Amundsen's South Pole expedition
Encyclopedia
The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole
was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen
. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911,. }} five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott
. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later learned that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.
Amundsen's initial plans had focused on the Arctic and the conquest of the North Pole
by means of an extended drift in an icebound ship. He obtained the use of Fridtjof Nansen
's polar exploration ship Fram
, and undertook extensive fundraising activities. Preparations for this expedition were disrupted when, in 1909, the rival American explorers Frederick Cook
and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the North Pole. Amundsen then changed his plan and began to prepare for a conquest of the South Pole; uncertain of the extent to which the public and his backers would support him, he kept this revised objective secret. When he set out in June 1910, even most of his crew believed they were embarking on an Arctic drift.
Amundsen made his Antarctic base, "Framheim", in the Bay of Whales
on the Great Ice Barrier
. After months of preparation, depot-laying and a false start which ended in near-disaster, he and his party set out for the pole in October 1911. In the course of their journey they discovered the Axel Heiberg Glacier
, which provided their route to the polar plateau
and ultimately to the South Pole. The party's mastery of the use of skis and their expertise with sledge dogs ensured rapid and relatively trouble-free travel. Other achievements of the expedition included the first exploration of King Edward VII Land and an extensive oceanographic cruise.
Although the expedition's success was widely applauded, the story of Scott's heroic failure overshadowed its achievement. For his decision to keep his true plans secret until the last moment, Amundsen was criticised for what some considered deception on his part. Recent polar historians have more fully recognised the skill and courage of Amundsen's party; the permanent scientific base at the pole bears his name, together with that of Scott.
(now Oslo), Norway, in 1872, the son of a ship-owner. In 1893 he abandoned his medical studies at Christiania University
and signed up as a seaman aboard the sealer
Magdalena for a voyage to the Arctic. After several further voyages he qualified as a second mate
; when not at sea, he developed his skills as a cross-country skier in the harsh environment of Norway's Hardangervidda
plateau. In 1896, inspired by the polar exploits of his countryman Fridtjof Nansen
, Amundsen joined the Belgian Antarctic Expedition
as mate
, aboard Belgica
under Adrien de Gerlache
. Early in 1898 the ship became trapped by pack ice
in the Bellinghausen Sea, and was held fast for almost a year. The expedition thus became, involuntarily, the first to spend a complete winter in Antarctic waters, a period marked by depression, near-starvation, insanity and scurvy
among the crew. Amundsen remained dispassionate, recording everything and using the experience as an education in all aspects of polar exploration techniques, particularly equipment, clothing and diet.
Belgicas voyage marked the beginning of what became known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
, and was rapidly followed by expeditions from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and France. However, on his return to Norway in 1899, Amundsen turned his attention northwards. Confident in his abilities to lead an expedition, he planned a traversal of the Northwest Passage
, the then-uncharted sea route from the Atlantic
to the Pacific
through the labyrinth of north Canadian islands. Having earned his master's ticket
, Amundsen acquired a small sloop
, Gjøa
, which he adapted for Arctic travel. He secured the patronage of King Oscar of Sweden and Norway
, the support of Nansen, and sufficient financial backing to set out in June 1903 with a crew of six. The voyage lasted until 1906 and was wholly successful; the Northwest Passage, which had defeated mariners for centuries, was finally conquered. At the age of 34 Amundsen became a national hero, in the first rank of polar explorers.
Polar expeditions in both north and south were active during this period. In November 1906 the American Robert Peary
returned from his latest unsuccessful quest for the North Pole, claiming a new Farthest North
of 87° 6′—a record disputed by later historians. He immediately began raising funds for a further attempt. In July 1907 Dr Frederick Cook
, a former shipmate of Amundsen's from Belgica, set off northwards on what was ostensibly a hunting trip but was rumoured to be an attempt on the North Pole. A month later Ernest Shackleton
's Nimrod Expedition
sailed for Antarctica, while Robert Falcon Scott
was preparing a further expedition should Shackleton fail. Amundsen saw no reason to concede priority in the south to the British, and spoke publicly about the prospects of leading an Antarctic expedition—although his preferred goal remained the North Pole.
into the Arctic pack ice off the northern Siberia
n coast and allowed it to drift in the ice towards Greenland, hoping that this route would cross the North Pole. In the event, the drift did not approach the pole, and an attempt by Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen
to reach it on foot was likewise unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Nansen's strategy became the basis of Amundsen's own Arctic plans. He reasoned that if he entered the Arctic Ocean via the Bering Strait
, well to the east of Nansen's starting point, his ship would achieve a more northerly drift and pass near or through the pole.
Amundsen consulted Nansen, who insisted that Fram was the only vessel fit for such an undertaking. Fram had been designed and built in 1891–93 by Colin Archer
, Norway's leading shipbuilder and naval architect, in accordance with Nansen's exacting specifications, as a vessel that would withstand prolonged exposure to the harshest of Arctic conditions. The ship's most distinctive feature was its rounded hull which, according to Nansen, enabled the vessel to "slip like an eel out of the embraces of the ice". For extra strength the hull was sheathed in South American greenheart
, the hardest timber available, and crossbeams and braces were fitted throughout its length. The ship's wide beam of 36 feet (11 m) in relation to its overall length of 128 feet (39 m) gave it a markedly stubby appearance. This shape improved its strength in the ice but affected its performance in the open sea, where it moved sluggishly and was inclined to roll most uncomfortably. However, its looks, speed and sailing qualities had all been made secondary to the provision of a secure and warm shelter for the crew during a voyage that might extend over several years.
Fram had emerged virtually unscathed from Nansen's expedition after nearly three years in the polar ice. On its return it had been refitted, before spending four years under the command of Otto Sverdrup
, charting and exploring 100000 square miles (258,998.8 km²) of uninhabited territory in the northern Canadian islands. After Sverdrup's voyage ended in 1902 Fram was laid up in Christiania. Although the ship was technically the property of the state, it was tacitly acknowledged that Nansen had first call on it. Since his return from the Arctic in 1896 he had aspired to take Fram on an expedition to Antarctica, but by 1907 such hopes had faded. Late in September of that year, Amundsen was summoned to Nansen's home and told he could have the ship.
. He would take Fram round Cape Horn
to the Pacific; after provisioning in San Francisco the ship would continue northwards, through the Bering Strait to Point Barrow
. From here he would set a course directly into the ice to begin a drift that would extend over four or five years. Science would be as important as geographical exploration; continuous observations would, Amundsen hoped, help to explain a number of unresolved problems. The plan was received enthusiastically, and the next day King Haakon opened a subscription list with a gift of 20,000 kroner
. On 6 February 1909 the Norwegian Parliament approved a grant of 75,000 kroner to refit the ship. The general fund-raising and business management of the expedition was placed in the hands of Amundsen's brother Leon so that the explorer could concentrate on the more practical aspects of organisation.
In March 1909 it was announced that Shackleton had reached a southern latitude of 88° 23′—less than 100 nautical miles (185.2 km) from the Pole—before turning back; thus, as Amundsen observed, in the south "a little corner remained". He was unreserved in his praise for Shackleton's achievement, writing that Shackleton was the south's equivalent of Nansen in the north. Following this near miss, Scott immediately confirmed his intention to lead an expedition that would encompass the "little corner" and claim the prize for the British Empire
.
. Gjertsen, despite lacking a medical background, was made expedition doctor, and was sent on a "lightning course" in surgery and dentistry. A naval gunner, Oscar Wisting
, was accepted on Prestrud's recommendation because he could turn his hand to most tasks. Although he had little previous experience of sledge dogs, Amundsen wrote that Wisting developed "a way of his own" with them, and became a useful amateur veterinarian.
An early choice for the party was Olav Bjaaland
, a champion skier who was a skilled carpenter and ski-maker. Bjaaland was from Morgedal
in the Telemark
province of Norway, a region renowned for the prowess of its skiers and as the home of the pioneer of modern techniques, Sondre Norheim
. Amundsen shared Nansen's belief that skis and sledge dogs provided by far the most efficient method of Arctic transport, and was determined to recruit the most skilful dog drivers. Helmer Hanssen
, who had proved his worth on the Gjøa expedition, agreed to travel with Amundsen again. He was joined later by Sverre Hassel
, an expert on dogs, and veteran of Sverdrup's 1898–1902 Fram voyage, who initially intended only to travel with Amundsen as far as San Francisco. Mindful of the value of a competent cook, Amundsen secured the services of Adolf Lindstrøm, another Sverdrup veteran who had been cook aboard Gjøa.
From his experiences on board Belgica and Gjøa, Amundsen had learned the importance on long voyages of stable and compatible companions, and with these experienced personnel he felt he had the core of his expedition. He continued to recruit through 1909; the Fram party would eventually total 19. All of these except one were Amundsen's personal choices; the exception was Hjalmar Johansen, who was taken on at the request of Nansen. Since his epic march with Nansen, Johansen had been unable to settle down. Despite the efforts of Nansen and others to help him, his life had become a spiral of drink and indebtedness. Nansen wished to give his former comrade a final chance to show that he was still a capable worker in the field; feeling that he could not refuse Nansen's wishes, Amundsen reluctantly accepted Johansen.
Amundsen did not publicise his change of plan. As Scott's biographer David Crane points out, the expedition's public and private funding was earmarked for scientific work in the Arctic; there was no guarantee that the backers would understand or agree to the proposed volte-face. Furthermore, the altered objective might cause Nansen to revoke the use of Fram, or parliament to halt the expedition for fear of undermining Scott and offending the British. Amundsen concealed his intentions from everyone except his brother Leon and his second-in-command, Nilsen. This secrecy led to awkwardness; Scott had sent Amundsen instruments to enable their two expeditions, at opposite ends of the earth, to make comparative readings. When Scott, in Norway to test his motor sledges, telephoned Amundsen's home to discuss cooperation, the Norwegian would not take the call.
The privately revised expedition schedule required Fram to leave Norway in August 1910 and sail to Madeira
in the Atlantic, its only port of call. From there the ship would proceed directly to the Ross Sea
in Antarctica, heading for the Bay of Whales
, an inlet on the Ross Ice Shelf
(then known as the "Great Ice Barrier") where Amundsen intended to make his base camp. The Bay of Whales was the southernmost point in the Ross Sea to which a ship could penetrate, 60 nautical miles (111.1 km) closer to the Pole than Scott's intended base at McMurdo Sound
. In 1907–09 Shackleton had considered the ice in the Bay of Whales to be unstable, but from his studies of Shackleton's records Amundsen decided that the Barrier here was grounded on shoal
s or skerries
, and would support a safe and secure base. After landing the shore party, Fram was to carry out oceanographic work in the Atlantic before picking up the shore party early in the following year.
—the best and strongest available. Besides their durability as pack animals, dogs could be fed to other dogs and could provide fresh meat for the men in the polar party.
