Antarctic Explorers: Roald Amundsen
1872-1928
 
Roald                      Amundsen, born in 1872 near Oslo, Norway, left his mark on                      the Heroic Era as one of the most successful polar explorers                      ever born. His career of adventure began at the age of 15,                      originally studying medicine, but dropping out to go to sea                      where he soon moved his way up to the rank of mate. His first                      experience in the Antarctic was with Adrien                      de Gerlache 's 1899 BELGICA EXPEDITION. He                      became the first to travel the Northwest Passage, in his ship Gjoa in 1903-06. After this expedition, plans were                      assembled to drift across the North Pole in Nansen's famous FRAM, but news arrived of Peary's successful attainment of the pole which caused Amundsen to                      make new plans--covert plans--for an expedition to                      the Antarctic and the subsequent capture of the South Pole.                      On December 14, 1911, Amundsen and four others stood at the                      South Pole, a month before Robert                      Scott . This expedition was an incredible masterpiece of                      organization. Here is the story...
"The          North Pole is reached!" was the news that flashed all over the world...it          was September 1909 when the news reached Amundsen. The original plan of          the FRAM'S third voyage--the exploration of the North Polar          basin--was quickly called off. In order to save the expedition, Amundsen          immediately turned his attention to the South simultaneously emphasizing          to his financial contributors that the FRAM'S Arctic voyage          would be, in every way, a scientific expedition and would have nothing          to do with record-breaking. Therefore, as far as the supporters were aware, Amundsen's Arctic voyage would not be influenced one way or another by          Peary's accomplishment. Since he was so heavily in debt, Amundsen felt          his change in plans to head south and capture the South Pole should be          kept a secret. In his own words, Amundsen wrote, "I know that I have been          reproached for not having at once made the extended plan public, so that          not only my supporters, but the explorers who were preparing to visit          the same regions might have knowledge of it. I was well aware that these          reproaches would come, and had therefore carefully weighed this side of          the matter". As hinted at, he also felt it important to keep his intentions          secret from his peers. "Nor did I feel any great scruples with regard          to the other Antarctic expeditions that were being planned at the time.          I knew I should be able to inform Captain Scott of the extension of my          plans before he left civilization, and therefore a few months sooner or          later could be of no great importance. Scott's plan and equipment were          so widely different from my own that I regarded the telegram that I sent          him later, with the information that we were bound for the Antarctic regions,          rather as a mark of courtesy than as a communication which might cause          him to alter his programme in the slightest degree. The British expedition          was designed entirely for scientific research. The Pole was only a side-issue,          whereas in my extended plan it was the main object". Amundsen must have          been in a dream world as this simply was not true. Scott's intention to          try for the Pole had been widely publicized and was certainly not a side          issue...one only need turn to Scott's Antarctic Expedition announcement          in the September 13, 1909, issue of The Times of London.
Amundsen          admitted that he was heavily in debt and knew that his best chance of          raising money was to bring off a spectacular triumph. Amundsen wrote,          "If at that juncture I had made my intention public, it would only have          given occasion for a lot of newspaper discussion, and possibly have ended          in the project being stifled at its birth. Everything had to be got ready          quietly and calmly. My brother, upon whose absolute silence I could blindly          rely, was the only person I let into the secret of my change of plan,          and he did me many important services during the time when we alone shared          the knowledge". The only other man to know of the change in plans was          the ship's commander, Lieutenant Thorvald Nilsen. Amundsen kept his plans          so secret that only these two men, along with Lieutenants Prestrud and          Gjertsen (told on the eve of the FRAM'S departure), knew          of them before the FRAM reached Madeira, ostensibly on the          way to Buenos Aires and then northwards to the Arctic; the Madeira trip          was supposed to be mainly for the purpose of oceanographical research.
