Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful.

Honour and recognition in case of success." Placed to recruit men for Scott and Shackleton's Discovery Expedition to the South Pole in 1901, it heralded the beginning of a golden era for polar exploration.

Now, a little over a century later, the famed Arctic adventurer Sir Wally Herber has declared the age of polar exploration to be dead. Herber, described by Prince Charles of England as the greatest explorer of his generation, attacked the current generation of polar 'explorers', who he describes as merely "sportsmen with good PR".

In an interview with the Independent on Sunday, Herber - who led the first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean - said he had become disillusioned with polar exploration in the 21st century, particularly its 'false' claims of breaking new ground.

"I feel we have seen the end of true polar exploration, " said Herber, 72, whose comments are likely to cause controversy with the International Polar Year set to commence in March. When I went there in 1955, 80% of the Antarctic was unknown; we had to map it ourselves. Now there is nowhere left to explore on the face of the earth, " he said.

"It's all become easier, very much easier. You can't call it exploration any more because it's not; it's a sporting adventure. These modern guys just don't have any idea how much easier it is now than it was for the pioneers. They just go there, put their modern parkas on and plough through it, then fly straight out again and within hours, they're back in civilisation, touching down with champagne in their hand.

They don't engage properly with their environment; that lessens their achievement."

Polar exploration has come into sharp focus of late, with record numbers of people heading to both ends of the earth. Many are afraid that global warming will take the opportunity from them for good, and as a result are contributing to the rush.

The poles are getting warmer at least twice as fast as the rest of the world. Their unique eco-systems are disappearing fast. Experts estimate the North Pole ice cap will be gone in between 25 and 75 years' time, while the Antarctic - the frozen wasteland which ultimately defeated Scott - is swiftly becoming a mainstream tourist destination: between 1994 and 2004, visitor numbers there trebled.

The dash for the poles has reached such a degree that Friends of the Earth has now called for an international cap on numbers visiting the Arctic and Antarctic. Despite Herber's comments, David de Rothschild - scion of the banking dynasty and one of the new generation of polar explorers - said global warming meant there was more need than ever for polar exploration.

"We've explored our world, we've named our mountains and rivers and seen everything now, " he said. "But we still don't understand it all - and what we're exploring now is that understanding. We can use adventure as a vehicle to explain these places and their fragile eco-systems to others."

"Exploration is alive - in fact I would say it's more alive than it has ever been, because we have so much more technology, and as a result so much more access.

"It's a bit like tennis: the tools available are better now, but just because people can hit the ball harder or faster as a result, that doesn't necessarily mean they're better or worse tennis players."