived there a month before.
Jackie: Which is a long time.
Richard: Mmm, and then they had to trudge the 650kms* back to their base…
Jackie: Knowing that they had failed.
Richard: Exactly
Jackie: So how come Amundsen was so successful then, Richard?
Richard: Well, he had just one aim: he wanted to reach the pole. Very simple, very well organized: four sledges, 52 dogs. He was an experienced dog handler um… and when they came back he actually killed and ate the dogs as well for extra food rations.
Jackie: And whereas Scott? He had dogs as well.
Richard: He had dogs. He was nowhere near as experienced in polar exploration as Amundsen. And um… as well as dogs, they also got ponies. Unfortunately I think they were Siberian ponies, they weren’t very good, he also had motorised transport. That didn’t work: It was too cold. He wasn’t an experienced dog handler, the clothes were wrong. He had woollen sweaters whereas Amundsen went with um… Eskimo, I think seal skins, much better adapted.
Jackie: So a tragic story.
Richard: Yes
Jackie: But brought to life by the diary and by the letters.
Richard: And it did show exactly the bravery of Scott and his team. Although they made lots of mistakes you can’t say that they weren’t extremely brave.
Jackie: To head off to that wilderness and to those intense low temperatures, not really equipped. I mean foolhardy but yes, certainly, brave. What about the North Pole, Richard? The battle for the South Pole is quite famous, what about the North Pole?
Richard: Well, that involves Amundsen again, but that’s another story.
Jackie: Oh really?
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