Comparison of The Amundsen and Scott Expeditions - Base Camps

Base Camps

Amundsen camped on the Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales which is 60 miles (96 km) closer to the Pole than Scott's camp (which was 350 miles west of Amundsen). Amundsen had deduced that, as the Trans-Antarctic Mountains ran north-west to south-east then if he were to meet a mountain range on his route then the time spent at the high altitude of the Antarctic plateau would be less than Scott's. Scott's base was at Cape Evans on Ross Island, with access to the Trans-Antarctic mountain range to the west, and was a better base for geological exploration. He had based his previous expedition in the same area. However, he knew it to be poor as a route to the Pole as he had to start before sea ice melted and had suffered delay in returning while waiting for the sea ice to freeze. They also had to make detours around Ross Island and its known crevassed areas which meant a longer journey.