Snow Widows

In 1910 two teams raced to be the first to the South Pole. One was led by the Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen and the other by British naval officer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen would beat Scott to the Pole by about four weeks, only for the latter to perish with his team on their return journey. But what of the women they left behind? Author Katherine MacInnes first told their story in her book Snow Widows but a trip to Antarctica this month has revealed even more. Katherine talks to Mihingarangi about the harshness not just of the climate - but of the times - and New Zealand's links to an expedition that has been compared with the race to the moon.