In a lost chapter of South Pole exploration, twin Danish explorers Knut and Karl Larson attempted to reach the South Pole in late 1913. Setting off in complete secrecy, the pair faced searing cold, howling winds, deep snow, and yawning crevasses before abandoning their attempt late that afternoon. 

Unfortunately for Knut and Karl, the ship which brought them had already left the coast ahead of the coming winter ice pack. It would not return until the planned rendezvous once the sea ice broke up five months later. Like many explorers before them, the Danes settled in to pass the long dark Antarctic winter in a small hut they built on the Ross Ice Shelf.

Although well stocked with food and fuel, the twins soon faced a very significant challenge: profound boredom. In growing desperation, they sought any diversion or entertainment. One day Knut hit upon the idea of creating a board game which would be based on the heroic exploits of Antarctic explorers like themselves. He constructed the game from pieces of empty food crates.  They played Knut’s “Jeg Keder Mig” game daily for months, with every game won by Knut because Karl was not too bright, and Knut was a shameless cheat.

In Spring 1914 their ship returned to collect the Larson brothers, taking them back to Denmark and utter obscurity. The game was left behind in the Antarctic hut, which was slowly covered with snow and ice in the subsequent years.

It was not until 2020, with the ice retreating under the effects of climate change, that the hut was discovered along with Knut’s game.  Game archaeologists (yes, that’s a thing) spent hundreds of hours recreating Knut’s wooden game and rules which, admittedly, would have gone much faster had they possessed an English-Danish dictionary.

The game, renamed “Race to the Pole”, is now available to the public. Finally, after over 100 years the Larson brothers’ completely fictional story of heroism can be told.