Amundsen vs Scott: The Race to the South Pole

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  • čas přidán 27. 05. 2021
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Komentáře • 389

  • @megaprojects9649
    @megaprojects9649  Před 3 lety +28

    For your chance to win a custom Tesla Model S and $20,000 and support a great cause, enter at - omaze.com/megaprojects

    • @michaelmayhem350
      @michaelmayhem350 Před 3 lety +6

      "race to the south pole" gotta say this video was a lot less pornographic than the title implied

    • @jimmiedmc1
      @jimmiedmc1 Před 3 lety +1

      He I recall you saying you had like 3 extra sets of the lawnmower kits, you should do a charity raffle for testicular cancer,

    • @itarry4
      @itarry4 Před 3 lety +1

      Maybe saying that if anyone wins outside the US they'll have to pay their own taxes and delivery costs would be a good thing to add to the advert part. Doesn't make it not worth entering but it'd be better to be upfront about all the costs.

    • @anarchyantz1564
      @anarchyantz1564 Před 3 lety +1

      I love how you said "with the wind blowing through your hair!" with a straight face Simon. :)

    • @cosmicrolias3828
      @cosmicrolias3828 Před 3 lety +2

      Just wanted to say, I checked it out and supported this great cause. Thanks for all the amazing videos!

  • @ladykimono401
    @ladykimono401 Před 3 lety +207

    It should be noted that Amundsen had lived for almost two years with the indigenous people of northern Canada when he traversed the Northwest Passage and learned how to survive in the arctic. This was skills that he put to very good use in 1911.
    Fun Fact: there was another race to the South Pole in 2009 and the British actually managed to survive this time. And placed second. Behind a Norwegian team.

    • @drboze6781
      @drboze6781 Před 3 lety +23

      Amundsen also knew the dietary needs of such a dry, hostile environment, and perfected a kind of pemmican rich in legumes for regularity. The dogs could eat the human excrement, as their digestive tracts could extract the fats and whatnot that humans rejected. They kept the ship clean that way, too.

    • @TheMariepi3
      @TheMariepi3 Před 3 lety +8

      Captain Scott did several mistakes, one was using horses to drag sleds, another was adding a fifth expeditionary when provisions had been prepared for only four, and one was ordered to go on foot instead of on skis, another was wasting time carrying stones for geological studies. In my opinion, since I did not want to use dogs so as not to "enslave dogs", having used Mongolian camels, they are camels adapted to cold and snow, which can easily withstand minus 40 degrees Celsius, which can be without food for three months, and if they need water they get it by eating ice or snow. These camels should also be protected with vests and boots. And the camels go towing mixed sleds or carts with wide wheels, and the British go mounted on camels or sleds. an alternative was to have trained polar bears (put muzzles on all of them), and the same thing, the British expeditionaries would ride on them, as if the bears were horses, and these animals drag sledges or carts full of meat and seal fat

    • @lacyLor
      @lacyLor Před 3 lety +12

      Those Norwegians. They come over here to the US and beat us in the Iditarod too. 😆

    • @Azerkeux
      @Azerkeux Před 3 lety +5

      Just makes me think of when the British tried to design a world class infantry rifle, fumbled, hurt themselves and ultimately left it to the Germans to fix it

    • @ghosthound17
      @ghosthound17 Před 3 lety +2

      @@Azerkeux just curious. Could you go more in depth please. Thank you in advance. 😁

  • @sejembalm
    @sejembalm Před 3 lety +48

    Amundsen gave Scott good advice before the expedition:
    1: Ditch those cotton parkas for wolf fur coats as arctic wolf fur is heavier, but is best for keeping warm and it dries off faster than cloth.
    2: Those experimental 1911 automotive tractors will break down and to use sleds (sledges) pulled by Greenland dogs instead (plus, you can eat the dogs when the food supplies get low).
    3: Those poor Siberian ponies in the Scott expedition are going to die really fast. Again, Greenland dogs last longer.
    4: Timing is vital! Start as soon as possible to return before winter sets in. Amundsen jumped the gun, started too early and had to return to base camp because winter weather as still too severe. The Norwegians still started 11 days before Scott at a base 96 km (52 NM) closer to the South Pole than Scott's base. Amundsen made a round-trip of approx. 3440 km (1857 NM) and returned before winter again arrived with no casualties. Scott's expedition suffered terrible delays with the motor sledges breaking down, the ponies and dogs dying, they had to pull their sleds by skiing, and they were trapped in a winter blizzard 11 Nm (18 km) short of One Ton Depot at 79° 29' S where they died.

    • @LukezyM
      @LukezyM Před 2 lety +2

      Well summed.

    • @Dofladingus
      @Dofladingus Před 8 měsíci +2

      Don't forget also that Scott refused to march the ponies (that died anyway) to their deaths in order to bring One Ton depot closer to the pole. Had it been 10° latitude further south, they likely would've survived

    • @marguskiis7711
      @marguskiis7711 Před 4 měsíci

      The blizzard never happened. Scott faked it.

  • @theresehopkins1581
    @theresehopkins1581 Před rokem +4

    "It is an awful place"... truer words were never spoken.... so sad.... imagine if the teams had traveled together.... a triumphant victorious feat for all... a shared victory is better than what transpired, surely!!