The party's ski boots, specially designed by Amundsen, were the product of two years' testing and modification in search of perfection. The party's polar clothing included suits of sealskin from Northern Greenland, and clothes fashioned after the style of the Netsilik Inuit
from reindeer skins, wolf skin, Burberry
cloth and gabardine
. The sledges were constructed from Norwegian ash with steel-shod runners made from American hickory
. Skis, also fashioned from hickory, were extra long to reduce the likelihood of slipping into crevasses. The tents—"the strongest and most practical that have ever been used"—had built-in floors and required a single pole. For cooking on the march, Amundsen chose the Swedish Primus stove
rather than the special cooker devised by Nansen, because he felt the latter took up too much space.
From his experiences on Belgica, Amundsen was aware of the dangers of scurvy. Although the true cause of the disease, vitamin C
deficiency, was not understood at the time, it was generally known that the disease could be countered by eating fresh meat. To neutralise the danger, Amundsen planned to supplement sledging rations with regular helpings of seal meat. He also ordered a special kind of pemmican
which included vegetables and oatmeal: "a more stimulating, nourishing and appetising food it would be impossible to find". The expedition was well supplied with wines and spirits, for use as medicine and on festive or social occasions. Mindful of the loss of morale on Belgica, Amundsen provided for leisure time with a library of around 3,000 books, a gramophone, a large quantity of records and a range of musical instruments.
After a month's trial cruise in the northern Atlantic, Fram sailed to Kristiansand
in late July 1910 to take the dogs on board and to make final preparations for departure. While at Kristiansand, Amundsen received an offer of help from Peter "Don Pedro" Christopherson, a Norwegian expatriate whose brother was Norway's Minister in Buenos Aires
. Christopherson would provide fuel and other provisions to Fram at either Montevideo
or Buenos Aires, an offer which Amundsen gratefully accepted. Just before Fram sailed on 9 August, Amundsen revealed the expedition's true destination to the two junior officers, Prestrud and Gjertsen. On the four-week voyage to Funchal
in Madeira, a mood of uncertainty developed among the crew, who could not make sense of some of the preparations and whose questions were met with evasive answers from their officers. This, says Amundsen's biographer Roland Huntford
, was "enough to generate suspicion and low spirits".
Fram reached Funchal on 6 September. Three days later Amundsen informed the crew of the revised plan. He told them he intended to make "a detour" to the South Pole on the way to the North Pole, which was still his ultimate destination, but would have to wait for a while. After Amundsen had outlined his new proposals, each man was asked whether he was willing to go on, and all responded positively. Amundsen wrote a lengthy letter of explanation to Nansen, stressing how the North Pole claims of Cook and Peary had dealt a "death blow" to his original plans. He felt he had been forced into this action by necessity, asked for forgiveness and expressed the hope that his achievements would ultimately atone for any offence.
Before leaving Funchal on 9 September Amundsen sent a cable to Scott, to inform him of the change of plan. Scott's ship Terra Nova
had left Cardiff
amid much publicity on 15 June, and was due to arrive in Australia early in October; it was to Melbourne
that Amundsen sent his telegram. No indication was given of the Norwegian's plans or his destination in Antarctica: "We shall know in due course I suppose", Scott wrote to the Royal Geographical Society
(RGS) secretary, John Scott Keltie
. News of Amundsen's revised plans reached Norway early in October and provoked a generally hostile response. Although Nansen gave his blessing and warm approval, Amundsen's actions were with few exceptions condemned by press and public, and funding dried up almost completely. Reactions in Britain were predictably adverse; an initial disbelief expressed by Keltie soon turned to anger and scorn. "I have sent full details of Amundsen's underhand conduct to Scott ... If I was Scott I would not let them land", wrote Sir Clements Markham
, the influential former RGS president. Unaware of the world's reactions, Fram sailed south for four months. The first icebergs were sighted on New Year's Day 1911; the Barrier itself came into view on 11 January, and on 14 January Fram was in the Bay of Whales.
, "the home of Fram".
Early on the morning of 3 February, Terra Nova
arrived unexpectedly in the Bay of Whales. She had sailed from New Zealand on 29 November 1910 and had arrived in McMurdo Sound early in January. After landing Scott and his main party there, Terra Nova had taken a party of six men, led by Victor Campbell
, eastward to King Edward VII Land. This group intended to explore this then-unknown territory, but had been prevented by sea ice from approaching the shore. The ship was sailing westward along the Barrier edge in search of a possible landing place when it encountered Fram. Scott had previously speculated that Amundsen might make his base in the Weddell Sea area, on the opposite side of the continent; this proof that the Norwegians would be starting the race for the pole with a 60 nautical mile advantage was an alarming prospect for the British. The two groups behaved civilly towards each other; Campbell and his officers Harry Pennell
and George Murray Levick
breakfasted aboard Fram, and reciprocated with lunch on the Terra Nova. Amundsen was relieved to learn that Terra Nova had no wireless radio, since that might have imperilled his strategy to be first with the news of a polar victory. He was worried, however, by a remark of Campbell's that implied that Scott's motorised sledges were working well. Nevertheless he offered the British party a site alongside Framheim as a base for the exploration of King Edward VII Land. Campbell turned the offer down, and sailed for McMurdo Sound to inform Scott of Amundsen's whereabouts.
and then returning to the Barrier as early as possible in 1912., Vol. I, p. 179, Amundsen omits Wisting from the shore party. }}
When the four men began their journey south, their only knowledge of the Barrier was from books previous explorers had published, and they anticipated difficult travelling conditions. They were surprised to find the Barrier surface was much like that of a conventional glacier; they covered 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) on the first day. Amundsen noted how well his dogs were performing in these conditions, and wondered at the English aversion to the use of dogs on the Barrier. The party reached 80° S on 14 February, and after laying the depot turned for home, reaching Framheim on 16 February.
The second depot-laying party left Framheim on 22 February, with eight men, seven sledges and forty-two dogs. Conditions on the Barrier had deteriorated sharply; average temperatures had dropped by 9 °C (16 F), and rough snow had drifted across the previously smooth ice surface. In temperatures sometimes as low as -40 °C, on 3 March the party reached 81° S, where they established a second depot. Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Prestrud, Johansen and Wisting then continued with the strongest dogs, hoping to reach 83° S, but in difficult conditions they halted at 82° S on 8 March. Amundsen could see that the dogs were exhausted; the party turned for home, and with light sledges travelled swiftly to reach Framheim on 22 March. Amundsen wanted more supplies taken south before the impending polar night
made travel impossible, and on 31 March a party of seven men led by Johansen left Framheim for the 80° S depot with six slaughtered seals—2400 pounds (1,088.6 kg) of meat. The party returned on 11 April—three days later than expected—after they strayed into a field of crevasses.
Overall, the depot-laying journeys had established three depots containing 7500 pounds (3,401.9 kg) of supplies, which included 3000 pounds (1,360.8 kg) of seal meat and 40 gallons (181.8 l) of paraffin oil
. Amundsen had learnt much from the journeys, especially on the second, when the dogs had struggled with sledges that were too heavy. He decided to increase the number of dogs for the polar journey, if necessary at the expense of the number of men. The journeys had revealed some disunity among the men, particularly between Johansen and Amundsen. During the second depot journey, Johansen had openly complained about the unsatisfactory nature of the equipment; Amundsen believed that his authority had been challenged.
down the timber, and also constructed three sledges of his own from some spare hickory
wood. The adapted sledges were to be used to cross the Barrier, while Bjaaland's new set would be used in the final stages of the journey, across the polar plateau
itself. Johansen prepared the sledging rations (42,000 biscuits, 1,320 tins of pemmican and about 220 pounds (99.8 kg) of chocolate), while other men worked on improving the boots, cooking equipment, goggles, skis and tents. To combat the dangers of scurvy, twice a day the men ate seal meat, which had been collected and frozen in quantities before the onset of winter. The cook, Lindstrøm, supplemented the vitamin C intake with bottled cloudberries and blueberries
, and provided wholemeal bread made with fresh yeast, rich in B vitamins
.
While Amundsen was confident in his men and equipment, he was, Hassel recorded, tormented by thoughts of Scott's motor sledges and the fear that these would carry the British party to success. With this in mind Amundsen planned to begin the polar journey as soon as the sun rose in late August, though Johansen warned that it would be too cold on the Barrier so early in the season. Amundsen overruled him, and at sunrise on 24 August seven sledges were made ready. Johansen's concerns seemed justified, as harsh conditions for the next two weeks—temperatures as low as -58 °C—prevented the men from leaving. On 8 September 1911, when the temperature rose to -27 °C, Amundsen decided he could wait no longer, and the party of eight set off; Lindstrøm remained alone at Framheim.
s for shelter. Amundsen now recognised that they had begun the march too early in the season, and decided they should return to Framheim. He would not risk the lives of men and dogs for reasons of stubbornness. Johansen, in his diary, wrote of the foolishness of starting prematurely on such a long and historic journey, and of the dangers of an obsession with beating the English.
On 14 September, on their way back to Framheim, they left most of their equipment at the 80° S depot, to lighten the sledges. Next day, in freezing temperatures with a strong headwind, several dogs froze to death while others, too weak to continue, were placed upon the sledges. On 16 September, 40 nautical miles (74.1 km) from Framheim, Amundsen ordered his men to push for home as quickly as possible. Not having a sledge of his own, he leapt onto Wisting's, and with Helmer Hanssen and his team raced away, leaving the rest behind. The three arrived back at Framheim after nine hours, followed by Stubberud and Bjaaland two hours later and Hassel shortly after. Johansen and Prestrud were still out on the ice, without food or fuel; Prestrud's dogs had failed, and his heels were badly frostbitten. They reached Framheim after midnight, more than seventeen hours after they had turned for home.
Next day, Amundsen asked Johansen why he and Prestrud had been so late. Johansen answered angrily that he felt they had been abandoned, and castigated the leader for leaving his men behind. Amundsen would later inform Nansen that Johansen had been "violently insubordinate"; as a result, he was excluded from the polar party, which Amundsen now reduced to five. Johansen was placed under the command of Prestrud, much his junior as an explorer, in a party that would explore King Edward VII Land. Stubberud was persuaded to join them, leaving Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Bjaaland, Hassel and Wisting as the revised South Pole party.