The              Norwegians left Christiania on August 9, 1910, eight weeks after Scott's TERRA NOVA EXPEDITION had departed Cardiff. On board              were 97 Greenland dogs, the key to Amundsen's success, along with              a hut and provisions for two years in the Antarctic. A month later,              on September 6, the FRAM arrived at Madeira where fresh              water and other provisions were taken on board. A few minor repairs              were made to the ship as the crew enjoyed some free time ashore. On              the evening of the 9th, some three hours before departing for Antarctica,              Amundsen called the crew to his attention. Many of the men were quite              puzzled and unhappy to be interrupted as they were quickly writing              final letters for home. As they came on deck, Amundsen was standing              next to a map of Antarctica pinned to the mainmast. Amundsen spoke,              "...it is my intention to sail Southwards, land a party on the Southern              continent and try to reach the South Pole". Gjertsen wrote, "Most              stood there with mouths agape staring at the Chief like so many question              marks". Amundsen personally asked each man if he would like to join              him on this historic journey. The last man to go ashore was Amundsen's              brother, Leon. His charge would be to mail the men's letters and cable              Scott...but not until the beginning of October when Amundsen knew              he would be beyond the point of recall. Once Amundsen left Madeira,              he vanished, bound for an unknown destination...Scott never dreamt              it would be the Ross Sea. Scott, on board the TERRA NOVA,              arrived in Melbourne on the evening of October 12, 1910. Among the              mail waiting for him was Amundsen's telegram, sent from Madeira, which              came as a complete surprise: "Beg leave inform you proceeding Antarctic.              Amundsen." Although there is no record of Scott's reaction, Evans              later recalled, "we considered that he [Amundsen] would go to the              Pole from the Weddell Sea side". In London, Sir Clements Markham eagerly              put forth his opinion: "She [the FRAM] has no more sailing              qualities than a haystack. In any case, Scott will be on the ground              and settled long before Amundsen turns up, if he ever does". Markham              gleaned information from his sources in Norway and reported to the              Royal Geographic Society's secretary, on October 15, that Amundsen              had "quietly got a wintering hut made on board and 100 dogs and a              supply of tents and sledges. His secret design must have been nearly              a year old. They believe his mention of Punta Aranas and Buenos Aires              is merely a blind, and that he is going to McMurdo Sound to try to              cut out Scott...If I were Scott I would not let them land, but he              is always too good-natured". Whatever the rights and wrongs of the              matter, the general view among those involved in Scott's expedition              was that Amundsen's behavior was underhanded.
It took the FRAM four months to reach the Ross Ice Shelf, on January 14, 1911. Amundsen          chose the Bay of Whales as winter headquarters for a number of reasons.          First, they could sail a whole degree farther south than Scott could hope          to get in McMurdo Sound, putting them 60 miles closer to the Pole; secondly,          they could set up their headquarters right on top of their field of work;          thirdly, animal life in the Bay of Whales was extraordinarily rich and          offered all the fresh meat the men required in the form of seals, penguins,          etc. Besides, it offered a favorable site for an investigation of the          meteorological conditions in all directions and was very easy to reach          by ship. Unloading started on January 15 with camp established two miles inland. The first sledge was loaded with supplies, hitched to eight dogs          and led away by Amundsen.
For the next three          weeks, five sledges, 46 dogs and five men transferred some 10 tons of          supplies daily to base camp. Meanwhile, the carpenter, Jorgen Stubberud,          supervised the assembly of the prefabricated hut. After a visit from Scott's TERRA NOVA, the base camp was christened Framheim--"The          home of Fram"--and the depot-laying journeys began. Within a three-week          period, depots were established at 80°S, 81°S and 82°S...more          than a ton and a half of supplies had been stored within 480 miles of          the Pole. On April 21 the sun finally sank and the long winter night began.
FRAM,                taken by a crewmember aboard TERRA NOVA
A              great deal of work had to be done over the next four months. Amundsen              was well aware of potential problems brought by nine men cramped into              close quarters over the long winter nights so a strict routine was              quickly introduced. Six days a week the men would rise at 7:30 am,              have breakfast, start work at 9:00 and have lunch at noon. They would              return to their work at 2:00 pm and end at 5:15, with the balance              of the day to be used as they pleased. Each man took his turn as the              week's housekeeper emptying ashtrays, sweeping up and generally keeping              the hut clean. Each man had two hooks on which to hang clothes, while              the rest of their small stuff was kept out of sight in a clothes sack              nearby. In addition to the hut in which they lived, fifteen 16-man              tents were erected to store fuel and supplies. Bjaaland and Hassel              built a Scandanavian staple...a sauna. A bottomless box, on a platform              raised two feet off the ice floor, was built large enough to slip              over the man, allowing only his head to protrude. A tin box, fitted              between the platform and the ice floor, was heated by two paraffin              stoves. As the water boiled, the compartment would fill with steam.              When the man was finished, a rope-and-pulley system would lift the              box clear, exposing a naked man, who then had to make a dash back              to the hut. Exposure to the elements would quickly seal the pores...the              event became a Saturday night ritual.