  • @rossdoddridge4748
    @rossdoddridge4748 Před 3 lety +13

    Amudsen did not head to New Zealand to broadcast his success, he went to Tasmania. There he sent telegrams from the GPO at Hobart.
    Due to quarantine he left his remaining dogs (huskies) in Tasmania where they went on to form the breeding stock for Australian Antarctic expeditions for decades. The last were returned to Hobart and most were adopted by polar veterans as pets.

  • @planetdisco4821
    @planetdisco4821 Před 3 lety +21

    What gave me a real insight into the race to the pole, is reading excerpts from both Scott’s and Amundsen’s expedition diaries. Scott’s reads like an unending tale of woe whereas Amundsen’s reads like a bunch of Scandinavian lads having a fine old time out on a cross country skiing trip. Psychologically speaking the Norwegians had already made it to the pole before they even set foot on the ice. For me though, the greatest tale of Antarctic exploration is the Shackleton expedition in the Endurance. The entire story is utterly eye-popping, in fact if it was written as fiction people would say it was BS. Shackleton was a true leader and an absolute legend…

    • @bobfg3130
      @bobfg3130 Před 3 lety +1

      Scott had bad luck. He's underrated.

    • @jandmath
      @jandmath Před 2 lety +9

      @@bobfg3130 Bad luck!? Its fairly obvious that he failed because of poor planning and lack of experience. If you allow for 'bad luck' in an expedition like this, that alone makes you an amateur.

    • @bobfg3130
      @bobfg3130 Před 2 lety

      @@jandmath
      Yes, bad luck. That year the temperatures were far lower than usual. Shackleton failed too for the same reasons. The only reason why he managed to save his crew was because the temperatures were not unusually low.

    • @antipropo461
      @antipropo461 Před 2 lety +6

      @@bobfg3130 just ridiculous mate, the temperature was lower for the Norwegian expedition too. In any case you wilfully ignore all the other issues. 5 when planning was for 4,depots too far apart, horses and machines instead of dogs, abandoned skis!!!! In favour of walking. There is more but that's enough, a cock up from beginning to inevitable end.

    • @bobfg3130
      @bobfg3130 Před 2 lety

      @@antipropo461
      It's nothing ridiculous. I guess context is a bit hard to read. This is about Shackleton vs Scott. They've BOTH failed. The main difference was that Scott had far lower temperatures to contend with. That's what made the difference. Scott and his team died because of bad luck.

  • @TealCheetah
    @TealCheetah Před 3 lety +24

    For anyone wondering, horses sweat, which freezes and kills the animal. Dogs don't sweat.

    • @kokomo9764
      @kokomo9764 Před 3 lety +1

      Well, dogs sweat through their mouths.

    • @somethinglikethat2176
      @somethinglikethat2176 Před 3 lety +12

      Sled dogs can also run day after day in a way most animals can't. They don't need rest days like say humans do.

    • @autodidact537
      @autodidact537 Před 2 lety +6

      You forgot that Amundsen & his men ate some of the dogs during the journey because he knew that the fresh meat would provide some vitamin C to ward off the dreaded scurvy. Also, he needed to carry less food because the food would carry itself.

    • @AnzuBrief
      @AnzuBrief Před 2 lety +4

      @@autodidact537 They ate most of the dogs, out of around 60 less than 15 return

    • @joshuagrover795
      @joshuagrover795 Před rokem +1

      Huskies, in this case, and dogs overall don't sweat they pant to cool down together with their thick coats, making the dogs ideal dog sleders. In contrast, ponies are thin-skinned and do sweat like humans meaning less body heat and fast you lose body heat more likely you are to die in Arctic conditions.

  • @mrkacperso8974
    @mrkacperso8974 Před 3 lety +12

    "The team turned north"... from south pole :D it's like saying "The team turned any direction they wished" ;)

  • @perhentzepetersen9310
    @perhentzepetersen9310 Před rokem +3

    “For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of travel give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.” Three different heroes of the Golden Age of Discovery. Amundsen was all about being well prepared, and NO room for feelings. Just pure professionalism!

    • @brando4422
      @brando4422 Před 10 měsíci

      Frank Worsley to me is why Shackleton is remembered the way he is. Worsley in my opinion is the hero of that story of hope. Then again he could have been just the perfect number 2 who respected the leader, while the men follow and respect him so they follow along more so of respecting the leader. I feel he and Roald get low balled for the skills they possessed.

  • @archstanton6102
    @archstanton6102 Před 3 lety +59

    Simon, please cover Shackleton's rescue land crossing.

    • @evepayler1461
      @evepayler1461 Před 3 lety +4

      That man has mighty big balls to do some of the stuff he did. Which (given the environment) were probably shrunk like the moon in despicable me1

    • @eddiejc1
      @eddiejc1 Před 3 lety +4

      @@evepayler1461 Taking nothing away from Amundsen or Scott, but Shackleton's "failed" expedition is much more impressive. It's incredible that he didn't lose a single man and his team was away from Britain for YEARS. (It's also sadder that many of the survivors had to fight in WWI upon returning home, and not all of them made it back.)