Despite this near mishap they were covering more than 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) a day, and reached their 82° S depot on 5 November. They marked their route by a line of cairns, built of snow blocks, at three-mile intervals. On 17 November they reached the edge of the Barrier and faced the Transantarctic Mountains
. Unlike Scott, who would be following the Beardmore Glacier
route pioneered by Shackleton, Amundsen had to find his own route through the mountains. After probing the foothills for several days and climbing to around 1500 feet (457.2 m), the party found what appeared to be a clear route, a steep glacier 30 nautical miles (55.6 km) long leading upwards to the plateau. Amundsen named this the Axel Heiberg Glacier
, after one of his chief financial backers. It was a harder ascent than the team had anticipated, made much longer by the need to take detours, and by the deep, soft snow. After three days of difficult climbing the party reached the glacier summit. Amundsen was full of praise for his dogs, and scorned the idea that they could not work in such conditions; on 21 November the party travelled 17 miles and climbed 5000 feet (1,524 m).
The party loaded up three sledges with supplies for a march of up to 60 days, leaving the remaining provisions and dog carcasses in a depot. Bad weather prevented their departure until 25 November, when they set off cautiously over the unknown ground in persistent fog. They were travelling over an icy surface broken by frequent crevasses, which together with the poor visibility slowed their progress. Amundsen called this area the "Devil's Glacier". On 4 December they came to an area where the crevasses were concealed under layers of snow and ice with a space between, which gave what Amundsen called an "unpleasantly hollow" sound as the party passed over it. He christened this area. "The Devil's Ballroom". When later that day they emerged on to more solid ground, they had reached 87° S.
On 8 December the Norwegians passed Shackleton's Farthest South record of 88° 23′. As they neared the pole they looked for any break in the landscape that might indicate they had been forestalled. On 12 December they were momentarily alarmed by a black object that appeared on the horizon, but this proved to be dogs' droppings magnified by mirage. Next day they camped at 89° 45′ S, 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) from the pole. On the following day, 14 December 1911, with the concurrence of his comrades Amundsen travelled in front of the sledges, and at around 3 pm the party reached the vicinity of the South Pole. They planted the Norwegian flag and named the polar plateau "King Haakon VII's Plateau". Amundsen later reflected on the irony of his achievement: "Never has a man achieved a goal so diametrically opposed to his wishes. The area around the North Pole—devil take it—had fascinated me since childhood, and now here I was at the South Pole. Could anything be more crazy?"
For the next three days the men worked to fix the exact position of the pole; after the conflicting and disputed claims of Cook and Peary in the north, Amundsen wanted to leave unmistakable markers for Scott. After taking several sextant readings at different times of day, Bjaaland, Wisting and Hassel skied out in different directions to "box" the Pole; Amundsen reasoned that at least one of them would cross the exact point. Finally the party pitched a tent, which they called Polheim
, as near as possible to the actual pole as they could calculate by their observations. In the tent Amundsen left equipment for Scott, and a letter addressed to King Haakon which he requested Scott to deliver.
. Guided by the snow cairns built on their outward journey, they reached the Butchers' Shop on 4 January 1912, and began the descent to the Barrier. The men on skis "went whizzing down", but for the sledge drivers—Helmer Hanssen and Wisting—the descent was precarious; the sledges were hard to manoeuvre, and brakes were added to the runners to enable rapid stops when crevasses were encountered.
On 7 January, the party reached the first of their depots on the Barrier. Amundsen now felt their pace could be increased, and the men adopted a routine of travelling 15 nautical miles (27.8 km), stopping for six hours, then resuming the march. Under this regime they covered around 30 nautical miles (55.6 km) a day, and on 25 January, at 4 am, they reached Framheim. Of the 52 dogs that had started in October, 11 had survived, pulling 2 sledges. The journey to the Pole and back had taken 99 days—10 fewer than scheduled—and they had covered about 1860 nautical miles (3,444.7 km).
in Tasmania
. During the five-week voyage Amundsen prepared his telegrams and drafted the first report that he would give to the press. On 7 March, Fram reached Hobart, where Amundsen quickly learned there was as yet no news from Scott. He immediately sent telegrams to his brother Leon, to Nansen and to King Haakon, briefly informing them of his success. The next day he cabled the first full account of the story to London's Daily Chronicle
, to which he had sold exclusive rights. Fram remained in Hobart for two weeks; while there she was joined by Douglas Mawson
's ship Aurora, which was in service with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
. Amundsen presented them with a gift of 21 of his surviving dogs.
which had been recorded by Scott during the Discovery expedition
in 1902. After reaching this point they collected geological specimens and samples of mosses, and briefly explored their surroundings before returning to Framheim on 16 December. They were the first men to set foot on King Edward VII Land.
led by Nobu Shirase. Communication between the two expeditions was limited by language difficulties, though the Norwegians gathered that the Japanese were heading for King Edward VII Land. Kainan Maru departed the next day, and on 26 January she landed a party on King Edward VII Land. This was the first landing on this shore from the sea; attempts by Discovery
(1902), Nimrod (1908) and Terra Nova (1911) had all failed.
and King George V of England
. The king expressed particular pleasure that Amundsen's first port of call on his return had been on soil of the British Empire. In Norway the news was proclaimed in banner headlines, and the national flag was flown throughout the country. All the expedition's participants received the Norwegian South Pole medal (Sydpolsmedaljen), established by King Haakon to commemorate the expedition. However, Amundsen's biographer Roland Huntford refers to "the chill underneath the cheers"; there remained a residue of unease over Amundsen's tactics. One Norwegian newspaper expressed relief that Amundsen had found a new route, and had not intruded on Scott's path from McMurdo Sound.
In Britain, press reaction to Amundsen's victory was restrained but generally positive. Apart from the enthusiastic reports in the Daily Chronicle and the Illustrated London News—which each had a financial stake in Amundsen's success—the Manchester Guardian remarked that any cause for reproach was wiped out by the Norwegians' courage and determination. Readers of Young England
were exhorted not to grudge "the brave Norseman" the honour he had earned, and The Boy's Own Paper suggested that every British boy should read Amundsen's expedition account. The Times correspondent offered a mild rebuke to Amundsen for his failure to inform Scott until it was too late for the latter to respond, "all the more unnecessary, for no one would have welcomed co-operation in the work of South Polar exploration more than Captain Scott ... Still, no one who knows Captain Amundsen can have any doubt of his integrity, and since he states he has reached the Pole we are bound to believe him".
Senior figures at the RGS expressed more hostile sentiments, at least privately. To them, Amundsen's feat was the result of "a dirty trick". Markham hinted that Amundsen's claim might be fraudulent: "We must wait for the truth until the return of the Terra Nova". When later in 1912 Amundsen addressed the RGS he felt slighted after Lord Curzon
, the Society's president, jocularly called for "three cheers for the dogs". Shackleton did not join in denigrating Amundsen's victory, and called him "perhaps the greatest polar explorer of today". Before she heard the news of her husband's death, Kathleen Scott
conceded that Amundsen's journey "was a very fine feat ... in spite of one's irritation one has to admire it".
, he received the news that Scott and four comrades had reached the pole on 17 January 1912, but had all perished by 29 March, during their return journey. The bodies of Scott, Wilson
and Bowers had been discovered in November 1912, after the end of the Antarctic winter. In his initial response, Amundsen called the news "Horrible, horrible". His more formal tribute followed: "Captain Scott left a record, for honesty, for sincerity, for bravery, for everything that makes a man".
According to Huntford, the news of Scott's death meant that "Amundsen the victor was eclipsed ... by Scott the martyr". In the English-speaking world a myth quickly developed in which Scott was portrayed as one who had behaved nobly and played the game fairly. He had been defeated because, by contrast, Amundsen was a mere glory-seeker who had concealed his true intentions, had used dogs rather than relying on honest man-hauling
and had slaughtered these same dogs for food. Furthermore, he was considered a "professional" which, in the mindset of upper-class Britain of that time, diminished anything he might have accomplished. The myth was heavily reinforced with the publication of Scott's journals and his "Message to the Public". Huntford points out that "[Scott's] literary talent was his trump. It was as if he had reached out from his buried tent and taken revenge." Even so, among explorers Amundsen's name continued to be respected. In his account of the Terra Nova expedition written a few years later, Scott's comrade Apsley Cherry-Garrard
wrote that the primary reason for Amundsen's success was "the very remarkable qualities of the man", specifically his courage in choosing to discover a new route rather than follow the known path.
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 delayed the start of Amundsen's northern polar drift—to which the South Pole expedition had been intended as a preliminary—until July 1918. He then set off in a specially-constructed vessel, Maud
, which remained in Arctic waters for the next seven years. The ship did not drift over the North Pole, although in the course of the expedition it became the second ship to traverse the North-East Passage. Amundsen left the expedition in 1923; the remaining years of his life were largely devoted to polar exploration by air. On 12 May 1926, aboard the airship Norge
with Lincoln Ellsworth
and Umberto Nobile
, Amundsen flew over the North Pole. He and Wisting, also on the airship, were the first men to see both poles. In 1928, while attempting to rescue a later Nobile expedition, Amundsen disappeared with his aircraft in the seas between Norway and Spitsbergen
.
The four men who had stood at the pole with Amundsen were all asked to accompany their leader on the Maud drift. Bjaaland and Hassel declined; neither participated in any further polar ventures. Helmer Hanssen and Wisting both joined Maud; the latter took over the leadership when Amundsen left the expedition. In 1936 Wisting captained Fram on the ship's final voyage to Oslo, where it became a museum. Johansen, who had been unable to settle back into normal life on his return from Antarctica, became withdrawn and uncommunicative. He refused to discuss his experiences or his dispute with Amundsen, and retreated into a life of depression and poverty. On 4 January 1913 he shot himself in his Oslo lodgings.
The Scott myth lasted until the final quarter of the 20th century, when it was replaced by one that characterised him as a "heroic bungler" whose failure was largely the result of his own mistakes. This portrayal, the polar historian Stephanie Barczewski asserts, is as fallacious as the earlier one in which he was considered beyond criticism. In the early 21st century, writers have suggested more reasoned explanations for the Scott tragedy than his incompetence, and his reputation has to some extent been rescued. The renewed spotlight on Scott has also highlighted Amundsen's achievements: Barczewski writes that "Amundsen and his men reached the pole due to a combination of superb planning, long experience with sledge-dogs and skis and impressive physical stamina". In her account of Scott's expedition, Diana Preston is equally specific in identifying the basis of Amundsen's success. He was focused on the single goal of reaching the pole, whereas Scott had to reconcile the competing claims of geographical exploration and scientific knowledge. "A practical and experienced professional, [Amundsen] planned carefully and applied all the lessons he had learned in the Arctic ... [H]e relied exclusively on the well-tried means of transport and unsentimentally exploited their food potential. He was similarly efficient and unsentimental in his management of his men". The United States' scientific base at the South Pole, founded in 1957, is named the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, to honour the memories of both polar pioneers.
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South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen
Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led the first Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912 and he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles. He is also known as the first to traverse the Northwest Passage....
. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911,. }} five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later learned that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.
Amundsen's initial plans had focused on the Arctic and the conquest of the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
by means of an extended drift in an icebound ship. He obtained the use of Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
's polar exploration ship Fram
Fram
Fram is a ship that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912...