Over the winter, every          man had specific chores. Kristian Prestrud, assisted by Hjalmar Johansen,          made scientific observations; Sverre Hassel, assisted by Helmer Hanssen,          was nicknamed the "Managing Director of Framheim's Coal, Oil and Coke          Company Limited", the position responsible for supplying lamps and heaters          with fuel. Johansen packed the sledges with pemmican, chocolate, milk          powder and biscuits. Remodelling and overhauling of the expedition's sledging          equipment was left to the skilled carpenter, Olav Bjaaland, assisted by          Jorgen Stubberud. Bjaaland was an expert at reducing unnecessary weight          on the sledges. As well as preparing two sets of skis for each man, Bjaaland          lightened the weight of the sledges by nearly one third. Stubberud achieved similar results with the sledging cases. When Bjaaland was finished, Hanssen          and Oscar Wisting would assemble the sledge using rawhide lashings. In          a tiny snow cave off the main storage room, Wisting spent most of the          winter at a sewing machine where new tents were made, complete with floors,          from weight-saving windcloth. The new tents weighed nearly nine pounds          less than the tents brought on the expedition. The camp's cook was an          overweight and jolly man named Adolf Lindstrom. Lindstrom would rise each          morning at 6:00 am to prepare a breakfast of hot buckwheat cakes spread          with whortleberry preserve, plus wholemeal bread enriched with wheatgerm,          butter and cheese. Amundsen said Lindstroms' cakes "slipped down with          fabulous rapidity". As for lunch, various meals were prepared from fresh          or frozen seal meat, supplemented with tinned meats by the end of winter.          For dessert, tinned California fruits, tarts, pudding, pies and pastries,          all made by Lindstrom, were served. Supper was seal steak, bread with          butter, whortleberry jam and cheese. Coffee was the staple beverage although          brandy was served on Saturday evenings, birthdays and holidays. Amundsen          made certain the food at Framheim was very nutritious since he'd learned          first-hand the effects of scurvy while on the BELGICA EXPEDITION in 1897.
The              men actually enjoyed getting together each evening over supper. Since              they had worked in different parts of the camp during the day, rarely              was there a lack of conversation come evening time. Card games, dart              matches, reading and needlework took place often around the main table.              Occasionally the gramophone was brought out and a few records played.              But, despite the relative easy passing of winter nights, Amundsen              remained worried about Johansen's quick temper. Forced abstinence              from alcohol made Johansen quite difficult to deal with at times.              To make matters worse, Johansen had as much experience in polar exploration              as Amundsen; he had been to the Arctic with Nansen. Johansen felt              this put him, at worst, on level par with Amundsen. And then there              was the matter of Robert Scott...how far had the English advanced?              Amundsen was aware that Scott was using motorized sledges although              he doubted their efficiency. Little did he know of what was going              on at McMurdo Sound.
Fridtjof                Nansen
By              August 24 the sun had reappeared and the packed sledges were ready              to be taken out from their underground storage. But two long, frustrating              months would pass before the weather was warm enough for them to start              the journey to the Pole. Tensions increased as each day passed. Amundsen              would have the men and dogs prepared for departure only to cancel              at the last moment due to inclement weather. The weather had to be              clear for their first run to the 80°S depot, or there was a real              risk of missing it. Finally, on Friday, September 8, 1911, they sped              off across the snow...eight men with sledges pulled by 86 dogs; only              Lindstrom was left behind as custodian of Framheim. Amundsen wrote              that "the going was splendid" and they covered 31 miles over the next              three days. However, on the morning of the 11th they awoke to frigid              temperatures nearing -70°F. By the next day, conditions were even              worse as the fluid in their compasses froze solid. Amundsen determined              that it was simply too risky to continue on towards the Pole. That              evening a decision was made to make a run for the depot, weather permitting,              unload their sledges and race back to Framheim. The weather co-operated              and they arrived at the depot on Thursday. The next evening Hanssen              and Stubberud discovered their heels were frostbitten. As well, a              number of the dogs were suffering from the cold; two of the dogs froze              to death in their sleep. At 7:00 the next morning they set off for              Framheim.
