Great God! This is an awful place...

[Steven Russell]

100 years today since Capt. RF Scott and team attained the South Pole only to find that Roald Amundsen and his men had beaten them to it by 33 days. This must have been one of the biggest bummers of all time.

I reckon if Scotty and his boys had won the race to the pole they could well have made it home. The disappointment must have taken something out of their legs and they were tantalisingly close to safety when the end came.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Adam Went]

Steven:

Thanks for pointing out the anniversary, would have been a huge disappointment but at least they succeeded in doing what many had tried and failed at before. So it is with all great feats of mankind.

Except these days you can reach the Poles with a modified Toyota Hilux, as the Top Gear team proved, which kind of makes a mockery of the whole thing in a way....

Cheers,
Adam.

[jason_c]

100 years today since Capt. RF Scott and team attained the South Pole only to find that Roald Amundsen and his men had beaten them to it by 33 days. This must have been one of the biggest bummers of all time.

I reckon if Scotty and his boys had won the race to the pole they could well have made it home. The disappointment must have taken something out of their legs and they were tantalisingly close to safety when the end came.

Best wishes,
Steve.

It remains a minor mystery as to why Bowers never made a mad dash to the next depot. He either became ill rather quickly or the weather got so bad as to make it impossible. Bowers also seemed to be in awe of Scott. Did he simply wish to remain with his leader?

[Steven Russell]

Steven:

Thanks for pointing out the anniversary, would have been a huge disappointment but at least they succeeded in doing what many had tried and failed at before. So it is with all great feats of mankind.

Except these days you can reach the Poles with a modified Toyota Hilux, as the Top Gear team proved, which kind of makes a mockery of the whole thing in a way....

Cheers,
Adam.

I agree it was a great achievement for those times.



The Top Gear team actually went to the North Magnetic Pole which moves around but was estimated in 2005 to be at 82.7 deg. N, which is 438 nautical miles or 811 km farther south than the actual geographical North Pole. Still, they and their Hilux did pretty well too.

Best wishes,
Steve.

PS Hello, Jason,
I'm not well informed on this so can't comment on the Bowers question until I've done a bit more reading. The book I'm on with at the moment is highly critical of Scott by the way. Some of the criticism seems to make a lot of sense but the author seems to be going out of his way to paint Scott in the worst possible light and Amundsen in the best.
S.

[Robert]

History is full of ironies, and the thing is that Scott and Co got more glory from their tragic deaths than they would have done from getting safely home as the second party to reach and return from the Pole.

[Steven Russell]

Very true, Robert. It seems that in the British mindset of those times was the idea that truly noble deeds must include great suffering.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[The Good Michael]

it was just -35 outside and I went for a walk. The Poles? Nothing.

Mike

[jason_c]

I agree it was a great achievement for those times.



The Top Gear team actually went to the North Magnetic Pole which moves around but was estimated in 2005 to be at 82.7 deg. N, which is 438 nautical miles or 811 km farther south than the actual geographical North Pole. Still, they and their Hilux did pretty well too.

Best wishes,
Steve.

PS Hello, Jason,
I'm not well informed on this so can't comment on the Bowers question until I've done a bit more reading. The book I'm on with at the moment is highly critical of Scott by the way. Some of the criticism seems to make a lot of sense but the author seems to be going out of his way to paint Scott in the worst possible light and Amundsen in the best.
S.

Steven,

Its a while since I read up on the subject too. I seem to remember that Bowers was the only one fit enough to make a dash for it. Scott mentions this in his diary but for some reason Bowers didnt attempt it.

Is your book by Roland Huntford? Huntford is a controversial author on the subject. His criticism of Scott lead to Scott's reputation being blackened in the 1970's and 80's. Sir Ranulph Fiennes does a decent job of criticizing Huntford in his own book on Scott's expedition. It may give you a different viewpoint in further reading.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Captain-Scot.../dp/0340826991

I also love reading about Shackleton. Endurance by Alfred Lansing being the finest adventure book ever written. Im also intrigued by Shackletons earlier attempt at the Pole.

[Robert]

It's true that thanks to modern technology, getting to the Poles isn't what it was. People today aren't tougher than people in former times (the reverse is probably true). Also, there is a world of difference between going off on a journey during which one is on one's own and from which one might never return, and having the support of modern satellites and all the rest of it.

Still, I should not like to go to either Pole, as the weather is a tad inclement.

[Steven Russell]

Steven,


Is your book by Roland Huntford? Huntford is a controversial author on the subject. His criticism of Scott lead to Scott's reputation being blackened in the 1970's and 80's. Sir Ranulph Fiennes does a decent job of criticizing Huntford in his own book on Scott's expedition. It may give you a different viewpoint in further reading.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Captain-Scott-Sir-Ranulph-Fiennes/dp/0340826991

.

Jason,
Yes it is Huntford I am reading and I had heard of Feinnes' book being critical of Huntford. Thanks for the link.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Adam Went]

Steven:

The Top Gear team also took their Hilux to a volcano once. Oh and they sat an old one on top of a building too and then flattened the building, but the Hilux still worked.......the moral of the story? Buy a Hilux.

No sympathy for all you people on the other side of the globe who are freezing at the moment. It reached 33 degrees celsius here today. Began to melt.

Cheers,
Adam.

[The Good Michael]

I was thinking... it's minus 36 right now and I am putting on my boots to take the half an hour walk to get coffee and then I'll probably carry home some beer as well. So my thought is, had there been places of hope within walking distance, would everyone have made it out alive? Hope is defined as beer and coffee obviously. Wish me luck.

Mike