Crumbs of comfort..

Below is a picture taken of Captain Scott's Antarctic Party. Between November 1911 and March 1912 the sledging party made its way to the South Pole, and then tragically failed to make it back to a supply cache of food.Those doing Antarctica as their extreme environment will probably have referred to the extreme nature of the climate in that year, and the preparations that Scott made. They will also have compared the equipment and support available to today's visitors to the Polar regions which can make things easier (but not completely remove the risk). The book "The Coldest March" by Susan Solomon has an interesting (I believe the term is 'revisionist') approach which suggests that the temperatures were unseasonably low, which meant that the weight of the sledges was unable to melt the ice beneath the blades, and the men had to drag the sledges expending more energy and slowing their progress.

Scott's diaries were recently put on display in the British library.

The other day in my friendly local supermarket, I came across Huntley and Palmer's Captain Scott's Expedition Biscuits.
These are a replica of the biscuits that Captain Scott used, but the recipe has been changed to replace lard with vegetable oil.
I can report that they are delicious with a crumbly manchego and some grapes...