The South Pole

World-renowned polar explorer Captain Roald Amundsen's (1872-1928) classic account of his Norwegian expedition's successful race, first aboard the "Fram" and then by dogsled, to be the first to reach the South Pole.  Setting out from Norway in August, 1910, the "Fram" arrived in Antarctica in January, 1911.  After months of preparation by the members of the expedition operating out of their Bay of Whales base on the Ross Ice Shelf, Amundsen and four of his companions set out for the South Pole on October 20, 1911, with four sledges, each pulled by 13 dogs.  On December 14 they reached their goal, arriving a full month before the rival British expedition led by Captain Robert F. Scott.  "I cannot say -though I know it would sound much more effective - that the object of my life was attained. That would be romancing rather too bare-facedly. . . .  Of course, there was a festivity in the tent that evening - not that champagne corks were popping and wine flowing - no, we contented ourselves with a little piece of seal meat each, and it tasted well and did us good," Amundsen wrote afterward.