Second Place Stinks

Norwegian Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole on this date 98 years ago. The very first to do so, he was diverted from his initial expedition to the North Pole after learning that American Robert Peary had beaten him to it.

Nobody wants to be second.

So, the race to the South Pole was on---and Amundsen was not the only one to join in. British explorer Robert F. Scott also decided to be there first.

Considering the weather, I cannot fathom the desire to go there in the first place. A race to the Bahamas? Tahiti? Hawaii? Count me in.

Anywhere that requires walking across frozen tundra and temperatures that would cause body parts to fall off is not my cup of tea, to use the English vernacular.

What makes this story truly tragic is the result for Scott and his party, who all lost their lives---only after reaching their goal to find that the Norwegian explorer had gotten there first.

That stinks.

But, in a world where it’s truly the “survival of the fittest”, it’s quite plain to see in hindsight that Amundsen had the better plan. In a place as unforgiving as Antarctica, the failure to plan properly could (and would) cost you your life.

Amundsen’s superior strategy revolved around two major factors-especially when compared with Scott’s. Namely, they were:

1) Amundsen sailed his ship into Antarctica’s Bay of Whales and set up his base camp some 60 miles closer to the South Pole than did Scott.
2) The Norwegian used dogs to drive the equipment rather than horses. The Huskies were hardy in this climate. The horses, on the other hand-were not—and began dying immediately, forcing the expedition to carry and drag the equipment themselves over the many miles.

Check out this video tribute to Scott, whose tragic end is chronicled in still photos set to music:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PbX-gFNbfw

When Scott’s party reached the South Pole on January 18th, 1912, they discovered that Amundsen has arrived there more than a month earlier. Ouch.

Can you IMAGINE the disappointment of seeing from afar the Norwegian flag planted after all that you had been through?

Amundsen had his own experience with being second.

After his successful South Pole expedition, he started a successful shipping business. He made several attempts to become the first to FLY OVER the North Pole. In 1926, he passed over the Pole in a dirigible---only to find out that American explorer Richard E. Byrd has apparently done so in an airplane just three DAYS earlier.

That stinks.

But, at least Amundsen didn’t lose his life in the attempt, unlike Scott.
Perhaps there are fewer frontiers to discover—and it’s likely that human physical endurance will not be put to the extreme test when they occur.

And so, while we celebrate the “winner” (Amundsen), we should not forget the tragic attempt of the guy who came in second.

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