The Coldest Gamble

Why the Race for the Bottom of the World Is Just Heating Up

In the summer of 1911, two men stood at the edge of the known world, staring into a white void. One was Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian who had spent his life studying the Inuit of the Arctic. The other was Robert Falcon Scott, a British naval officer steeped in the traditions of the Royal Navy. They were both racing to the South Pole, but they were playing…