SouthPole_001_017cor_SouthPole 17/10/2011 10:07 Page 15
Introduction this endless horizon Sir ranulph fiennes I stood for the first time at the South Pole on 15 December 1980. I was exhausted, relieved, and perhaps a little confused by what I found there. Where brave Scott had struggled manfully, only to come across Norwegian tracks and then discover the outlines of a tent holding fast on the desert of ice around him, I found a large American scientific base, obscured that morning by a thick mist. It was a set piece of prefabricated huts, oil drums, woollen socks, and bearded men sustained by a fug of central heating and obscure scientific data. Having travelled for over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) across this vast plateau from the coast in Queen Maud Land, we were pleased to be taken in. We ate with some of the scientists in their canteen and washed dishes in exchange. I was also given the task of refilling their ice cream machine.