Photograph by National Library of Norway, Picture Collection

THE RACE BEGINS

Norwegians led by Roald Amundsen arrived in Antarctica's Bay of Whales on January 14, 1911. With dog teams, they prepared to race the British to the South Pole. Amundsen's ship, Fram, loaned by renowned Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen, was the elite polar vessel of her time.

Photograph by Royal Geographical Society

In a wolfskin anorak of Netsilik Eskimo design, Amundsen strikes a heroic pose in the snows near his Norwegian home. Used in his memoir and lectures, this was a favorite publicity photo.

Photograph by Herbert Ponting, National Geographic Stock

SCOTT'S MEN

The British team (Robert Falcon Scott, center) wore wool clothing and windproof tunics for hauling sledges. But survival required better. "I will call any expedition … without fur clothing, inadequately equipped," Amundsen noted.

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Photograph by Herbert Ponting, National Geographic Stock

FATEFUL CHOICE

Scott's ship, Terra Nova, carried Siberian dogs and Manchurian ponies, which required bulky fodder and close care. Scandinavian snowshoes of twisted cane helped some ponies; those without waded up to their knees in snow. The best means of transportation was much debated: Amundsen's original Arctic plans had included harnessing polar bears.

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Photograph by Herbert Ponting, National Geographic Stock

MOTOR POWER

For Scott, dogs robbed sledging of its "glory." The ideal of "unaided" exploration was men hauling their supplies—yet he was willing to try motor sledges. Insufficiently tested beforehand, these machines broke down.

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Photograph by National Library of Norway, Picture Collection

DOG POWER

Amundsen's faith in dogs grew with their use. "Today we have had a lot of loose snow although it doesn't affect our dogs," he wrote in his diary. The dogs preferred the fan-shaped harnesses used in Greenland over the Alaska style Amundsen had first chosen, which paired dogs along a central trace.

Photograph by National Library of Norway, Picture Collection

VITAL STORES

Caches stocked with the food staples of polar exploration were key to the survival of the two parties when their march began. At 80° south, Amundsen noted, "stopped and laid a depot … of 12 cases of dog pemmican … about 30 kilos seal steaks & 50 kilos fat together with a 20 pk. chocolate. In addition, 1 box of margarine & 2 boxes of sledging biscuits."

Photograph by National Library of Norway, Picture Collection

VICTORY AND DEFEAT

Amundsen and his four companions, expert skiers, reached their goal on December 14, 1911. They spent three days "boxing the Pole" —taking observations to establish its exact location. Scott's five-man party arrived 34 days later, having encountered the Norwegians' tracks in the final miles.

Photograph by H.R. Bowers, Royal Geographical Society

VICTORY AND DEFEAT

Slumped in defeat, Scott's party understood that their labor had been, in Scott's words, "without the reward of priority."