    • @TheWaterboarders
      @TheWaterboarders Před 3 lety +3

      Not the Shackleton attempt, but the team that attempted to lay supplies for Shackleton from the pole onwards. That's a story that deserves telling

  • @jamescerone
    @jamescerone Před 3 lety +156

    Main reason I watch this is because it's basically an old school discovery/history channel show

    • @MrTruehoustonian
      @MrTruehoustonian Před 3 lety +16

      When history channel actually showed shows that were about history not ice truckers or pawn stars and whatever they show now

    • @GleichUmDieEcke
      @GleichUmDieEcke Před 3 lety +8

      @@MrTruehoustonian Oh just try and tell me with a straight face that ancient aliens isn't hilarious. (Seriously though, I miss when they had shows about nazis and cavemen and rennaisance astronomy and...)

    • @MrTruehoustonian
      @MrTruehoustonian Před 3 lety +2

      @@GleichUmDieEcke I didn't say they weren't entertaining but shows like that showed the history channel was circling the toilet drain and I love history it was so disappointing. hehe fucking nazis alien hybrids that can time travel

    • @Bdude1111
      @Bdude1111 Před 3 lety +10

      Like a history channel show *without the 15 minutes of repeating themselves everytime you return from a commercial break.
      I loved watching those shows growing up but they were 25 minutes of content, 20 minutes of recap, and 15 minutes of commercials

    • @elainebleicher5391
      @elainebleicher5391 Před 3 lety +1

      itM.j

  • @PenitentHollow
    @PenitentHollow Před 3 lety +22

    As a Canadian the coldest temperature I have ever experienced was -40 with the wind chill. That was so otherworldly and unbearable, I simply lack the capacity to even be able to conceive of -56.

    • @Kellen6795
      @Kellen6795 Před 2 lety +2

      As another Canadian. Ive had -40 with -55 windchill. It SUCKED

    • @Turf-yj9ei
      @Turf-yj9ei Před 3 měsíci

      When I deployed to Afghanistan we traveled through Kyrgyzstan in January. It was normally -15 F at night. One night it dropped to -30 and we had to stay overnight at the cafeteria. They said we'd be dead if we tried to make the 10 minute walk back to our barracks.

  • @minervacuervo4662
    @minervacuervo4662 Před 2 lety +10

    When I was a teenager I was weirdly obsessed with the South Pole expeditions, I had a book full of amazing photos and Amundsen posing with his parka, solemn and determined stuck with me.

  • @jamesmullikin4902
    @jamesmullikin4902 Před 3 lety +41

    Four simon whistler videos in the space of two minutes. It's like Christmas came early.

  • @snafuthegreat
    @snafuthegreat Před rokem +6

    What would be interesting for alternative history is Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton teaming up to conquer the South Pole.

  • @krashpass
    @krashpass Před 3 lety +17

    Read about this years ago in one of my books on exploration. The heaviest part was the full page "selfie" they took at the poll. You can see the trip wire the camera man used to take the shot, and in their faces you can see every man knows he's dead. Gives me the shivers every time I open the book.

    • @piterwijaya8226
      @piterwijaya8226 Před rokem

      May I know the title of the book please?

    • @isabelw6265
      @isabelw6265 Před 9 měsíci

      Have you seen the other exposures they took at the same time? There’s one blurry one where they’re all cracking up despite the ordeal they just went through

  • @lst141
    @lst141 Před 3 lety +14

    Although Scott tragedy is well known, people tend to forget Ernest Shackleton Endurance debacle and final triumph. He did not lose a single man for 3 years. He’s epic journey in two boats to elephant Island and then to the wrong side of South Georgia is epic, not counting the cross land journey through the South Georgia wilderness to the only whaling station available for rescue.
    This epic journey should also be object of your attention.

    • @abbaszaidi8371
      @abbaszaidi8371 Před 3 lety +1

      Shackleton didn’t lose any of the men from the Endurance. But Capt Mackintosh of the Aurora and another officer died (they were the party that laid depots along the Ross Ice Shelf for the second leg of the Trans Antarctic Expedition after Shackleton and the landing party planned to use upon leaving the pole)

    • @stolendrones
      @stolendrones Před 3 lety

      Absolutely! Also have to put Victor Campbell in the mix. 👍

    • @shallendor
      @shallendor Před 3 lety +3

      The Shackelton expedition is a story about a great leader bringing all his men home alive! It is a fascinating story!

    • @neilbadger4262
      @neilbadger4262 Před 3 lety +2

      One thing I noticed that was not mentioned is on Shackleton's return from his journey south, he went on tour and giving lectures on the conditions of the inner Antarctic ice shelf. Because Scott hated Shackleton, he refused to take any notice of the information gathered however a little-known Norwegian at the time by the name of Amundson took everything he could in assisting his future expedition.

  • @ignitionfrn2223
    @ignitionfrn2223 Před 3 lety +7

    2:20 - Chapter 1 - The south pole
    3:20 - Chapter 2 - Early adventures
    5:35 - Chapter 3 - The 2 teams
    6:50 - Chapter 4 - Amundsen's south pole expedition
    7:45 - Chapter 5 - Terra nova expedition
    8:35 - Chapter 6 - Base camps
    10:30 - Chapter 7 - Preparations
    12:15 - Chapter 8 - Race to the pole
    13:45 - Chapter 9 - Victory & death
    16:50 - Chapter 10 - Telling the world

  • @Blaklege63
    @Blaklege63 Před 3 lety +10

    I consider myself a pretty tough guy. But man, to be able to do what these men did, is just mind blowing.

