THE COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH

Al long, long time ago, in 1911 the South Pole was not like we know today; because now there is a building where people work and where planes can arrive easily; but nine decades ago, that things didn't exist and any person has arrive there.

In the year 1911, two men tackled a very long crossed with their crew; these men were the captain Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen

Everyone of them made long and tired crossed and passed hunger, cold and other bad things.

In honor to these two heroes and in honor of their prowess in Antartica there is a building called Amundsen-Scott.

CHAPTER 1: TWO SHIPS

The captain Scott was English and he leave London with his men in his ship, the Terra Nova, on June 1st of 1910. Thousands of people saw it and they were so happy.

The captain was going with the intenseness of can put the british flag of and to be the first man in the South Pole.

On June 6th of the same year, the captain Roald Amundsen with his crew left their country, Norway in their ship, the Fram. His crew thought that they were going to the North Pole, but that was only what they though, because Almundsen wanted to go to the South Pole.

CHAPTER 2: THE RACE

Amundsen brouhg the ship to a small island from the south of Norway where there was a lot of dogs and a wooden house, with two men. These men gave 99 dogs to Amundsen. It was very hard to raise the dogs to the ship, because dogs were very fat and very strong.

After that, the men started to ask why had they navigated all that kilometres to the south and why had Amundsen got the dogs there, if he could had got them in Alaska.

On September 9th, Amundsen called to his men and told them that he knew that they were not satisfied and that he had thought go to the South Pole, since an american, already had gone to the North Pole one year ago and and what he wanted was to go before nobody, and they didn't do it. Then he confessed them that they were going to begin a race, because the captain Scott from UK, has left his country because he wanted to arrive to the South Pole.

Finally, the men knew that they had a lot of possibilities of winning the race.

CHAPTER 3: THE PONIES

On October 27th , the Terra Nova arrived to New Zeland capital city, and it was when the captain Scott knew that Amundsen wanted to arrive before him.

Later that day, Scott told it to his men, but he also told that it was not very impotant because Amundsen crew didn't have enought means and that they(captain Scott and his man) hd more money and more men; and that Amundsen only had dogs whereas, they had dogs and ponies.

One of the men, Oates, were not satisfied with the ponies, because he thought that most of them were old, ill; that there was not enought food for them and that they weren't so strong. He really thought taht Scott had made a lot of mistakes.

CHAPTER 4: FOOD DEPOTS

The two ships arrived in Antartica in January 1911, they wanted to be ready to go to the South Pole at the begining of the summer in Antartica.

Norwegians built a big wooden house, it was full of food, skis and sledges. It was called Framheim.

The dogs lives in holes under the snow.

After built the wooden house, they made their first journey south, it was on February 10th.They made this journey because they needed a lot of food and they couldn't carry all that food. So, on February 10th; they carried ½ tonne of food, that time was so easy because there were a good temperature. Amundsen was so carefull with the 1st depot, he put a lot of flags. It was in 80º South. After that they went back to Framheim.

The second depot was to 82º South; that depoid was harder than the first because the temperature was really bad. In that, they also put a lot of flags.

They went back on March 23rd. Their ship was near South America.

British arrived to Cape Evans. They had a lot of ponies and some dogs. Scott and Oates made the first depot. They make their first journey on January 25th . They knew taht the dogs were better than ponies.

Oates saw that three ponies were ill, and he told it to Scott, but Scott didn't kill them. Three days kater, two ponies died.

Amundsen's men were faster tah Scott's men, Scott's men were late in find 80º, they lost 24 days.

Their camp was an island on the ices, and it moved a lot. There were holes, and they lost 7 ponies and a motor slege.

CHAPTER 5: A LONG COLD WINTER

The sky was very dark, it was dark for four months. Outside Framheim, the temperature was of -60º.

Norwegians, worked a lot, one of them, change the skis and the sleges, and they were faster and better after that.

