A cross erected at the top of Ob Hill at McMurdo Station is a marker in honor of the five explorers who lost their lives as they returned from their trek to the geographic South Pole in 1911-1912. Robert Falcon Scott and his fellow explorers ir trek to the geographic South Pole in 1911-1912. Robert Falcon Scott and his fellow explorers Edward Wilson, Lawrence Oates, Henry Bowers and Edgar Evans froze to death on their return from the pole, reaching their goal a few weeks behind explorer Roald Amundsen.