  • @brett4264
    @brett4264 Před 3 lety +32

    You can easily tell who was going to win by looking at the two guy's portraits.

  • @dickmidnyte1136
    @dickmidnyte1136 Před 2 lety +16

    Amundsen was a smart forward thinking guy. Franklin and Scott were convinced being English keeps you alive.

  • @chrisnorman1183
    @chrisnorman1183 Před 3 lety +18

    The scientist that did the weather investigation in the years leading up to the expedition gave the predicted weather for the next season and roughly when and how the winter winds set in. Sadly Antarctica has a proven cycle of weather that once every 12 or so years it has a weather event where winter sets in 4-6 weeks early. This is a key factor in what slowed down the expedition on its return trip. Thinking they had 6 weeks of 'good' weather when in fact they didn't and all the fresh winter snow dragged on the sleds. So if they had gone the year before or the year after with the same plan its very probable they would have succeeded. Just commenting this as its a very little known fact that did add to the demise of the expedition.

    • @autodidact537
      @autodidact537 Před 2 lety +1

      It's often the smallest details that count the most such as: Amundsen & his men ate some of the dogs because he knew that the fresh meat would provide some vitamin C to prevent scurvy that plagued Scott & his men. And he knew that in super cold conditions the oil burnt for cooking would weep out of its container so he had them all soldered shut. Scott never figured out the problem of the missing oil & he & his men suffered greatly because of this small detail.

  • @krashpass
    @krashpass Před 3 lety +42

    Scott is just another example of someone refusing to use what works because of personal beliefs.

  • @mastick5106
    @mastick5106 Před 3 lety +5

    Shackleton, Amundsen, Scott. The three titans of Antarctic exploration. Sir Raymond Priestly (who served under both Shackleton and Scott) gave his impression of the three:
    "For scientific leadership, give me Scott, for swift and efficient travel, Amundsen. But when you are in a hopeless situation, when you are seeing no way out, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton. Incomparable in adversity, he was the miracle worker who would save your life against all the odds and long after your number was up. The greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth, bar none."

  • @ShHeMiLeRe
    @ShHeMiLeRe Před 3 lety +17

    Terra Nova Expedition is one of my favorite stories ever. The entire expedition not just the South Pole dash. It's an incredible collection of colorful characters. It's like they did everything to provide material for a smashing film in the future. Great explorers just like Amundsen, Shackleton, Mawson and their crews. No reason to put down someone to elevate others (a lot of lies have been said about Terra Nova expediton to make it look worse). It's not like the North Pole exploration where three first claims were fraudulent and you had people like Robert Peary who was a genuinely evil person.

    • @keirfarnum6811
      @keirfarnum6811 Před 3 lety +3

      In the very end of 1985, I moved from San Francisco to Nenana, Alaska. Several months after I moved there, I was hanging out with the son of Gerry Riley, a dog musher, at their home and this older man was visiting. I had no idea who he was but I immediately got the sense that he was very interesting and I recall he was talking with Gerry about doing the Yukon Quest dog sled race. I didn’t find out until several years later that it was Colonel Norman Vaughn; a famous dog musher who continued to mush into his elderly years, including the Iditarod. But what he’s most famous for is being the dog mushing expert on Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole as a young man. He was essentially what made the expedition successful. Unfortunately he died before his planned climb of Mt. Vaughn, the mountain named after him, in Antarctica on his 80th birthday. I feel lucky to have met someone so incredible; even if I didn’t know who he was at the time.

    • @ShHeMiLeRe
      @ShHeMiLeRe Před 3 lety +1

      I saw his photo once but it was from the 90s and it mentioned the mountain too. And it turns out he did climb it in 1994 when he was 88 but died before he was able to repeat it at age 100.

    • @georgevaughan1287
      @georgevaughan1287 Před 3 lety +1

      @@keirfarnum6811 Vaughn was on Admiral Byrd’s 1928 Antarctica Expedition. Heck of a man

    • @chonzen1764
      @chonzen1764 Před 2 lety +1

      @@ShHeMiLeRe He had a double knee replacement in 2001. I watched him all summer 2001 in the gym go from exercise to exercise on crutches absolutely intent that he was going to climb his mountain one last time. In my 40s now. Anytime I feel like my body wont let me and I want to quit I can just remember Vaughn in the gym and it inspires me to work through it.

  • @mattfurey6952
    @mattfurey6952 Před 3 lety +42

    You didn’t mention the reason the brits didn’t use dogs was their aversion to eating them. The Norwegians would use them as food at certain points when they needed fewer due to supplies being used and the sleds weighing less. The brits planned on using the pony’s this way, but pony’s don’t do well in that environment. They died before they could use them to eat. This is the reason they completed the trek and were first.

    • @Simonsvids
      @Simonsvids Před 3 lety +6

      If that is why we lost, so be it. We do NOT eat dogs. Besides, we invented the jet engine a bit later on, NOT the Norwegians, so we all can fly there now if we so wish.

