Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race

Between November 2011 and January 2012 two teams are racing to reach the South Pole. They are repeating the routes and historic race of Captain Robert Falcon Scott CVO and Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen from one hundred years ago in 1911/12.

Both teams left from base camps on the Antarctic and set off for the South Pole by land travel. Antarctica is one of the most remote places on earth. There are no permanent habitats and it is the coldest continent on the planet. The climate makes travel there extremely difficult and potentially deadly. Exploring the Antarctic is one of the last great challenges left to human endeavour on the Earth.

Below is more information about the race and click here for ways your school can get involved.

The Royal British Legion and the Race to the Antarctic

This year's teams are recreating the race on the centenary of the original expedition. As it is the Legion's 90th birthday in 2011 we thought this would be a good way to support our anniversary, raise some funds and demonstrate some of the incredible ways that British Service men and women are involved with wider activities.

As a Service charity the Legion is used to being associated with Remembrance and conflict but its first purpose is as a welfare charity to support Service men and women and their families. It does this through a variety of means including grants, treatment centres, care homes, campaigns and legal support. Each year it leads the nation in remembering those that have served in the military and those whose lives are affected by conflict by selling poppies and maintaining Remembrance Day.

From its work with the Service community, the Legion also knows some of the amazing things that Service men and women do as well as being involved with conflict and peace-keeping.

Service men and women train incredibly hard to be able to do their jobs in many different conditions. They are trained to push themselves to extremes and to want to overcome difficulties. It is not surprising that many of them are also involved with outdoor activities in their own time.

Many men and women involved with exploration and endurance also have experience of being in the Armed Forces.

Captain Robert Scott, one of the most famous polar explorers, was a Royal Naval Officer. His experience in the forces taught him how to deal with risky conditions and how to lead people. He is not the only one; there are plenty of other Service men and women who have been involved with exploration, endurance and science.

This race is an opportunity to celebrate the role British Service men and women have played in exploration and scientific research. It reminds people that some of the core values needed by Service men and women to do their job are also used for other things.

Also the race is sponsored and funds raised from the race will go to The Royal British Legion to help with its important welfare work - especially its current appeals for helping those injured in Afghanistan.

The race and the teams

The race will take 70 days (two months) and the each team will travel 920 miles carrying all their food and fuel. They will need to climb 10,000 feet and carry 140 kg sledges and cover 120 miles of glacier.

All trips to the Antarctic add scientific value to what is happening there and the effects of climate change on the region.

The Two Teams:
Then:
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (1872-1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912. He was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage. He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission.

Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott CVO (1868-1912) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901-04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910-13. During this second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, only to find that they had been preceded by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition.

In the original race Amundsen reached the South Pole first. On the return journey Scott's team fell into difficulties and he and his four comrades all died as a result of the conditions from the race. scottamundsenrace.org/history

Now:
The two teams are made up of British Service men. There are three members on each side.

The team following Roald Amundsen's route is led by Lt Col Henry Worsley MBE (Rifles) and the Scott team is led by Warrant Officer 2 Mark Langridge (Paras). The full team list is at scottamundsenrace.org/the-team