14 Dec 2011

South Pole anniversary

10:02 am on 14 December 2011

It's 100 years since the first explorers reached the South Pole.

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team of four arrived at the Pole on 14 December 1911, beating a British team led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott by over a month.

To mark the centenary, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway is visiting Antarctica.

Amundsen (1872 - 1928) was also the first to sail through the North West Passage.

Scott and his companions reached the South Pole on 18 January 1912. They died on 26 March on the return trip.