Lessons from the South Pole
I once read about three of the explorers that attempted to go to the South Pole. Very different people and approaches:
Scott - he set up his base camp more to the north than initially planned. he added one man more to the expedition without increasing supplies. he continued to the south pole even if he realized that he can afford no margin of error on the return trip. he died on the way back together with all the members of his crew.
Shackleton - although tried several times, he never reached the south pole in his life. at least once he could have made it but did not want to risk. in fact, he never lost anybody from his crew in all his trips.
Amundsen - he planned thoroughly the expedition. studied both Shackleton’s earlier attempts and Inuit techniques. he got to the south pole and returned back safe with his entire crew. in fact, some members of the crew gained weight during the return trip.Â
(scavenged from the blog I was keeping while at the University of Lugano)