, and undertook extensive fundraising activities. Preparations for this expedition were disrupted when, in 1909, the rival American explorers Frederick Cook
Frederick Cook
Frederick Albert Cook was an American explorer and physician, noted for his claim of having reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. This would have been a year before April 6, 1909, the date claimed by Robert Peary....
and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the North Pole. Amundsen then changed his plan and began to prepare for a conquest of the South Pole; uncertain of the extent to which the public and his backers would support him, he kept this revised objective secret. When he set out in June 1910, even most of his crew believed they were embarking on an Arctic drift.
Amundsen made his Antarctic base, "Framheim", in the Bay of Whales
Bay of Whales
The Bay of Whales is a natural ice harbor, or iceport, indenting the front of Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island. It is the southernmost point of open ocean not only of the Ross Sea, but worldwide...
on the Great Ice Barrier
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica . It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface...
. After months of preparation, depot-laying and a false start which ended in near-disaster, he and his party set out for the pole in October 1911. In the course of their journey they discovered the Axel Heiberg Glacier
Axel Heiberg Glacier
The Axel Heiberg Glacier is a valley glacier, long, descending from the high-elevations of the Antarctic Plateau into the Ross Ice Shelf between the Herbert Range and Mount Don Pedro Christophersen in the Queen Maud Mountains....
, which provided their route to the polar plateau
Antarctic Plateau
The Antarctic Plateau is a large area of Central Antarctica, which extends over a diameter of about , and which includes the region of the South Pole and the Amundsen-Scott Station...
and ultimately to the South Pole. The party's mastery of the use of skis and their expertise with sledge dogs ensured rapid and relatively trouble-free travel. Other achievements of the expedition included the first exploration of King Edward VII Land and an extensive oceanographic cruise.
Although the expedition's success was widely applauded, the story of Scott's heroic failure overshadowed its achievement. For his decision to keep his true plans secret until the last moment, Amundsen was criticised for what some considered deception on his part. Recent polar historians have more fully recognised the skill and courage of Amundsen's party; the permanent scientific base at the pole bears his name, together with that of Scott.
Background
Amundsen was born near ChristianiaOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
(now Oslo), Norway, in 1872, the son of a ship-owner. In 1893 he abandoned his medical studies at Christiania University
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
and signed up as a seaman aboard the sealer
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
Magdalena for a voyage to the Arctic. After several further voyages he qualified as a second mate
Second Mate
A second mate or second officer is a licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The second mate is the third in command and a watchkeeping officer, customarily the ship's navigator. Other duties vary, but the second mate is often the medical officer and in charge of maintaining...
; when not at sea, he developed his skills as a cross-country skier in the harsh environment of Norway's Hardangervidda
Hardangervidda
The Hardangervidda is a mountain plateau in the Hardanger region of western Norway. It is the largest such plateau in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate and is the site of one of Norway's largest glaciers. Much of the plateau is protected as part of Hardangervidda National Park; it is a...
plateau. In 1896, inspired by the polar exploits of his countryman Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
, Amundsen joined the Belgian Antarctic Expedition
Belgian Antarctic Expedition
The Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897 to 1899, named after its expedition vessel Belgica, was the first expedition to winter in the Antarctic region.- Preparation and Surveying :...
as mate
Chief Mate
A Chief Mate or Chief Officer, usually also synonymous with the First Mate or First Officer , is a licensed member and head of the deck department of a merchant ship...
, aboard Belgica
RV Belgica (1884)
Belgica was a barque-rigged steamship that was built in 1884 by Christian Brinch Jørgensen at Svelvik, Norway as the whaler Patria. In 1896, she was purchased by Adrien de Gerlache for conversion to a research ship, taking part in the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1901, becoming the first...
under Adrien de Gerlache
Adrien de Gerlache
Baron Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery was an officer in the Belgian Royal Navy who led the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897 to 1899.-His early years:...
. Early in 1898 the ship became trapped by pack ice
Polar ice packs
Polar ice packs are large areas of pack ice formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions, known as polar ice caps: the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean, fringing the Antarctic ice sheet. Polar packs significantly change their size during...
in the Bellinghausen Sea, and was held fast for almost a year. The expedition thus became, involuntarily, the first to spend a complete winter in Antarctic waters, a period marked by depression, near-starvation, insanity and scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
among the crew. Amundsen remained dispassionate, recording everything and using the experience as an education in all aspects of polar exploration techniques, particularly equipment, clothing and diet.
Belgicas voyage marked the beginning of what became known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration defines an era which extended from the end of the 19th century to the early 1920s. During this 25-year period the Antarctic continent became the focus of an international effort which resulted in intensive scientific and geographical exploration, sixteen...
, and was rapidly followed by expeditions from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and France. However, on his return to Norway in 1899, Amundsen turned his attention northwards. Confident in his abilities to lead an expedition, he planned a traversal of the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
, the then-uncharted sea route from the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
through the labyrinth of north Canadian islands. Having earned his master's ticket
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
, Amundsen acquired a small sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
, Gjøa
Gjøa
Gjøa was the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. With a crew of six, Roald Amundsen traversed the passage in a three year journey, finishing in 1906.- History :- Construction :...
, which he adapted for Arctic travel. He secured the patronage of King Oscar of Sweden and Norway
Oscar II of Sweden
Oscar II , baptised Oscar Fredrik was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death and King of Norway from 1872 until 1905. The third son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, he was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden through his mother.-Early life:At his birth in Stockholm, Oscar...
, the support of Nansen, and sufficient financial backing to set out in June 1903 with a crew of six. The voyage lasted until 1906 and was wholly successful; the Northwest Passage, which had defeated mariners for centuries, was finally conquered. At the age of 34 Amundsen became a national hero, in the first rank of polar explorers.
Polar expeditions in both north and south were active during this period. In November 1906 the American Robert Peary
Robert Peary
Robert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
returned from his latest unsuccessful quest for the North Pole, claiming a new Farthest North
Farthest North
Farthest North describes the most northerly latitude reached by explorers before the conquest of the North Pole rendered the expression obsolete...
of 87° 6′—a record disputed by later historians. He immediately began raising funds for a further attempt. In July 1907 Dr Frederick Cook
Frederick Cook
Frederick Albert Cook was an American explorer and physician, noted for his claim of having reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. This would have been a year before April 6, 1909, the date claimed by Robert Peary....
, a former shipmate of Amundsen's from Belgica, set off northwards on what was ostensibly a hunting trip but was rumoured to be an attempt on the North Pole. A month later Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
's Nimrod Expedition
Nimrod Expedition
The British Antarctic Expedition 1907–09, otherwise known as the Nimrod Expedition, was the first of three expeditions to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton. Its main target, among a range of geographical and scientific objectives, was to be first to the South Pole...
sailed for Antarctica, while Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
was preparing a further expedition should Shackleton fail. Amundsen saw no reason to concede priority in the south to the British, and spoke publicly about the prospects of leading an Antarctic expedition—although his preferred goal remained the North Pole.
Nansen and Fram
In 1893 Nansen had driven his ship FramFram
Fram is a ship that was used in expeditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912...
into the Arctic pack ice off the northern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n coast and allowed it to drift in the ice towards Greenland, hoping that this route would cross the North Pole. In the event, the drift did not approach the pole, and an attempt by Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen
Hjalmar Johansen
Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen was a polar explorer from Norway. He shipped out with Fridtjof Nansen's Fram expedition in 1893–1896, and accompanied Nansen to notch a new Farthest North record near the North Pole on what was then the frozen Arctic Ocean...
to reach it on foot was likewise unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Nansen's strategy became the basis of Amundsen's own Arctic plans. He reasoned that if he entered the Arctic Ocean via the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
, well to the east of Nansen's starting point, his ship would achieve a more northerly drift and pass near or through the pole.
Amundsen consulted Nansen, who insisted that Fram was the only vessel fit for such an undertaking. Fram had been designed and built in 1891–93 by Colin Archer
Colin Archer
Colin Archer was a Norwegian naval architect and shipbuilder from Larvik, Norway. His parents emigrated from Scotland to Norway in 1825....
, Norway's leading shipbuilder and naval architect, in accordance with Nansen's exacting specifications, as a vessel that would withstand prolonged exposure to the harshest of Arctic conditions. The ship's most distinctive feature was its rounded hull which, according to Nansen, enabled the vessel to "slip like an eel out of the embraces of the ice". For extra strength the hull was sheathed in South American greenheart
Chlorocardium
Chlorocardium rodiei is a member of the family Lauraceae. It is one of two species in the genus Chlorocardium, and was formerly classified in either of the genera Nectandra or Ocotea, as Nectandra rodiei or Ocotea rodiei. Other local names include sipiri, bebeeru and bibiru...
, the hardest timber available, and crossbeams and braces were fitted throughout its length. The ship's wide beam of 36 feet (11 m) in relation to its overall length of 128 feet (39 m) gave it a markedly stubby appearance. This shape improved its strength in the ice but affected its performance in the open sea, where it moved sluggishly and was inclined to roll most uncomfortably. However, its looks, speed and sailing qualities had all been made secondary to the provision of a secure and warm shelter for the crew during a voyage that might extend over several years.
Fram had emerged virtually unscathed from Nansen's expedition after nearly three years in the polar ice. On its return it had been refitted, before spending four years under the command of Otto Sverdrup
Otto Sverdrup
Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer.-Early and personal life:...
, charting and exploring 100000 square miles (258,998.8 km²) of uninhabited territory in the northern Canadian islands. After Sverdrup's voyage ended in 1902 Fram was laid up in Christiania. Although the ship was technically the property of the state, it was tacitly acknowledged that Nansen had first call on it. Since his return from the Arctic in 1896 he had aspired to take Fram on an expedition to Antarctica, but by 1907 such hopes had faded. Late in September of that year, Amundsen was summoned to Nansen's home and told he could have the ship.
Initial steps
Amundsen made his plans public on 10 November 1908, at a meeting of the Norwegian Geographical SocietyNorwegian Geographical Society
The Norwegian Geographical Society is a Norwegian learned society founded in 1889. Among the initiators was geologist Hans Henrik Reusch, who chaired the society from 1898 to 1903, and again from 1907 to 1909, and was also an honorary member...
. He would take Fram round Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
to the Pacific; after provisioning in San Francisco the ship would continue northwards, through the Bering Strait to Point Barrow
Point Barrow
Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Barrow. It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at...
. From here he would set a course directly into the ice to begin a drift that would extend over four or five years. Science would be as important as geographical exploration; continuous observations would, Amundsen hoped, help to explain a number of unresolved problems. The plan was received enthusiastically, and the next day King Haakon opened a subscription list with a gift of 20,000 kroner
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...
