Post by mikegarrison on Dec 12, 2011 17:32:00 GMT -5
On Dec 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen's party reached the South Pole. I wonder what he would think if he knew that today researchers live and work there year-round?
Anyone who does not know the stories of Amundsen, Scott, and Shackleton and their expeditions is missing out on some of the great adventure stories in history. Just imagine the joy of Amundsen being the first to reach the pole, and the heartbreak of Scott getting there too -- only to find that Amundsen had beaten him by five weeks. His journal entry reads, "The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected ... Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority." (Not to mention Scott's whole party dying of cold and hunger on the way back home, knowing they were only 11 miles away from supplies that would have kept them alive.)
Anyone who does not know the stories of Amundsen, Scott, and Shackleton and their expeditions is missing out on some of the great adventure stories in history. Just imagine the joy of Amundsen being the first to reach the pole, and the heartbreak of Scott getting there too -- only to find that Amundsen had beaten him by five weeks. His journal entry reads, "The Pole. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected ... Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority." (Not to mention Scott's whole party dying of cold and hunger on the way back home, knowing they were only 11 miles away from supplies that would have kept them alive.)
