History
In the brief two centuries since man set foot on Antarctica (the coldest, driest, windiest and highest of the continents), its name has become synonymous with expeditions, adventure, heroism and tragedy. Whilst today it is possible to live in Antarctica as a scientist, fly to the Pole as a tourist, or even ski the last degree of latitude to the Pole as an adventure tourist, there have still been very few expeditions of lasting significance. Unlike the history of, say, African expeditions where men struggled greatly to “discover” places where people had been living quite happily since the beginning of Man, the iconic expeditions of Antarctica have been truly groundbreaking. To attempt to put the Scott Antarctic Expedition into context and perspective I have summarised some of the more notable expeditions of the past century or so.
In 1901-04 Captain Scott’s first Antarctic expedition, the Discovery Expedition, made it as far as 82 degrees south (82S), 8 degrees of latitude or 480 nautical miles from the Pole. That was followed in 1907 09 by Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition. Shackleton got within 100 miles of the pole before retreating,writing to his wife that he thought she would prefer “a live donkey rather than a dead lion.”
The pole was finally reached by Amundsen’s expedition of 1910-12, a clinically efficient expedition using teams of dogs and elite Norwegian skiers. Amundsen reached the pole on 14th December 1911, a month before Captain Scott’s five-man team. 
Scott’s team, man-hauling their sleds, were exhausted and demoralised when they discovered they had been beaten to the pole. Their return journey towards safety was grim, and tragic. First Evans succumbed, before Captain Oates muttered his immortal last words.
The remaining three men died in their tent just 11 miles from the safety of their next depot. The best account of this journey is the magnificent Worst Journey in the World.
The Norwegians were quick to praise Scott’s efforts. Helmer Hanssen, Amundsen’s principal dog driver, remarked.
“It is no disparagement of Amundsen and the rest of us when I say that Scott’s achievement far exceeded ours . . . Just imagine what it meant for Scott and the others to drag their sleds themselves, with all their equipment and provisions to the Pole and back again. We started with 52 dogs and came back with 11. What shall we say of Scott and his comrades, who were their own dogs? Anyone with any experience will take off his hat to Scott’s achievement. I do not believe men ever have shown such endurance at any time, nor do I believe there ever will be men to equal it.”
There were no more notable expeditions south until Antarctica was crossed by vehicle in 1956-58. In 1984-87 Robert Swan’s Footsteps of Scott’s project saw three men man-hauling 160kg sleds unsupported [no dogs, kites or airdrops of food] for 828 miles to the South Pole in 70 days. In 1992 Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud undertook an unsupported crossing of Antarctica. Their epic 1488-mile expedition lasted 95 days and is the longest unsupported polar journey to date. Fiennes‘ account of this expedition is an eye-watering account of suffering and bloody-mindedness. 
The 1990s ushered in a new era in Antarctic expeditions. Commercial flights to Patriot Hills have enabled many people to trek to the South Pole from Hercules Inlet, where the coast of Antarctica would be were it not for the Ronne Ice Shelf. This is a journey of 700 miles and has been achieved by a couple of hundred people.
In 2006 Rune Gjeldnes completed the first solo kite-powered traverse of Antarctica, covering 2985 miles in 93 days. The use of kites has become popular in Antarctica, allowing people to massively increase their daily mileage. In 2008 Antarctica was the focus of media attention in the UK as Ben Fogle and James Cracknell prepared to compete in a 430-mile supported race to the South Pole.
In 2009 Ben and I will begin the Scott Antarctic Expedition, a 4 month, 1800-mile return journey from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back to the coast. A trek that completes the task begun by Scott’s team almost a century ago, and still unsurpassed. You can learn more about the project here.