    • @TheSpaceBrosShow
      @TheSpaceBrosShow Před 3 lety +24

      @@Simonsvids this is some A-tier salt right here 🤣🤣

    • @JezaLoki
      @JezaLoki Před 3 lety +7

      Apparently, Amundsen was quite fond of the taste of dog meat. How fortunate for him. It’d be like me going on an expedition with Kobe cows.

    • @eddiejc1
      @eddiejc1 Před 3 lety +1

      @@TheSpaceBrosShow But nowhere CLOSE to the amount of salt produced by @UrinatingTree when the Cleveland Brown beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs last year.

    • @rossdoddridge4748
      @rossdoddridge4748 Před 3 lety +3

      Amundsen actually put on weight during his polar expedition, about 5 kilograms (over 10 pounds). He put it down to his fondness for dog cutlets.

  • @trj1442
    @trj1442 Před 3 lety +21

    A great episode.
    Another tragic exploration story suggestion is the Australian case of Burke & Wills.

    • @stolendrones
      @stolendrones Před 3 lety +1

      I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for the point!

    • @krashpass
      @krashpass Před 3 lety +3

      Another good example of REALLY poor planning and leadership :)

    • @planetdisco4821
      @planetdisco4821 Před 3 lety +1

      Actually yes! I’ve been to the dig tree. It’s still there

    • @antipropo461
      @antipropo461 Před 2 lety

      Another cock up by unqualified fools is more like it.

  • @Labyrinth1010
    @Labyrinth1010 Před 3 lety +4

    Simon, you’re one of the best on CZcams.
    If I can offer a suggestion, the constant conversions are distracting and unnecessary.
    Just pick one and leave it to the viewer to convert! Really only take a a second on a smartphone.

  • @jitterysquirrel76
    @jitterysquirrel76 Před 3 lety +14

    I think your collective of channels are some of the most well made and informative on CZcams. Keep up the good work Simon!

  • @GhostOfSnuffles
    @GhostOfSnuffles Před rokem +1

    Amundsen describing how much he hated the North and South poles in such eloquent phrases got a chuckle out of me.

  • @dazuk1969
    @dazuk1969 Před 3 lety +6

    Simon has 193 youtube channels so does sometimes get his mega and side projects mixed up....not on this occasion. A truly epic paragraph in the human story.

  • @vernefits1953
    @vernefits1953 Před 10 měsíci +2

    awesome story love explorer stories very uplifting stuff

  • @TheN0odles
    @TheN0odles Před 3 lety +3

    Good episode. Heard all about these guys when I went to Norway. They were all pioneers, and Amundsen was a true leader and one tough SOB.

  • @jameswhitehead6758
    @jameswhitehead6758 Před 3 lety +9

    Also, the Model X has the Falcon doors.
    The Model S has standard doors.
    There are no x-wing doors
    Is Danny sending out signals via errors in the copy that he needs help escaping from Simon's basement?

  • @mrblauer1
    @mrblauer1 Před 3 lety +4

    Douglas Mawson is another Antartic explorer of the time, and I recommend his first book "Mawson's Will"

  • @stolendrones
    @stolendrones Před 3 lety +2

    Apsley Cherry-Garrard was VINTAGE “GANGSTER-HARD.”

  • @nomimalone7520
    @nomimalone7520 Před 3 lety +18

    If you did an episode on Shackleton's expedition, I'd watch the hell out of it.
    Wait...maybe you have....

    • @lacyLor
      @lacyLor Před 3 lety +4

      A few of us are asking for that. Such an unbelievable story.

    • @antipropo461
      @antipropo461 Před 2 lety

      Just buy the book🙄

    • @nomimalone7520
      @nomimalone7520 Před 2 lety

      @@antipropo461 I've read it, thanks 🙄.
      It's such an incredible story. I always want to hear more. And Simon is great.

  • @jeremystewert4303
    @jeremystewert4303 Před 3 lety +8

    What I really want to know is, who refills the single ATM machine in Antartica and what’s the surcharge for using it?

    • @ghosthound17
      @ghosthound17 Před 3 lety

      Wait what? There's an ATM in Antarctica?

    • @mastick5106
      @mastick5106 Před 3 lety +2

      @@ghosthound17 Yep, at McMurdo Station. Technically, there are two of them, but the second is never in use; it's there in case they need to cannibalize it for spare parts. Wells Fargo provided them, and a technician goes down to do preventive maintenance every couple of years. Wells Fargo doesn't restock it with cash from outside; somehow the money used down there "recirculates", but I've never seen an explanation of exactly how that's handled.

    • @dantetre
      @dantetre Před 2 lety

      Sounds like a topic for Half as Interesting channel. :D

  • @maliyathicca3132
    @maliyathicca3132 Před 3 lety

    Excellent video. Thanks Simon. You are my fav youtuber.

  • @derevon10
    @derevon10 Před 3 lety +3

    A video about Andree's Arctic balloon expedition would be nice!

  • @benjaminanonsen1546
    @benjaminanonsen1546 Před 3 lety +3

    Being Norwegian, I will still salute Scott and his team... but, a greater fool sadly...England never had. A good thing I would say.
    Chivalry and honor. Great vid!

