Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme

The Polar Expeditions Classification Scheme (PECS) is a grading and labelling system for extended, unmotorized polar journeys that is managed by a committee of polar expedition specialists. Polar regions, modes of travel, start and end points, routes and forms of aid are defined under the scheme and give expeditioners guidance on how to classify, promote and immortalize their journey.

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First person to reach the South Pole

The South Pole was first reached at 11 a.m. on 14 December 1911 by a Norwegian party of five men led by Captain Roald Amundsen (Norway, d. 1928), after a 53-day march with dog sledges from the Bay of Whales on the seaward coast of Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf. The other four people that formed the team were Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting.