In the early years of the 20th century, the interior of Antarctica was the last great blank space on the map. Much of its coast had been sighted, but no human being had yet reached the South Pole. Two expeditions set out in 1911 with the intention of being first: a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen and a British team led by Robert Falcon Scott.
Amundsen had originally planned to sail north to the Arctic, but when he heard that others had already reached the North Pole, he quietly turned his ship south instead. His preparations were minutely detailed. He brought experienced skiers, relied on teams of sled dogs, and built supply depots along the route. The dogs could travel fast on snow, and any animal that became weak could be used to feed the others.
Scott's plan was quite different. He brought Siberian ponies as well as motorised sledges and dogs, believing that a combination of methods would be safer. In practice, the ponies could not cope with the cold and had to be shot. The motor sledges broke down almost immediately. The men were forced to drag their heavy supply sleds by hand for most of the journey, which slowed them badly.
Amundsen and his team reached the pole on 14 December 1911 and returned without incident. Scott arrived five weeks later, exhausted and bitterly disappointed to find the Norwegian flag already planted. On the return journey, Scott's party was caught by severe storms, ran out of fuel and food, and died a few miles short of their next depot. Their tent, diaries and photographs were found by a search party the following spring.