Scouting in the Antarctic

Scouting in the Antarctic
Chilly Willy is the mascot of the Esperanza Base group

Scouting in the Antarctic is maintained by a single troop of Argentinian Scouts and also by visiting Scouts from other nations who are participating in expeditions and research projects.

The southernmost Scout unit of the world, the Grupo Scouts 1556 "Esperanza Blanca", is at the Esperanza Base at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula; it is affiliated to the Scouts de Argentina. Originally, the group belonged to the Asociación Diocesana de Scouts Católicos Argentinos Castrense (Diocesan Association of the Catholic Scouts of Argentina - Military Diocese), an independent Scout organization with links to the Union Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe.

Charles Hoadley, who founded one of the first Scout Groups in Footscray, Victoria, Australia, was a member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Douglas Mawson from 1911–14. Hoadley was a member of the Western Base Party. Cape Hoadley was named after him upon discovery by the exploration party.

James William Slessor Marr was one of two British Scouts who were selected from 1,700 Scouting applicants to accompany Sir Ernest Shackleton on the 1921 Shackleton–Rowett Expedition. The expedition was curtailed following the death of Shackleton, but Marr later joined the 1929 British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition. The other Scout, Norman Mooney, left the expedition en route due to illness.