. On 6 February 1909 the Norwegian Parliament approved a grant of 75,000 kroner to refit the ship. The general fund-raising and business management of the expedition was placed in the hands of Amundsen's brother Leon so that the explorer could concentrate on the more practical aspects of organisation.
In March 1909 it was announced that Shackleton had reached a southern latitude of 88° 23′—less than 100 nautical miles (185.2 km) from the Pole—before turning back; thus, as Amundsen observed, in the south "a little corner remained". He was unreserved in his praise for Shackleton's achievement, writing that Shackleton was the south's equivalent of Nansen in the north. Following this near miss, Scott immediately confirmed his intention to lead an expedition that would encompass the "little corner" and claim the prize for the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
Personnel
Amundsen chose three naval lieutenants as his expedition's officers: Thorvald Nilsen, a navigator who would be second-in-command; Hjalmar Fredrik Gjertsen, and Kristian PrestrudKristian Prestrud
Kristian Prestrud was a Norwegian Norwegian naval officer and polar explorer who participated in the Amundsen Antarctic Expedition between 1910 and 1912...
. Gjertsen, despite lacking a medical background, was made expedition doctor, and was sent on a "lightning course" in surgery and dentistry. A naval gunner, Oscar Wisting
Oscar Wisting
Oscar Adolf Wisting was a Norwegian polar explorer. Together with Roald Amundsen he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles.- Biography :...
, was accepted on Prestrud's recommendation because he could turn his hand to most tasks. Although he had little previous experience of sledge dogs, Amundsen wrote that Wisting developed "a way of his own" with them, and became a useful amateur veterinarian.
An early choice for the party was Olav Bjaaland
Olav Bjaaland
Olav Bjaaland was a Norwegian ski champion from Telemark. In 1911, he was one of the first five men to reach the South Pole as part of an expedition led by Roald Amundsen.- His life :...
, a champion skier who was a skilled carpenter and ski-maker. Bjaaland was from Morgedal
Morgedal
Morgedal, of the municipality of Kviteseid in the county of Telemark Norway, is called the cradle of skiing.Morgedal, Norway is a village whose most famous residents were Sondre Norheim, known to be the father of modern skiing plus Torjus Hemmestveit and Mikkjel Hemmestveit...
in the Telemark
Telemark
is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...
province of Norway, a region renowned for the prowess of its skiers and as the home of the pioneer of modern techniques, Sondre Norheim
Sondre Norheim
Sondre Norheim, born Sondre Auverson, was a Norwegian skier and pioneer of modern skiing. Sondre Norheim is known as the father of Telemark skiing.-Background:...
. Amundsen shared Nansen's belief that skis and sledge dogs provided by far the most efficient method of Arctic transport, and was determined to recruit the most skilful dog drivers. Helmer Hanssen
Helmer Hanssen
Helmer Julius Hanssen was a Norwegian polar explorer, and one of the first five to reach the South Pole on the expedition of Roald Amundsen.- His life :Helmer Hanssen was born in Bjørnskinn, on the island of Andøya in the northern part of Norway...
, who had proved his worth on the Gjøa expedition, agreed to travel with Amundsen again. He was joined later by Sverre Hassel
Sverre Hassel
Sverre Helge Hassel was a Norwegian polar explorer and one of the first five people to reach the South Pole.- Biography :...
, an expert on dogs, and veteran of Sverdrup's 1898–1902 Fram voyage, who initially intended only to travel with Amundsen as far as San Francisco. Mindful of the value of a competent cook, Amundsen secured the services of Adolf Lindstrøm, another Sverdrup veteran who had been cook aboard Gjøa.
From his experiences on board Belgica and Gjøa, Amundsen had learned the importance on long voyages of stable and compatible companions, and with these experienced personnel he felt he had the core of his expedition. He continued to recruit through 1909; the Fram party would eventually total 19. All of these except one were Amundsen's personal choices; the exception was Hjalmar Johansen, who was taken on at the request of Nansen. Since his epic march with Nansen, Johansen had been unable to settle down. Despite the efforts of Nansen and others to help him, his life had become a spiral of drink and indebtedness. Nansen wished to give his former comrade a final chance to show that he was still a capable worker in the field; feeling that he could not refuse Nansen's wishes, Amundsen reluctantly accepted Johansen.
Change of plan
In September 1909 newspapers carried reports that Cook and Peary had each reached the North Pole, Cook in April 1908 and Peary a year later. Asked to comment, Amundsen avoided an outright endorsement of either explorer, but surmised that "probably something will be left to be done". Although he avoided the controversy over the respective claims of Cook and Peary, he saw immediately that his own plans would be seriously affected. Without the allure of capturing the pole, he would struggle to maintain public interest or funding. "If the expedition was to be saved ... there was nothing left for me but to try and solve the last great problem—the South Pole". Thus Amundsen decided to go south; the Arctic drift could wait "for a year or two" until the South Pole had been conquered.Amundsen did not publicise his change of plan. As Scott's biographer David Crane points out, the expedition's public and private funding was earmarked for scientific work in the Arctic; there was no guarantee that the backers would understand or agree to the proposed volte-face. Furthermore, the altered objective might cause Nansen to revoke the use of Fram, or parliament to halt the expedition for fear of undermining Scott and offending the British. Amundsen concealed his intentions from everyone except his brother Leon and his second-in-command, Nilsen. This secrecy led to awkwardness; Scott had sent Amundsen instruments to enable their two expeditions, at opposite ends of the earth, to make comparative readings. When Scott, in Norway to test his motor sledges, telephoned Amundsen's home to discuss cooperation, the Norwegian would not take the call.
The privately revised expedition schedule required Fram to leave Norway in August 1910 and sail to Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
in the Atlantic, its only port of call. From there the ship would proceed directly to the Ross Sea
Ross Sea
The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land.-Description:The Ross Sea was discovered by James Ross in 1841. In the west of the Ross Sea is Ross Island with the Mt. Erebus volcano, in the east Roosevelt Island. The southern part is covered...
in Antarctica, heading for the Bay of Whales
Bay of Whales
The Bay of Whales is a natural ice harbor, or iceport, indenting the front of Ross Ice Shelf just north of Roosevelt Island. It is the southernmost point of open ocean not only of the Ross Sea, but worldwide...
, an inlet on the Ross Ice Shelf
Ross Ice Shelf
The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica . It is several hundred metres thick. The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 km long, and between 15 and 50 metres high above the water surface...
(then known as the "Great Ice Barrier") where Amundsen intended to make his base camp. The Bay of Whales was the southernmost point in the Ross Sea to which a ship could penetrate, 60 nautical miles (111.1 km) closer to the Pole than Scott's intended base at McMurdo Sound
McMurdo Sound
The ice-clogged waters of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound extend about 55 km long and wide. The sound opens into the Ross Sea to the north. The Royal Society Range rises from sea level to 13,205 feet on the western shoreline. The nearby McMurdo Ice Shelf scribes McMurdo Sound's southern boundary...
. In 1907–09 Shackleton had considered the ice in the Bay of Whales to be unstable, but from his studies of Shackleton's records Amundsen decided that the Barrier here was grounded on shoal
Shoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...
s or skerries
Skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....
, and would support a safe and secure base. After landing the shore party, Fram was to carry out oceanographic work in the Atlantic before picking up the shore party early in the following year.
Transport, equipment and supplies
Amundsen did not understand the apparent aversion of British explorers to dogs: "Can it be that the dog has not understood its master? Or is it the master who has not understood the dog?" he later wrote. Following his decision to go south he ordered 100 North Greenland sledge dogsSled dog
Sled dogs, known also as sleigh man dogs, sledge dogs, or sleddogs, are highly trained types of dogs that are used to pull a dog sled, a wheel-less vehicle on runners also called a sled or sleigh, over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines.Sled dogs have become a popular winter recreation...
—the best and strongest available. Besides their durability as pack animals, dogs could be fed to other dogs and could provide fresh meat for the men in the polar party.
The party's ski boots, specially designed by Amundsen, were the product of two years' testing and modification in search of perfection. The party's polar clothing included suits of sealskin from Northern Greenland, and clothes fashioned after the style of the Netsilik Inuit
Netsilik Inuit
The Netsilik Inuit live predominantly in the communities of Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and to a smaller extent in Taloyoak and the north Qikiqtaaluk Region...
from reindeer skins, wolf skin, Burberry
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
cloth and gabardine
Gabardine
Gabardine is a tough, tightly woven fabric used to make suits, overcoats, trousers, uniforms, windbreakers, and other garments. The fibre used to make the fabric is traditionally worsted wool, but may also be cotton, texturized polyester, or a blend. Gabardine is woven as a warp-faced steep or...
. The sledges were constructed from Norwegian ash with steel-shod runners made from American hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
. Skis, also fashioned from hickory, were extra long to reduce the likelihood of slipping into crevasses. The tents—"the strongest and most practical that have ever been used"—had built-in floors and required a single pole. For cooking on the march, Amundsen chose the Swedish Primus stove
Primus stove
The Primus stove, the first pressurized-burner kerosene stove, was developed in 1892 by Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, a factory mechanic in Stockholm, Sweden. The stove was based on the design of the hand-held blowtorch; Lindqvist’s patent covered the burner, which was turned upward on the stove...
rather than the special cooker devised by Nansen, because he felt the latter took up too much space.
From his experiences on Belgica, Amundsen was aware of the dangers of scurvy. Although the true cause of the disease, vitamin C
Vitamin C
Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient for humans and certain other animal species. In living organisms ascorbate acts as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative stress...
deficiency, was not understood at the time, it was generally known that the disease could be countered by eating fresh meat. To neutralise the danger, Amundsen planned to supplement sledging rations with regular helpings of seal meat. He also ordered a special kind of pemmican
Pemmican
Pemmican is a concentrated mixture of fat and protein used as a nutritious food. The word comes from the Cree word pimîhkân, which itself is derived from the word pimî, "fat, grease". It was invented by the native peoples of North America...
which included vegetables and oatmeal: "a more stimulating, nourishing and appetising food it would be impossible to find". The expedition was well supplied with wines and spirits, for use as medicine and on festive or social occasions. Mindful of the loss of morale on Belgica, Amundsen provided for leisure time with a library of around 3,000 books, a gramophone, a large quantity of records and a range of musical instruments.