They always were worried for the race, for the final journey to the Pole... Amundsen every day thought about Scott and some day, he had the idea of start before British men because, he knew that they were more. He thought that they could start on August 24th, the day that sun came back. Not all the men were agreed but at the end Amundsen decide it.

Englishmen didn't spoke about Amundsen and they didn't worked a lot. They were dedicating their time to reading books, to writing a newspaper and to playing football. They didn't dedicate their time to profitabler things, like as learning ski or to improve the motor sledges.

They made two long journeys, and themselves pulled the sledges. Oates looked after the ponies.

Scott planned in a map of the Antarctic, a line that was from the Cape Evans to the Pole, and in the South Pole,he drew an UK flag. After that, he put it over the window.

CHAPTER 6: A BAD START

When August 23rd arrived, the came up. They started but it was very, very cold, it was -46º C so they must went back to Framheim.

After that, the waited for two weeks, until September 8th, the temperature ws better, it was -37º C, and finally, the could start.

At the begining, all the things went well because the two first days, they advanced 56 kilometres, but the third day, the temperature went down -to 56ºC-, there wwas white flog and they could not see anything, but they advanced other 28 kilometres.

They were nearly die of cold that night. The next day, theymade snow houses, where they were warmer; But nobody was happy...

Amundsen discussed with one of his men. Some of them went very slow and Amundsen tell them taht they were not going to go to the South Pole with he, because they not to deserve it.

After that Amundsen and his men turned back to Framheim.

CHAPTER 7: MOTOR SLEDGES AND MOUNTAINS

On October 24th some Scott's men, started south from Cape Evans and on November 1st, he and another six men, left Cape Evans. Meare drove the dogs. They were faster than ponies because ponies feet went down in the snow.

On October 20th the Norwegians began again.

Initially one sledge went bad, but everything fixed up.

Now there were not the three men who were revealed against him.

On the fourth day, they found the depot at 80º South.

Two days later, the snowstorm sttoped and they started again.

All Scott motor sledges were broken, and they must pull their sledges.

On November 21st one ponie died.

On November 11th, the saw mountains and they skied them happily.

In the four next days, the dogs pulled the sledges 41 Km and went up 3000 m.

In the plateauthey stood.

When they saw thw mountains they thought in Scott and in his motor sledges, that his motor sledges couldnot went up them.

Bjaaland was not happy.

CHAPTER 8: ACROSS THE PLATEAU

On November 21st, Norwegians killed 30 dogs, when they died, the other 18 dogs ate them, but the men ate them too.

They started again in a snowstorm. It was fog.

After that, the lost on in an ice river.

After the ice, there were stong snowstorms and and winds.

Every day, they advanced 25 km.

On December 9th, the sun came out and they were at 175 Km from South Pole.

On December 9th, they killed the ponies, because they were ill and and could not walk up the plateau and they themselves were dragging the bobsleds.

A man fell ill and had to go away with other two men.

On January 4th, they were 270 km from the pole.

On December 14th, only they still had to the Norwegians 6km. They were so happy. Fimally, they arrived first than British.

They were there, and it was the most important thing.

CHAPTER 9: THE END OF THE RACE

Norwegians stayed two days l the Pole and after taht, the went back to Framheim.

They arrived on January 26th at 4 o'clock in the morning.

When the Britishmen came to the south pole,on January 17th they discovered that the Norwegians already had come, that hurt them very much and that also made them sad. That was the worst day for them.

They turned back bnirth, they were very tired and very unhappy.

When they were turning back, they couldn't find their depots. They just could find one of them and there was not enouugt food.

They were always hungry and one of them were very ill.

The temperature was very bad.

March 17th, was Oate's birthday (he was very ill). He wrote a letter to his mother. He saw to his mates that he was going outside for a minut, but he turned back...

At Cape Evans, the other men were waiting for them, on December 11th, Meares turned back with the dogs.

Scott didn't come.

On October 26th, they started south and two weeks later, they found a tent with three bodies, they were Scott and his two men; they put them under the snow and take their diaries and their letters, but they could not find Oate's body.