    • @leemichael2154
      @leemichael2154 Před 3 lety +1

      Getting to the pole and seeing that Norwegian flag must have been soul breaking but I'll bet Scott would be the first to congratulate Amundsen on a job well done

  • @mustafaemad3614
    @mustafaemad3614 Před 3 lety +2

    Mega Project suggestions: Benban Solar Park, Aswan High Dam, Bar Lev Line and Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

  • @arnepianocanada
    @arnepianocanada Před 3 lety +2

    Profound sum-up, Simon. You state with dignity the evolution from 'noble heroism' views to a clearer study of British-team errors. Also vital: Amundsen chose his team by not protocol but specialized ability, and had learned from Indigenous people re clothing and comfort with dogs.

  • @misternewoutlook5437
    @misternewoutlook5437 Před 3 lety +2

    The Last Place on Earth mini-series remains to this day the best dramatization of the race.

  • @basichomebrew610
    @basichomebrew610 Před 3 lety

    thumbs up before even watching because this is one of my favourite stories. Idea for a sideproject or biographics/geographics vid: the Endurance expedition

  • @garyneilson1833
    @garyneilson1833 Před 3 lety +1

    Very good video Simon

  • @MegaFreightshaker
    @MegaFreightshaker Před 3 lety

    Hey Simon,love the videos.. Could you do one on the Black Knight Satellite?

  • @Swm9445
    @Swm9445 Před 3 lety +1

    Can we take a minute to appreciate the fact the Simon managed to squeeze a Raid Shadow Legends joke into a serious ad read? O.G.B.B BABY!!!!!!!!

  • @parasinthephilippines
    @parasinthephilippines Před 3 lety +1

    Cracking as always.

  • @mattkrieger3428
    @mattkrieger3428 Před 3 lety +4

    I also would like to see you cover the Shackelton expedition. It would be a bit more upbeat

    • @abbaszaidi8371
      @abbaszaidi8371 Před 3 lety +1

      Which one? Nimrod or Endurance?
      (It’s gonna be Endurance isn’t it? Still picturing Kenneth Branagh on the James Caird)

    • @mattkrieger3428
      @mattkrieger3428 Před 3 lety +3

      @@abbaszaidi8371 of course Endurance, or what the official expedition's title. Nimrod would be covered as I think it led to him leading the crew of The Endurance. It's a more harrowing story though, and just tells of how incredibly intelligent and badass he was. Pulled a dude from the water with one arm a la Cap. America, navigates three (open cockpit?) vessels off the shelf to an island, then takes off to South Georgia in one, lands and then traverses the island (I imagine the cliffs of insanity)...with rope being the only 'safety' gear to get to a whaling station to get a vessel to go rescue his still surviving crew....all of them.
      Yeah, I think that one should get covered.

  • @robvegas9354
    @robvegas9354 Před 3 lety +1

    Great video!!!

  • @Taylor-nc1qt
    @Taylor-nc1qt Před 3 lety +5

    The oak ridge national laboratory is a very good mega project

    • @Chris_at_Home
      @Chris_at_Home Před 3 lety

      I’m surprised the Alaska Pipeline hasn’t been shown. It cost $8 billion in 1975 dollars.

  • @jamesamundsen7470
    @jamesamundsen7470 Před 3 lety

    Nice job. Tusan takk.

  • @larchman4327
    @larchman4327 Před 2 lety +3

    Even today it's a bad idea to try operating a land vehicle in frigid temperature for that far of a distance cause so many things can break. I'm surprised Scott almost made it back with what he had.

  • @isabelw6265
    @isabelw6265 Před 9 měsíci

    I know I’m late but I’d love to see Simon make a video on the Winter Journey. 3 members of the Terra Nova expedition walked 60 miles through the Antarctic winter to collect penguin eggs; it’s an insane story and I’m amazed nobody died during that part

  • @vernefits1953
    @vernefits1953 Před 10 měsíci +1

    Amundsen would be a terrific CEO

  • @cdc6985
    @cdc6985 Před 3 lety

    Simons my information DUDE. I think I'm subscribed to all his channels.. he covers everything

  • @loupiscanis9449
    @loupiscanis9449 Před 3 lety

    Thank you

  • @TheEvilCommenter
    @TheEvilCommenter Před 3 lety +3

    Good video 👍

  • @joshjones6072
    @joshjones6072 Před 4 měsíci

    🇬🇧 United Kingdom with Robert Falcon Scott 🇳🇴 and Norway with Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen. They both found the Antarctic pole, furthest south in the world. Thus exists now the United States 🇺🇸 Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The heroism of such people will not be forgotten.

  • @keirfarnum6811
    @keirfarnum6811 Před 3 lety +1

    In the very end of 1985, I moved from San Francisco to Nenana, Alaska. Several months after I moved there, I was hanging out with the son of Gerry Riley, a dog musher, at their home and this older man was visiting. I had no idea who he was but I immediately got the sense that he was very interesting and I recall he was talking with Gerry about doing the Yukon Quest dog sled race. I didn’t find out until several years later that it was Colonel Norman Vaughn; a famous dog musher who continued to mush into his elderly years, including the Iditarod. But what he’s most famous for is being the dog mushing expert on Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole as a young man. He was essentially what made the expedition successful. Unfortunately he died before his planned climb of Mt. Vaughn, the mountain named after him, in Antarctica on his 80th birthday. I feel lucky to have met someone so incredible; even if I didn’t know who he was at the time.