Departure
In the months before departure, funds for the expedition became harder to acquire. Because of limited public interest, newspaper deals were cancelled and parliament refused a request for a further 25,000 kroner. Amundsen mortgaged his house to keep the expedition afloat; heavily in debt, he was now wholly dependent on the expedition's success to avoid personal financial ruin.After a month's trial cruise in the northern Atlantic, Fram sailed to Kristiansand
Kristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...
in late July 1910 to take the dogs on board and to make final preparations for departure. While at Kristiansand, Amundsen received an offer of help from Peter "Don Pedro" Christopherson, a Norwegian expatriate whose brother was Norway's Minister in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. Christopherson would provide fuel and other provisions to Fram at either Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
or Buenos Aires, an offer which Amundsen gratefully accepted. Just before Fram sailed on 9 August, Amundsen revealed the expedition's true destination to the two junior officers, Prestrud and Gjertsen. On the four-week voyage to Funchal
Funchal
Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
in Madeira, a mood of uncertainty developed among the crew, who could not make sense of some of the preparations and whose questions were met with evasive answers from their officers. This, says Amundsen's biographer Roland Huntford
Roland Huntford
Roland Huntford is an author, principally of biographies of Polar explorers. He lives in Cambridge, and was formerly Scandinavian correspondent of The Observer, also acting as their winter sports correspondent...
, was "enough to generate suspicion and low spirits".
Fram reached Funchal on 6 September. Three days later Amundsen informed the crew of the revised plan. He told them he intended to make "a detour" to the South Pole on the way to the North Pole, which was still his ultimate destination, but would have to wait for a while. After Amundsen had outlined his new proposals, each man was asked whether he was willing to go on, and all responded positively. Amundsen wrote a lengthy letter of explanation to Nansen, stressing how the North Pole claims of Cook and Peary had dealt a "death blow" to his original plans. He felt he had been forced into this action by necessity, asked for forgiveness and expressed the hope that his achievements would ultimately atone for any offence.
Before leaving Funchal on 9 September Amundsen sent a cable to Scott, to inform him of the change of plan. Scott's ship Terra Nova
Terra Nova (ship)
The Terra Nova was built in 1884 for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet. She worked for 10 years in the annual seal fishery in the Labrador Sea, proving her worth for many years before she was called upon for expedition work.Terra Nova was ideally suited to the polar regions...
had left Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
amid much publicity on 15 June, and was due to arrive in Australia early in October; it was to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
that Amundsen sent his telegram. No indication was given of the Norwegian's plans or his destination in Antarctica: "We shall know in due course I suppose", Scott wrote to the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
(RGS) secretary, John Scott Keltie
John Scott Keltie
Sir John Scott Keltie F.R.G.S., F.S.S was a Scottish geographer, best known for his work with the Royal Geographic Society.Keltie was born in Dundee, and attended school in Perth...
. News of Amundsen's revised plans reached Norway early in October and provoked a generally hostile response. Although Nansen gave his blessing and warm approval, Amundsen's actions were with few exceptions condemned by press and public, and funding dried up almost completely. Reactions in Britain were predictably adverse; an initial disbelief expressed by Keltie soon turned to anger and scorn. "I have sent full details of Amundsen's underhand conduct to Scott ... If I was Scott I would not let them land", wrote Sir Clements Markham
Clements Markham
Sir Clements Robert Markham KCB FRS was an English geographer, explorer, and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society's president for a further 12 years...
, the influential former RGS president. Unaware of the world's reactions, Fram sailed south for four months. The first icebergs were sighted on New Year's Day 1911; the Barrier itself came into view on 11 January, and on 14 January Fram was in the Bay of Whales.
Framheim
After Fram was anchored to ice in an inlet in the south-eastern corner of the Bay, Amundsen selected a site for the expedition's main hut, 2.2 nautical miles (4.1 km) from the ship. Six teams of dogs were used to move supplies to the site, as work on erecting the hut began. Bjaaland and Stubberud laid the foundations deep into the ice, levelling the sloping ground. Because the prevailing winds came from the east, the hut was erected on an east-west axis, with the door facing west; in this way the wind caught only the shorter eastern wall. The roof was in place by 21 January, and six days later the hut was complete. By then a large supply of meat—including 200 seals—had been brought to the base, for use by the shore party and to be laid in depots before the journey to the pole. The base was dubbed FramheimFramheim
Framheim was the name of explorer Roald Amundsen's base at the Bay of Whales on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica during his quest for the South Pole...
, "the home of Fram".
Early on the morning of 3 February, Terra Nova
Terra Nova (ship)
The Terra Nova was built in 1884 for the Dundee whaling and sealing fleet. She worked for 10 years in the annual seal fishery in the Labrador Sea, proving her worth for many years before she was called upon for expedition work.Terra Nova was ideally suited to the polar regions...
arrived unexpectedly in the Bay of Whales. She had sailed from New Zealand on 29 November 1910 and had arrived in McMurdo Sound early in January. After landing Scott and his main party there, Terra Nova had taken a party of six men, led by Victor Campbell
Victor Campbell
Victor Lindsay Arbuthnot Campbell DSO & Bar, OBE , was a British sailor and renowned explorer.-Terra Nova expedition:In 1910, he was First Officer on Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition...
, eastward to King Edward VII Land. This group intended to explore this then-unknown territory, but had been prevented by sea ice from approaching the shore. The ship was sailing westward along the Barrier edge in search of a possible landing place when it encountered Fram. Scott had previously speculated that Amundsen might make his base in the Weddell Sea area, on the opposite side of the continent; this proof that the Norwegians would be starting the race for the pole with a 60 nautical mile advantage was an alarming prospect for the British. The two groups behaved civilly towards each other; Campbell and his officers Harry Pennell
Harry Pennell
Harry Lewin Lee Pennell was a Royal Navy Officer, Lieutenant and Commander of the Terra Nova Expedition. He was responsible for the first sighting of Oates Coast on 22 February 1911, and named it after Captain Lawrence Oates...
and George Murray Levick
George Murray Levick
George Murray Levick was a British Antarctic explorer, and founder of the British Schools Exploring Society.He was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, the son of George Levick and Jeannie Sowerby. After a short medical career, he joined the Royal Navy in 1910 but was quickly given leave of absence to...
breakfasted aboard Fram, and reciprocated with lunch on the Terra Nova. Amundsen was relieved to learn that Terra Nova had no wireless radio, since that might have imperilled his strategy to be first with the news of a polar victory. He was worried, however, by a remark of Campbell's that implied that Scott's motorised sledges were working well. Nevertheless he offered the British party a site alongside Framheim as a base for the exploration of King Edward VII Land. Campbell turned the offer down, and sailed for McMurdo Sound to inform Scott of Amundsen's whereabouts.
Depot journeys
In early February Amundsen began organising the depot-laying journeys across the Barrier, in preparation for the following summer's assault on the pole. Supply depots laid in advance at regular intervals on the projected route would limit the amount of food and fuel that the South Pole party would have to carry. The depot journeys would be the first true tests of equipment, dogs and men. For the first journey, to begin on 10 February, Amundsen chose Prestrud, Helmer Hanssen and Johansen to accompany him; 18 dogs would pull three sledges. Before leaving, Amundsen left instructions with Nilsen regarding Fram. The ship was to sail to Buenos Aires for reprovisioning, before undertaking a programme of oceanographic work in the Southern OceanSouthern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
and then returning to the Barrier as early as possible in 1912., Vol. I, p. 179, Amundsen omits Wisting from the shore party. }}
When the four men began their journey south, their only knowledge of the Barrier was from books previous explorers had published, and they anticipated difficult travelling conditions. They were surprised to find the Barrier surface was much like that of a conventional glacier; they covered 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) on the first day. Amundsen noted how well his dogs were performing in these conditions, and wondered at the English aversion to the use of dogs on the Barrier. The party reached 80° S on 14 February, and after laying the depot turned for home, reaching Framheim on 16 February.
The second depot-laying party left Framheim on 22 February, with eight men, seven sledges and forty-two dogs. Conditions on the Barrier had deteriorated sharply; average temperatures had dropped by 9 °C (16 F), and rough snow had drifted across the previously smooth ice surface. In temperatures sometimes as low as -40 °C, on 3 March the party reached 81° S, where they established a second depot. Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Prestrud, Johansen and Wisting then continued with the strongest dogs, hoping to reach 83° S, but in difficult conditions they halted at 82° S on 8 March. Amundsen could see that the dogs were exhausted; the party turned for home, and with light sledges travelled swiftly to reach Framheim on 22 March. Amundsen wanted more supplies taken south before the impending polar night
Polar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
made travel impossible, and on 31 March a party of seven men led by Johansen left Framheim for the 80° S depot with six slaughtered seals—2400 pounds (1,088.6 kg) of meat. The party returned on 11 April—three days later than expected—after they strayed into a field of crevasses.
Overall, the depot-laying journeys had established three depots containing 7500 pounds (3,401.9 kg) of supplies, which included 3000 pounds (1,360.8 kg) of seal meat and 40 gallons (181.8 l) of paraffin oil
Paraffin
In chemistry, paraffin is a term that can be used synonymously with "alkane", indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2. Paraffin wax refers to a mixture of alkanes that falls within the 20 ≤ n ≤ 40 range; they are found in the solid state at room temperature and begin to enter the...
. Amundsen had learnt much from the journeys, especially on the second, when the dogs had struggled with sledges that were too heavy. He decided to increase the number of dogs for the polar journey, if necessary at the expense of the number of men. The journeys had revealed some disunity among the men, particularly between Johansen and Amundsen. During the second depot journey, Johansen had openly complained about the unsatisfactory nature of the equipment; Amundsen believed that his authority had been challenged.
Winter
The sun set over Framheim on 21 April, not to reappear for four months. Amundsen was mindful of the boredom and loss of morale that had blighted the Belgica expedition's winter in the ice, and although there was no possibility of sledging he ensured that the shore party kept busy. One urgent task was to improve the sledges, which had not worked well during the depot journeys. In addition to those he had chosen specifically for the expedition, Amundsen had brought along several sledges from Sverdrup's 1898–1902 Fram expedition, which he now thought would be better suited to the task ahead. Bjaaland reduced the weight of these older sledges by almost a third by planingPlane (tool)
A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood. When powered by electricity, the tool may be called a planer. Planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber. Planing is used to produce horizontal, vertical, or inclined flat surfaces on...
down the timber, and also constructed three sledges of his own from some spare hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
wood. The adapted sledges were to be used to cross the Barrier, while Bjaaland's new set would be used in the final stages of the journey, across the polar plateau
Antarctic Plateau
The Antarctic Plateau is a large area of Central Antarctica, which extends over a diameter of about , and which includes the region of the South Pole and the Amundsen-Scott Station...
itself. Johansen prepared the sledging rations (42,000 biscuits, 1,320 tins of pemmican and about 220 pounds (99.8 kg) of chocolate), while other men worked on improving the boots, cooking equipment, goggles, skis and tents. To combat the dangers of scurvy, twice a day the men ate seal meat, which had been collected and frozen in quantities before the onset of winter. The cook, Lindstrøm, supplemented the vitamin C intake with bottled cloudberries and blueberries
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
, and provided wholemeal bread made with fresh yeast, rich in B vitamins
B vitamins
B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. The B vitamins were once thought to be a single vitamin, referred to as vitamin B . Later research showed that they are chemically distinct vitamins that often coexist in the same foods...
