The original South Pole race took place in 1911 between a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen and a British team led by Captain Scott. Roald  Amundsen’s party were the first to leave for the South Pole on 20th October 1911. Captain Scott and his team set off a few days later on the 1st November 1911

Amundsen’s team used dogs to pull their sledges, Scott’s team made a critical error and used ponies instead.  Under such extreme conditions, the ponies perished and the team had to pull their sledges themselves.

Amundsen’s team reached the South Pole at 3pm on 15th December 1911.  Almost a month later on 12th January 1912 Scott’s team reached the Pole suffering from scurvy, starvation and hypothermia.  With the temperature 30 degrees lower than the previous month, Scott’s team failed to return home and sadly died.

Over the coming months, we will be looking in more detail at Scott and Amundsen.  What inspired them, how the race was viewed by the wider public at the time and how the race in 2011 will compare to the race 100 years ago in terms of the competitor’s preparation and the equipment they take.