Alexandra Widjaja

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth, on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole. It is a place that fascinates and draws curiosity to everyone who has ever heard of it. This leads to the competition between Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen to become the first man to reach the South Pole. Although both prepared themselves for their Antarctic expeditions, Amundsen was first to reach the South Pole because he was better prepared than Scoot. Scott was thirty-two years old and lacking polar experience when he first attempted to reach the South Pole. He went to Antarctica inexperienced and had to learn things for the first time, resulting in him to come back to “prepare” himself better. However, the saying “learn from your mistakes” does not apply to Scott. Scott was still not well prepared when he came back for the second time. Out of his team, he only had one professional, his navigator. Scott prefers men with high statuses to be on his team; he prefers superficial people to skilled people. With unprofessional people in his team, everything was more difficult during the journey. The British were sentimental about using animals and were falling behind. They ended up man-hauling 200 pounds each, burdening themselves. Their clothing was not warm enough, and they lacked of food. Even if they were second to reach the South Pole, they never made it back. On the contrary, Amundsen was well prepared and had his eyes set on the prize. He was unstoppable. Amundsen worked with single-minded focus and he was excellent in picking his team members. Each member in his team had a specialty. He used a modern technical approach and gathered the best of the best, an elite team of men. He spent most of his time (12 years) getting ready to be the first to reach the South Pole. Unlike the British, the Norwegians were clever with their dogs. They used the dogs to pull their sled, while they skied down during their journey. There was no man hauling involved, and they had plenty of food for everyone. His trip was a walk in a park. It was speedy and efficient due to his brilliant planning, and he reached his goal. Unlike Scott who preferred men with status, Amundsen preferred men with real qualities. The difference in how Amundsen and Scott prepared their journey clearly shows why Amundsen was first to reach instead of Scott.