.
While Amundsen was confident in his men and equipment, he was, Hassel recorded, tormented by thoughts of Scott's motor sledges and the fear that these would carry the British party to success. With this in mind Amundsen planned to begin the polar journey as soon as the sun rose in late August, though Johansen warned that it would be too cold on the Barrier so early in the season. Amundsen overruled him, and at sunrise on 24 August seven sledges were made ready. Johansen's concerns seemed justified, as harsh conditions for the next two weeks—temperatures as low as -58 °C—prevented the men from leaving. On 8 September 1911, when the temperature rose to -27 °C, Amundsen decided he could wait no longer, and the party of eight set off; Lindstrøm remained alone at Framheim.
Second season, 1911–12
False start
The party made good initial progress, travelling around 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) each day. The dogs ran so hard that several from the strongest teams were detached from the traces and secured onto the sledges to act as ballast. In their wolf-skin and reindeer-skin clothing the men could cope with the freezing temperatures while they kept moving, but when they stopped they suffered, and barely slept at night. The dogs' paws became frostbitten. On 12 September, with temperatures down to -56 °C, the party halted after only 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) and built iglooIgloo
An igloo or snowhouse is a type of shelter built of snow, originally built by the Inuit....
s for shelter. Amundsen now recognised that they had begun the march too early in the season, and decided they should return to Framheim. He would not risk the lives of men and dogs for reasons of stubbornness. Johansen, in his diary, wrote of the foolishness of starting prematurely on such a long and historic journey, and of the dangers of an obsession with beating the English.
On 14 September, on their way back to Framheim, they left most of their equipment at the 80° S depot, to lighten the sledges. Next day, in freezing temperatures with a strong headwind, several dogs froze to death while others, too weak to continue, were placed upon the sledges. On 16 September, 40 nautical miles (74.1 km) from Framheim, Amundsen ordered his men to push for home as quickly as possible. Not having a sledge of his own, he leapt onto Wisting's, and with Helmer Hanssen and his team raced away, leaving the rest behind. The three arrived back at Framheim after nine hours, followed by Stubberud and Bjaaland two hours later and Hassel shortly after. Johansen and Prestrud were still out on the ice, without food or fuel; Prestrud's dogs had failed, and his heels were badly frostbitten. They reached Framheim after midnight, more than seventeen hours after they had turned for home.
Next day, Amundsen asked Johansen why he and Prestrud had been so late. Johansen answered angrily that he felt they had been abandoned, and castigated the leader for leaving his men behind. Amundsen would later inform Nansen that Johansen had been "violently insubordinate"; as a result, he was excluded from the polar party, which Amundsen now reduced to five. Johansen was placed under the command of Prestrud, much his junior as an explorer, in a party that would explore King Edward VII Land. Stubberud was persuaded to join them, leaving Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Bjaaland, Hassel and Wisting as the revised South Pole party.
Barrier and mountains
Despite his eagerness to start out again, Amundsen waited until mid-October and the first hints of spring. He was ready to leave on 15 October, but was held up by the weather for a few more days. On 19 October 1911 the five men, with four sledges and fifty-two dogs, began their journey. The weather quickly worsened, and in heavy fog the party strayed into the field of crevasses that Johansen's depot party had discovered the previous autumn. Wisting later recalled how his sledge, with Amundsen aboard, nearly disappeared down a crevasse when the snow bridge broke underneath it.Despite this near mishap they were covering more than 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) a day, and reached their 82° S depot on 5 November. They marked their route by a line of cairns, built of snow blocks, at three-mile intervals. On 17 November they reached the edge of the Barrier and faced the Transantarctic Mountains
Transantarctic Mountains
The three largest mountain ranges on the Antarctic continent are the Transantarctic Mountains , the West Antarctica Ranges, and the East Antarctica Ranges. The Transantarctic Mountains compose a mountain range in Antarctica which extend, with some interruptions, across the continent from Cape Adare...
. Unlike Scott, who would be following the Beardmore Glacier
Beardmore Glacier
The Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica is one of the largest glaciers in the world, with a length exceeding 160 km . The glacier is one of the main passages from the Ross Ice Shelf through the Queen Alexandra and Commonwealth ranges of the Transantarctic Mountains to the Antarctic Plateau, and was one...
route pioneered by Shackleton, Amundsen had to find his own route through the mountains. After probing the foothills for several days and climbing to around 1500 feet (457.2 m), the party found what appeared to be a clear route, a steep glacier 30 nautical miles (55.6 km) long leading upwards to the plateau. Amundsen named this the Axel Heiberg Glacier
Axel Heiberg Glacier
The Axel Heiberg Glacier is a valley glacier, long, descending from the high-elevations of the Antarctic Plateau into the Ross Ice Shelf between the Herbert Range and Mount Don Pedro Christophersen in the Queen Maud Mountains....
, after one of his chief financial backers. It was a harder ascent than the team had anticipated, made much longer by the need to take detours, and by the deep, soft snow. After three days of difficult climbing the party reached the glacier summit. Amundsen was full of praise for his dogs, and scorned the idea that they could not work in such conditions; on 21 November the party travelled 17 miles and climbed 5000 feet (1,524 m).
March to the pole
On reaching 10600 feet (3,230.9 m) at the summit of the glacier, at 85° 36′ S, Amundsen prepared for the final stage of the journey. Of the 45 dogs who had made the ascent (7 had perished during the Barrier stage), only 18 would go forward; the remainder were to be killed for food. Each of the sledge-drivers killed dogs from his own team, skinned them, and divided the meat between dogs and men. "We called the place the Butchers' Shop", Amundsen recalled. "[T]here was depression and sadness in the air; we had grown so fond of our dogs". Regrets did not prevent the team from enjoying the plentiful food; Wisting proved particularly skilful in his preparation and presentation of the meat.The party loaded up three sledges with supplies for a march of up to 60 days, leaving the remaining provisions and dog carcasses in a depot. Bad weather prevented their departure until 25 November, when they set off cautiously over the unknown ground in persistent fog. They were travelling over an icy surface broken by frequent crevasses, which together with the poor visibility slowed their progress. Amundsen called this area the "Devil's Glacier". On 4 December they came to an area where the crevasses were concealed under layers of snow and ice with a space between, which gave what Amundsen called an "unpleasantly hollow" sound as the party passed over it. He christened this area. "The Devil's Ballroom". When later that day they emerged on to more solid ground, they had reached 87° S.
On 8 December the Norwegians passed Shackleton's Farthest South record of 88° 23′. As they neared the pole they looked for any break in the landscape that might indicate they had been forestalled. On 12 December they were momentarily alarmed by a black object that appeared on the horizon, but this proved to be dogs' droppings magnified by mirage. Next day they camped at 89° 45′ S, 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) from the pole. On the following day, 14 December 1911, with the concurrence of his comrades Amundsen travelled in front of the sledges, and at around 3 pm the party reached the vicinity of the South Pole. They planted the Norwegian flag and named the polar plateau "King Haakon VII's Plateau". Amundsen later reflected on the irony of his achievement: "Never has a man achieved a goal so diametrically opposed to his wishes. The area around the North Pole—devil take it—had fascinated me since childhood, and now here I was at the South Pole. Could anything be more crazy?"
For the next three days the men worked to fix the exact position of the pole; after the conflicting and disputed claims of Cook and Peary in the north, Amundsen wanted to leave unmistakable markers for Scott. After taking several sextant readings at different times of day, Bjaaland, Wisting and Hassel skied out in different directions to "box" the Pole; Amundsen reasoned that at least one of them would cross the exact point. Finally the party pitched a tent, which they called Polheim
Polheim
Polheim was Roald Amundsen's name for his camp at the South Pole. He arrived there on December 14, 1911, along with four other members of his expedition; Helmer Hanssen, Olav Bjaaland, Oscar Wisting, and Sverre Hassel....
, as near as possible to the actual pole as they could calculate by their observations. In the tent Amundsen left equipment for Scott, and a letter addressed to King Haakon which he requested Scott to deliver.
Return to Framheim
On 18 December, the party began the journey back to Framheim. Amundsen was determined to return to civilisation before Scott, and be first with the news. Nevertheless, he limited their daily distances to 15 nautical miles (27.8 km), to preserve the strength of dogs and men. In the 24-hour daylight the party travelled during the notional night, to keep the sun at their backs and thus reduce the danger of snow-blindnessPhotokeratitis
Photokeratitis or ultraviolet keratitis is a painful eye condition caused by exposure of insufficiently protected eyes to the ultraviolet rays from either natural or artificial sources. Photokeratitis is akin to a sunburn of the cornea and conjunctiva, and is not usually noticed until several...
. Guided by the snow cairns built on their outward journey, they reached the Butchers' Shop on 4 January 1912, and began the descent to the Barrier. The men on skis "went whizzing down", but for the sledge drivers—Helmer Hanssen and Wisting—the descent was precarious; the sledges were hard to manoeuvre, and brakes were added to the runners to enable rapid stops when crevasses were encountered.
On 7 January, the party reached the first of their depots on the Barrier. Amundsen now felt their pace could be increased, and the men adopted a routine of travelling 15 nautical miles (27.8 km), stopping for six hours, then resuming the march. Under this regime they covered around 30 nautical miles (55.6 km) a day, and on 25 January, at 4 am, they reached Framheim. Of the 52 dogs that had started in October, 11 had survived, pulling 2 sledges. The journey to the Pole and back had taken 99 days—10 fewer than scheduled—and they had covered about 1860 nautical miles (3,444.7 km).
Informing the world
On his return to Framheim, Amundsen lost no time in winding up the expedition. After a farewell dinner in the hut, the party loaded the surviving dogs and the more valuable equipment aboard Fram, which departed the Bay of Whales late on 30 January 1912. The destination was HobartHobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. During the five-week voyage Amundsen prepared his telegrams and drafted the first report that he would give to the press. On 7 March, Fram reached Hobart, where Amundsen quickly learned there was as yet no news from Scott. He immediately sent telegrams to his brother Leon, to Nansen and to King Haakon, briefly informing them of his success. The next day he cabled the first full account of the story to London's Daily Chronicle
Daily Chronicle
The Daily Chronicle was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the Daily News to become the News Chronicle.-History:...
, to which he had sold exclusive rights. Fram remained in Hobart for two weeks; while there she was joined by Douglas Mawson
Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...
's ship Aurora, which was in service with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition
Australasian Antarctic Expedition
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was an Australasian scientific team that explored part of Antarctica between 1911 and 1914. It was led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson, who was knighted for his achievements in leading the expedition. In 1910 he began to plan an expedition to chart...
. Amundsen presented them with a gift of 21 of his surviving dogs.
