Great Yarmouth museum displays Scott of the Antarctic skis

The tale of Scott of the Antarctic has inspired countless explorers after his doomed expedition claimed his life and four others in 1912 as they tried to beat Norwegian Roald Amundsen to the South Pole.

Before that fateful quest Captain Robert Falcon Scott had previously travelled to the Antarctic on the Discovery on an expedition between 1901 and 1904.

And now a pair of skis from that first expedition are taking centre stage at a Great Yarmouth museum.

The skis from the first Scott expedition (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

The skis are part of Polar Explore! activities, which runs until Tuesday, January 3 at the Tide and Time Museum.

Gabrielle Copeman, the museum's events co-ordinator, said: "The skis are from Captain Scott’s first Antarctic expedition.

"They travelled on the Discovery and explored the Antarctic to research the land and animals there.

"This was just a decade before his second expedition to the continent, the famous and fatal race to the South Pole. 

Robert Falcon Scott during his doomed journey to the South Pole (Image: Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)

"The crew on the Discovery expedition did not learn to ski beforehand and reportedly found the skis frustratingly hard to use.

"They did not seem to understand how they should work, for example, they treated them with linseed oil, a trick for downhill skiers, not cross-country.

"Many of the skis were discarded in frustration."

Scott recommended that explorers should wear good boots and walk, pulling their own sledges, rather than using a team of dogs to pull the sledge and skiing along behind it.

Other polar explorers such as rival Amundsen believed that skis and dog teams were the best way of travelling across the Antarctic

The skis were donated to the museum by Miss L.M. Feather, the daughter of Thomas A.F. Feather, who was boatswain of the Discovery.

Polar Explore! offers the chance to visit a polar explorer's camp and learn about how they lived on the ice. Visitors can also craft their own polar skis and learn move 'like the Northern Lights' by taking part in a colourful, light-filled dance activities.

A poster promoting the Polar Explore! activities (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

Also on display are a pair of Inuit snowshoes, which help demonstrate the vital contribution of indigenous people and their knowledge to expeditions to both the North and South Poles. 

There is a free preview event on Friday, December 16 between 5pm and 8pm.

The skis will be on display at the Time and Tide Museum (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

Polar Explore! is then included in the general ticket price until January 3.

For more information visit www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/time-tide.