  • @mobius7188
    @mobius7188 Před 3 lety +1

    We need a D Day mega project video. The amount of work, subterfuge, and effort rivals that of any project on this channel.

  • @BenignImages
    @BenignImages Před 3 lety +12

    Amundsen is reported to have said, when receiving the news of Scott's death, that Scott had won as he would always Scott of the Antarctic.

  • @sganzerlag
    @sganzerlag Před 3 lety

    When I started watching this video, I thought you guys had made a pretty basic mistake. However, as I watched the rest of the video I came to realize you hadn't. I know this story pretty well, as I have read and reread Amundsen's book (awesome read, by the way). Actually, this video was very well researched and I could find no errors worth mentioning. Thanks for putting in the effort to properly research, write and produce this video. I really enjoyed this one! Best regards from Brasilia, Brazil.

  • @ahniiso5642
    @ahniiso5642 Před 3 lety +1

    Simon is life! 😁

  • @Kulumuli
    @Kulumuli Před 3 lety +3

    In the biography it is stated that only two men knew the secret mission (prior to landing on Madeira) of the Amundsen expedition, Amundsen himself and his brother in Norway.

    • @joshuagrover795
      @joshuagrover795 Před rokem +1

      Initially Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole wasn't the original plan, Norway's most famous Arctic explorer at the time Fridtjof Nansen wanted Amundsen to use his ship Fram to explore and research the Arctic currents and their affects on the global climate. But because of American Frederick Cook's claim of reaching the North Pole in 1910, the plan was changed to the South Pole.

  • @Sir_Glass
    @Sir_Glass Před 3 lety +5

    Do the kharkovchankas made by the Soviet union they were made for exploring Antarctica.

  • @skrappyjon2019
    @skrappyjon2019 Před 3 lety

    These guys are absolute beasts.

  • @jbrisby
    @jbrisby Před 3 lety +2

    "Which way to Antarctica, Gandalf?"
    "Right. No wait, left."

  • @jonathanbritt8726
    @jonathanbritt8726 Před 3 lety +1

    Any chance of a video of the East coast of America's Intercoastal waterway

  • @mafiousbj
    @mafiousbj Před 3 lety

    I don't know where you got the info for the temperatures but in Marambio Base in the Antarctic Peninsula we got around 32 F° or 0°C as an average in some summer months.
    True, the base is very far away from the pole but I guess the mistake comes from trying to make an average of temperatures in such a massive extension of land. It's like trying the describe North America by averaging the temperatures of México and Canadá ^^

  • @lonewulfyamcha
    @lonewulfyamcha Před 3 lety +2

    that Tesla interior looks like a $70,000 tablet that's drive-able.

  • @hugmynutus
    @hugmynutus Před 3 lety +2

    Surprise Surprise the people who's nation is a frozen hell scape thrived in a frozen hell scape.

    • @magnemoe1
      @magnemoe1 Před 3 lety +1

      Correct but not as you think -26 is cold in pretty much all places in Norway.
      However Amundsen spent years with the Inuits learning most of their tricks including dog sleds who was never used seriously in Norway

  • @tonybowker2430
    @tonybowker2430 Před 3 lety +1

    When I was in middle school we had a visit from Peter Scott who was born after the expedition left England and so he never met his father. Of course Peter was a world renowned ornithologist, I think I still have the book he signed.

    • @abbaszaidi8371
      @abbaszaidi8371 Před 3 lety

      Wow!!! He lived a very long life I think, once saw him interviewed by Wogan in the 80s

  • @roryfriththetraveller4982

    a follow up on the third party to this would be awesome ! the mawson expedition is basically never mentioned but it was happening around the same time, but just in general exploration and not getting to the pole - mawson was also with shackleton during his land rescue expedition!
    cheers to Casting Lots podcast for that heads-up :D

    • @antipropo461
      @antipropo461 Před 2 lety +1

      The greatest and vastly under acknowledged Australian (at least in Australia) is without question Hubert Wilkins. So impressive were his polar exploits, North and South, that the US took a nuclear submarine to the North Pole to deposit his ashes.

  • @WasabiSniffer
    @WasabiSniffer Před 3 lety +1

    Well now you have to do the North Pole. Or the search for the northwest passage

  • @WaywardVet
    @WaywardVet Před 3 lety +1

    Forget the damn Tesla. I've read about the heroic age, but I hadn't heard that the two groups met. Just work together!!! Save some lives!

  • @simsider3794
    @simsider3794 Před 3 lety +4

    Do the Overseas Railway in Key West please i wont stop untill you do.

  • @bigjokerfish
    @bigjokerfish Před 3 lety

    "Your favourite dark fantasy RPG on your phone" - that's literally the most subtle Shade: Raddo Legends reference I've heard

  • @terenceconnors9627
    @terenceconnors9627 Před 3 lety +1

    -70 F is no joke. If you're unprepared, it can kill you in minutes.

  • @bobfg3130
    @bobfg3130 Před 3 lety +1

    6:03 It's Roald, not Ronald, Amundsen.
    Also, Scott had bad luck with the weather. It was unusually cold during his expedition.

