Exploring the Poles

The exploration of Earth's wilderness areas became an international obsession in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as economically advantaged nations, in particular European powers and the United States were well equipped to mount exhaustive expeditions. From previously inaccessible forests and jungle country to the world's great mountain ranges, adventurers sought out the greatest extremes of climate and terrain in a race to plant the first flag where humanity struggled to survive.


An earlier wave of explorers led to the opening of the New World, and early polar expeditions saw ancient ships of various nations sail along the coastlines of Greenland and within reach of the Arctic and Antarctic continents. Many 19th century figures approached the polar region with an eye to traversing it. Most notable among them was British explorer Sir James Clark Ross, who took the Erebus and the HMS Terror to the southernmost coastlines of the planet. Ross is probably the first explorer to realize that Antarctica was a continent and not just a large chain of islands, and he discovered the section of the shelf that was to become the Victoria Barrier. Asian nations also took part in Antarctic exploration when Nobu Shirase of Japan mounted his 1911 expedition, while Sir Edgeworth David, a Welsh-Australian, was the first person to successfully reach the summit of Mt. Erebus. Richard Evelyn Byrd is believed to be the first pilot to cross the Antarctic continent, and even well past the era of great polar expeditions, British figures such as Edmund Hillary, conqueror of Mount Everest, made several expeditions to the South Pole.


Nevertheless, the golden age of polar exploration of the furthermost continents did not reach its zenith until the turn of the 20th century, and national rivalries abounded between the major seafaring nations of the world. Where past explorers made glancing journeys to Antarctica, the superior technology of the coal engine, various new survival materials, and even the motorcar opened new possibilities for more daring treks. Backed by governments, banking organizations, and great newspapers, a small group of restless adventurers assaulted the polar continents with the intent of reaching and marking the exact locations of Earth's northern and southernmost points.


More than any other country, Britain staked its national pride on being the first to reach the poles, as they would on penetrating the deep jungles of the Amazon and scaling the highest peaks of the Himalayas. Preservation of the British personality as an intrepid internationalist required such victories, but in the case of Arctic and Antarctic exploration, the empire fell short of the mark. In 1909, American Robert Edwin Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole, an accomplishment that was met with some degree of skepticism. To complicate matters, fellow American Frederick Cook swore that he had reached the spot almost a year earlier. In the competing accounts, both stories were taken with a grain of salt based on several years of analysis.


Nevertheless, Britain turned its focus to the south and sent several scientific and geological fact-finding expeditions to Antarctica via the Ross and Weddell Seas. Despite the eager sponsorship of science-oriented organizations such as the Royal Geographic Society, the underlying premise was clear: Britain would be the first to reach the South Pole, an outward expression of the shrinking empire's continued viability. Some of the explorers who were involved became household names around the world, including British explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Perhaps the one that has become most associated with this period is Robert Falcon Scott.