THE PRIZE

Finally there comes the day you've dreamed of, the day that was at the heart of your vision, the day when the project is completed. Amundsen and his companions arrived at the South Pole at 3:00 in the afternoon of Friday, December 15th, 1911. They recorded different feelings in their diaries . Bjaaland, the ski-champion, was delighted to be there before Scott, and celebrated with a big meal. Hanssen, the dog-driver, was just glad that the wind wouldn't be blowing into his face any more, but would now be at his back.

Trevor Griffiths, in his screenplay for the television series The Last Place on Earth (Griffiths, 1986), about Scott and Amundsen, puts the following words into Amundsen's mouth when he is asked by his companions to make a little speech.

I thank you. From my heart. For your work. Your commitment. Your craft and your comradeship. I have no grand emotions, no profound thoughts to share with you, I have to confess it. I experience the excitement, of course But above all what I feel is not large or deep at all, it's just: how good it is. To be alive .