Other expedition achievements
Eastern party
On 8 November 1911 Prestrud, Stubberud and Johansen had departed for King Edward VII Land. The search for the point at which the solid ice of the Barrier became ice-covered land proved difficult. On 1 December the party had their first sighting of what was indubitably dry land, a nunatakNunatak
A nunatak is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present...
which had been recorded by Scott during the Discovery expedition
Discovery Expedition
The British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, generally known as the Discovery Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since James Clark Ross's voyage sixty years earlier...
in 1902. After reaching this point they collected geological specimens and samples of mosses, and briefly explored their surroundings before returning to Framheim on 16 December. They were the first men to set foot on King Edward VII Land.
Fram and Kainan Maru
After leaving the Bay of Whales on 15 February 1911, Fram sailed for Buenos Aires where she arrived on 17 April. Here, Nilsen learned that the expedition's funds were exhausted; a sum supposedly set aside for the ship's needs had not materialised. Fortunately, Amundsen's friend Don Pedro Christopherson was at hand to fulfil his earlier promises to provide supplies and fuel. Fram departed in June for an oceanographic cruise between South America and Africa, which occupied the next three months. The ship returned to Buenos Aires in September for final refitting and re-provisioning, before sailing south on 5 October. Strong winds and stormy seas prolonged the voyage, but the ship arrived at the Bay of Whales on 9 January 1912. On 17 January the men in Framheim were surprised by the appearance of a second ship; it was Kainan Maru, carrying the Japanese Antarctic ExpeditionJapanese Antarctic Expedition
The Japanese Antarctic Expedition of 1910–12 was the first exploration of Antarctic territory by an expedition from Japan. Led by army lieutenant Nobu Shirase, its ship Kainan Maru left Tokyo on December 1910, reaching the ice on 26 February 1911 and sailing on into the Ross Sea...
led by Nobu Shirase. Communication between the two expeditions was limited by language difficulties, though the Norwegians gathered that the Japanese were heading for King Edward VII Land. Kainan Maru departed the next day, and on 26 January she landed a party on King Edward VII Land. This was the first landing on this shore from the sea; attempts by Discovery
RRS Discovery
The RRS Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in Britain. Designed for Antarctic research, she was launched in 1901. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, successful...
(1902), Nimrod (1908) and Terra Nova (1911) had all failed.
Contemporary reactions
In Hobart, Amundsen received congratulatory telegrams from, among others, US President Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and King George V of England
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. The king expressed particular pleasure that Amundsen's first port of call on his return had been on soil of the British Empire. In Norway the news was proclaimed in banner headlines, and the national flag was flown throughout the country. All the expedition's participants received the Norwegian South Pole medal (Sydpolsmedaljen), established by King Haakon to commemorate the expedition. However, Amundsen's biographer Roland Huntford refers to "the chill underneath the cheers"; there remained a residue of unease over Amundsen's tactics. One Norwegian newspaper expressed relief that Amundsen had found a new route, and had not intruded on Scott's path from McMurdo Sound.
Young England magazine
Young England: A Illustrated Magazine for Boys Throughout the English-Speaking World was a British story paper aimed at a similar audience to the Boy's Own Paper, It was published from 1880 until 1937.- Publishing history :...
were exhorted not to grudge "the brave Norseman" the honour he had earned, and The Boy's Own Paper suggested that every British boy should read Amundsen's expedition account. The Times correspondent offered a mild rebuke to Amundsen for his failure to inform Scott until it was too late for the latter to respond, "all the more unnecessary, for no one would have welcomed co-operation in the work of South Polar exploration more than Captain Scott ... Still, no one who knows Captain Amundsen can have any doubt of his integrity, and since he states he has reached the Pole we are bound to believe him".
Senior figures at the RGS expressed more hostile sentiments, at least privately. To them, Amundsen's feat was the result of "a dirty trick". Markham hinted that Amundsen's claim might be fraudulent: "We must wait for the truth until the return of the Terra Nova". When later in 1912 Amundsen addressed the RGS he felt slighted after Lord Curzon
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC , known as The Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and as The Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman who was Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary...
, the Society's president, jocularly called for "three cheers for the dogs". Shackleton did not join in denigrating Amundsen's victory, and called him "perhaps the greatest polar explorer of today". Before she heard the news of her husband's death, Kathleen Scott
Kathleen Scott
Kathleen Scott, Baroness Kennet, FRSBS was a British sculptor.-Early life:Born Edith Agnes Kathleen Bruce at Carlton in Lindrick, Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire, she was the youngest of eleven children of Canon Lloyd Stuart Bruce and Jane Skene Kathleen Scott, Baroness Kennet, FRSBS (27 March...
conceded that Amundsen's journey "was a very fine feat ... in spite of one's irritation one has to admire it".
Scott tragedy
Amundsen left Hobart to undertake a lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand. He then went to Buenos Aires where he completed his expedition account. Back in Norway he supervised the publication of his book, then visited Britain before embarking on a long lecture tour of the United States. In February 1913, while in Madison, WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, he received the news that Scott and four comrades had reached the pole on 17 January 1912, but had all perished by 29 March, during their return journey. The bodies of Scott, Wilson
Edward Adrian Wilson
Edward Adrian Wilson was a notable English polar explorer, physician, naturalist, painter and ornithologist.-Early life:...
and Bowers had been discovered in November 1912, after the end of the Antarctic winter. In his initial response, Amundsen called the news "Horrible, horrible". His more formal tribute followed: "Captain Scott left a record, for honesty, for sincerity, for bravery, for everything that makes a man".
According to Huntford, the news of Scott's death meant that "Amundsen the victor was eclipsed ... by Scott the martyr". In the English-speaking world a myth quickly developed in which Scott was portrayed as one who had behaved nobly and played the game fairly. He had been defeated because, by contrast, Amundsen was a mere glory-seeker who had concealed his true intentions, had used dogs rather than relying on honest man-hauling
Manhauling
Manhauling, often expressed as man-hauling, means the pulling forward of sledges, trucks or other load-carrying vehicles by human power unaided by animals or machines...
and had slaughtered these same dogs for food. Furthermore, he was considered a "professional" which, in the mindset of upper-class Britain of that time, diminished anything he might have accomplished. The myth was heavily reinforced with the publication of Scott's journals and his "Message to the Public". Huntford points out that "[Scott's] literary talent was his trump. It was as if he had reached out from his buried tent and taken revenge." Even so, among explorers Amundsen's name continued to be respected. In his account of the Terra Nova expedition written a few years later, Scott's comrade Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard was an English explorer of Antarctica. He was a survivor of the Terra Nova Expedition and is acclaimed for his historical account of this expedition, The Worst Journey in the World....
wrote that the primary reason for Amundsen's success was "the very remarkable qualities of the man", specifically his courage in choosing to discover a new route rather than follow the known path.
Historical perspective
Maud (ship)
The Maud, named for Queen Maud of Norway, was a ship built for Roald Amundsen for his second expedition to the Arctic. Designed for his intended voyage through the Northeast Passage, the vessel was specially built at a shipyard in Asker, Norway on the Oslofjord.The Maud was launched in June 1916...
, which remained in Arctic waters for the next seven years. The ship did not drift over the North Pole, although in the course of the expedition it became the second ship to traverse the North-East Passage. Amundsen left the expedition in 1923; the remaining years of his life were largely devoted to polar exploration by air. On 12 May 1926, aboard the airship Norge
Norge (airship)
The Norge was a semi-rigid Italian-built airship that carried out what many consider the first verified overflight of the North Pole on May 12, 1926. It was also the first aircraft to fly over the polar ice cap between Europe and America...
with Lincoln Ellsworth
Lincoln Ellsworth
Lincoln Ellsworth was an arctic explorer from the United States.-Birth:He was born on May 12, 1880 to James Ellsworth and Eva Frances Butler in Chicago, Illinois...
and Umberto Nobile
Umberto Nobile
Umberto Nobile was an Italian aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships during the Golden Age of Aviation between the two World Wars...
, Amundsen flew over the North Pole. He and Wisting, also on the airship, were the first men to see both poles. In 1928, while attempting to rescue a later Nobile expedition, Amundsen disappeared with his aircraft in the seas between Norway and Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
.
The four men who had stood at the pole with Amundsen were all asked to accompany their leader on the Maud drift. Bjaaland and Hassel declined; neither participated in any further polar ventures. Helmer Hanssen and Wisting both joined Maud; the latter took over the leadership when Amundsen left the expedition. In 1936 Wisting captained Fram on the ship's final voyage to Oslo, where it became a museum. Johansen, who had been unable to settle back into normal life on his return from Antarctica, became withdrawn and uncommunicative. He refused to discuss his experiences or his dispute with Amundsen, and retreated into a life of depression and poverty. On 4 January 1913 he shot himself in his Oslo lodgings.
The Scott myth lasted until the final quarter of the 20th century, when it was replaced by one that characterised him as a "heroic bungler" whose failure was largely the result of his own mistakes. This portrayal, the polar historian Stephanie Barczewski asserts, is as fallacious as the earlier one in which he was considered beyond criticism. In the early 21st century, writers have suggested more reasoned explanations for the Scott tragedy than his incompetence, and his reputation has to some extent been rescued. The renewed spotlight on Scott has also highlighted Amundsen's achievements: Barczewski writes that "Amundsen and his men reached the pole due to a combination of superb planning, long experience with sledge-dogs and skis and impressive physical stamina". In her account of Scott's expedition, Diana Preston is equally specific in identifying the basis of Amundsen's success. He was focused on the single goal of reaching the pole, whereas Scott had to reconcile the competing claims of geographical exploration and scientific knowledge. "A practical and experienced professional, [Amundsen] planned carefully and applied all the lessons he had learned in the Arctic ... [H]e relied exclusively on the well-tried means of transport and unsentimentally exploited their food potential. He was similarly efficient and unsentimental in his management of his men". The United States' scientific base at the South Pole, founded in 1957, is named the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, to honour the memories of both polar pioneers.
Books
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External links
- Map of Amundsen's and Scott's South Pole journeys from The Fram Museum (Frammuseet)Fram MuseumThe Fram Museum is a museum telling the story of Norwegian polar exploration. It is located on the peninsula of Bygdøy in Oslo, Norway.Fram Museum is situated in an area with several other museums, including the Kon-Tiki Museum; the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History; the Viking Ship Museum;...
(archive link) - The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
and Google Books (scanned books original editions color illustrated) - The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram via LibriVoxLibriVoxLibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers and is probably, since 2007, the world's most prolific audiobook publisher...
(audiobooks) - The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram at eBooks @ Adelaide (HTML)
- Roald Amundsens dagbok fra hans Sørpolen-ekspedisjon (Roald Amundsen's diary from his South Pole Expedition) at Sorpolen 1911 – 2011 (in Norwegian)
