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In the middle of January 1912, a British team led by Captain Scott finally reached the South Pole.

It had been a horrific journey, and they were appalled to discover that they'd been beaten

to that most sought-after destination. As they arrived at the pole, they found the remains

of a camp, a tent, abandoned equipment, and a letter. The letter was addressed to Captain Scott. It must have been the last

thing he was expecting to find in the most remote place on earth. It read simply,

Dear Captain Scott, as you're probably the first to reach this area after us, I will ask you

kindly to forward this letter to King Harkon the Seventh.

If you can use any of the articles left in the tent, please not hesitate to do so.

With kind regards, wish you a safe return.

Yours truly, Roald Amundsen.

With this stunning, outrageous flex, Amundsen. With this stunning, outrageous flecks,

Amundsen let Scott know that he'd been defeated in the race to the pole.

And whilst we often focus, particularly in the English-speaking world,

on Scott's heroic attempt to get back to his camp, his death on the ice, alongside that of his

four comrades, I don't think we talk enough about Amundsen, who is certainly one of the greatest

explorers in history. This was the man who not only got to the South Pole first, he was also the first to reach the North Pole,

and the first to traverse the perilous northwest passage, the stretch of ocean that runs across

the north of Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the goal that had obsessed explorers for 400 years. He broke some of the most

significant records in the world of exploration. In doing so, he stared death in the face

...