    • @autodidact537
      @autodidact537 Před 2 lety

      Bullshit, it was just as cold for Amundsen & his men.

  • @kimmoj2570
    @kimmoj2570 Před rokem +1

    Amundsens effort was not swashbuckling adventure. He were there to accomplish task and to win. He was within his and his teams prior experience all the time. In all fairness Norwegians had gigantic advantage on their knowledge on winter survival in extreme conditions. Norwegians used fur clothing. They knew only dogs can work well in such cold enviroment, and sledge dogs are beasts of burden, not pets.
    He did reach the pole in time to escape the cold spell that doomed Scott and his compatriots.
    Scott did thou forever made people to remember also Roald Amundsen. British sportsman like Scott had near zero chances against semi-pros like Norwegians were.

  • @chaosreaver3597
    @chaosreaver3597 Před 3 lety +1

    I'm not sure if if this is true, but a British adventurer and actor called Brian Blessed, likes to tell a story that Amundsen, upon hearing the new that Scott's expedition had resulted in his team's death exclaimed "Scott has beaten me". He realised that the tragedy would overshadow his team's achievement.

  • @donnyjepp
    @donnyjepp Před 3 lety

    Can't wait for the new channel Simon....Beardgraphics will be great lol

  • @nathangiles4016
    @nathangiles4016 Před 3 lety +1

    Legitimately tweeted Simon asking for an Antarctica megaproject and wake up and this video has appeared... That was quick

  • @dwchen1
    @dwchen1 Před 3 lety +1

    You can't have a race for the baddest ass in town against the Vikings for sure.

  • @stolendrones
    @stolendrones Před 3 lety

    Also, Victor Campbell doesn’t get enough props. Inexpressible Island!!!

  • @colmoneill486
    @colmoneill486 Před 3 lety

    The barque rigged corvette ARA Uruguay which was the main rescue ship for the early expeditions until 1926 is now a museum ship in the Madero Docks in Buenos Aires. Its story in the discovery of Antarctica and the various attempts before Scott and Amundsen to reach the pole is worth a side project to this mega one

  • @princebasaya950
    @princebasaya950 Před 3 lety +1

    Where's my LIGO Simon?!!!

  • @KarrierBag
    @KarrierBag Před 3 lety

    I am 53 and until now I never really knew what happened, I paid little attention at school, so thank you.

  • @benalberts1171
    @benalberts1171 Před 3 lety

    You should do summiting Everest

  • @lacyLor
    @lacyLor Před 3 lety +1

    Have y’all done Ernest Shackleton or Ned Kelly on biographics? They are two of my favorites.

    • @magnemoe1
      @magnemoe1 Před 3 lety

      Shackleton would be nice, that was also an insane struggle.

    • @lacyLor
      @lacyLor Před 3 lety +1

      @@magnemoe1 Very. “Endurance” is an excellent book for anyone interested in reading about the whole crazy story.

    • @ComaDave
      @ComaDave Před 3 lety

      He's done one on Ned. No Shackleton yet.

    • @lacyLor
      @lacyLor Před 3 lety

      @@ComaDave Ooo thanks! I’ll go look for that.

  • @patrickprulez
    @patrickprulez Před 3 lety +3

    Taxes and shipping included!
    Me, a Canadian - :D
    For Americans!
    Me, a Canadian - Goddammit

  • @mattdennis5239
    @mattdennis5239 Před 3 lety +4

    Idea: Freeport Pit Mine, located in Papua Indonesia.

    • @vorpalcheese
      @vorpalcheese Před 3 lety

      I'll second that, it's one hell of a hole lol

  • @kennetholsen61
    @kennetholsen61 Před 3 lety +2

    Dude, his name is Roald, not Ronald

  • @COYOTE_N8
    @COYOTE_N8 Před 3 lety

    Damn I'm a huge car guy so I watch alot of that stuff lol never did I think I'd see an OMAZE commercial on megaprojects. Haha

  • @yvindwestersund9720
    @yvindwestersund9720 Před rokem

    You should have mentioned that
    SCOTT and AMUNDSEN
    Are both immortalized in name
    With the Base at the south pole
    Which I would say is an MEGA PROJECT in it selves
    A permanent base on the south pole for scientific research in to Antarctica it selves and also astronomy with two different telescopes and research in to several different types of astronomy
    It was essential to get the first picture of a black hole 🕳 for one and also in to research on string theory among other
    Truly worthy a MEGA PROJECT video
    Just saying 🇧🇻

  • @paradox7358
    @paradox7358 Před 3 lety +3

    Last time I was this early, the Norwegians hadn't beaten me to the pole yet.

  • @lynn2551
    @lynn2551 Před rokem

    As a Canadian I cringed when I heard they brought ponies to the Antarctic. I'm no horse expert but I think the weather conditions would be way too harsh for their survival. Maybe some Icelandic horses or something would fare better but I'm not sure at those temperatures.
    I'm also curious as to how they tested the early snowmobiles before the expedition? I would have suggested Iceland or Canada to test them out as Canada's Atlantic coast gets massive amounts of snow and would be a better test area.

  • @mikehydropneumatic2583

    Of all places the south pole you want to go to...
    I was fine in Antibes, Monaco, nice temperature and no climbing to do.
    Also accessible by car, think about it.