What dangers did Robert falcon Scott face?

Answer 1

Captain Robert F. Scott and his team faced a number of dangers on his Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1912). The cold was the first major danger, as temperatures in Antarctica can drop as low as -89°C in Winter. Simple tasks like going to the toilet carried a risk of hypothermia, and specialist sledging gear had to be developed to protect the men from the constant cold.

Food was another constant danger, as the vast majority of their food had to be brought with them. This meant that rations, especially for sledging, had to be carefully calculated. The more food they carried the longer and further they could travel, but extra food also increased the weight of the sledges, slowing them down. The solution to this problem was to 'depot' supplies of food and oil (for cooking and heating the tents), by burying them in huge cairns of ice and snow, and marking them with a flag to be collected later. These depots could be difficult to rediscover, however, as navigation was difficult so close to the South Pole, and missing a depot would mean almost certain death.

Another danger posed by food was that the calories the men's sledging rations provided represented roughly half of what was necessary to man-haul a heavy sledge across the Great Ice Barrier every day. This meant that men lost huge amounts of weight fast. This was particularly dangerous for the biggest, strongest men, whose ration was the same as the smallest, but their energy needs were much higher. This is one of the reasons why Edgar Evans and Lawrence Oates deteriorated faster than Captain Scott's other companions on the polar journey.

Illness and disease was another big danger. Scurvy was the most dreaded of these, as it worked rapidly and made sledging, and eventually walking, impossible. Scott's second-in-command, Teddy Evans, contracted scurvy on his return from laying depots to support Scott's journey to the South Pole. Eventually, his two companions, Bill Lashly and Tom Crean (neither of who knew how to navigate their way home), had to lash him to their sledge and drag him back to the hut. Scott's own team may also have been suffering from scurvy, though this is contested by historians.

Crevasses posed a constant danger to the men while sledging. When they were man-hauling, they would often fall through the thin layer of snow covering a crevasse, only to be stopped by their man-hauling harness. They would then need to be helped out by their companions. One man, Patrick Keohane, fell through crevasses to the full length of his harness eight times in twenty-five minutes! Edgar Evans, Scott's reliable companion chosen for the polar party, was concussed when he fell into a crevasse, possibly contributing to his death on the return journey.

Other, more unusual dangers also faced Scott and his men. The expedition photographer, Herbert Ponting, nearly died early in the expedition when the piece of ice he was standing on to take photographs was split in two by a pack of killer whales, and he was forced to abandon some of his equipment in the rush to get back to solid ice. One of the sailors on the expedition, Tom Crean, developed a reputation for getting 'dunked'. This meant falling through the ice into the icy sea beneath. This may have caused much amusment for the men, but it also carried a grave risk of hypothermia or drowning. Scott's diaries record that he was also worried that one of the expedition's ponies, a foul-tempered brute named Christopher, would maim his horse-handler, Lawrence Oates.

Many of these dangers were the same as those he faced on the Discovery Expedition (1901-1904), but others were different. The Discovery was the first British Antarctic expedition, and its members had almost no experience of the conditions they would face. Few members knew how to ski, and only two had any experience of dog-sledging. They also didn't know how to deal with the conditions. For example, when a sledging party was first hit by a blizzard in March 1902, rather than pitching their tents and waiting for it to pass they panicked and attempted to return to the ship. The men were split up by the terrible conditions, and one man, Able Seaman George Vince, was killed when he slipped and fell off the edge of a cliff. Many of the men aboard the Terra Nova were Discovery veterans, and their experience meant that they knew how to deal with many of the dangers faced. For example, Scott's second hut was more insulated and better designed than his first attempt, which got so cold that it could not be used as a permanent base.

Answer 2

Robert Falcon Scott faced extreme weather conditions, inadequate supplies, and physical exhaustion during his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. These challenges ultimately contributed to the death of Scott and his team on their return journey.