Johansen
They              would normally keep in sight of each other but the first two sledges              moved so rapidly that the others were soon left behind. The sledge              teams continued to break up, with Bjaaland and Stubberud reaching              Framheim first at 6 pm, followed two hours later by Amundsen's group.              A half an hour after that Hassel arrived and six hours later, at 12:30              am, Johansen and Prestrud finally stumbled into camp. Johansen and              Prestrud were totally exhausted, having found Framheim in the dark              and fog only by following the barking of the dogs. At breakfast the              next morning, Amundsen finally succeeded in knocking the chip off              Johansen's shoulder when Amundsen asked why it had taken them so long              to make it back to Framheim. Johansen exploded, angrily accusing Amundsen              of panicking and displaying poor leadership qualities when the group              had been allowed to split up. In the dead silence that followed, Amundsen              remained speechless. It was what Amundsen had always feared--a confrontation              with the one man in the expedition with experience to equal his own.              This brought to an end the harmony amongst all the men as Amundsen              never forgave Johansen or spoke to him unless absolutely necessary.              Amundsen's excuse to the others was that Hanssen was suffering too              severely from frostbite to linger behind...the men were not totally              convinced.
At noon,          Amundsen announced to his men a change in plans. Amundsen would lead one          party to the Pole while Prestrud--with Johansen--would lead a second party          to explore King Edward VII Land. Amundsen's decision was not a revengeful          one as he felt that if the Pole party were not successful, at least there          might still be a "first" gained for Norway. Amundsen then spoke to each          man individually (ignoring Johansen), asking for his pledge of loyalty...all          gave it. And so, on October 20, 1911, Amundsen, Bjaaland, Wisting, Hassel          and Hanssen departed on their historic journey to the Pole. Four sledges          were used, each pulled with 13 dogs. They made good progress, other than          a little trouble with crevasses, and arrived at 80°S depot on the          24th. They uncovered the provisions and gave the dogs a feast of seal          meat and blubber. The next day the party left with all five men on skis.          On the way south, they spotted a cairn still standing as they had built          it the prior April. Thus proving reliability, another 150 similar cairns          were built on the journey south, each left with a written record inside          stating the distance and bearing to the next cairn. Each day, as they          built their cairn, lunch was eaten..."nothing very luxurious", wrote Amundsen,          "three or four dry oatmeal biscuits, that was all. If one wanted a drink,          one could mix snow with the biscuit". They arrived at 82°S depot on          November 4. Two days later they left...they were accomplishing 20 miles          each day, in only five hours, after which they would build their cairn,          in an hour and a half, and then rest for the remainder of the day. On          November 11 the peaks of mountains were seen in the distance, which Amundsen          later named Queen Maud's Range, after the Queen of Norway. At the foot          of the range they camped and discussed strategy for the final push to          the Pole, some 340 miles distant. The final plan was to take supplies          and provisions for 30 days, along with the remaining 42 dogs, and make          the climb. After reaching the top, 24 of the dogs would be shot, since          they would no longer be needed, using the remaining 18 in the final dash          for the Pole. Once reached, six more would be slaughtered to provide food          for the remaining twelve on the trip back to Framheim. On November 17          they started the climb up the Axel Heiberg Glacier. The weather was warm          and the climb even better as they covered 11.5 miles before making camp          at 2000 feet. Four days later, on November 21, they found themselves at          the summit. They'd managed to carry a ton of supplies to an altitude of          10,000 feet. Twenty-four dogs were shot and the party stayed at "The Butcher's          Shop", as it was now called, for four more days before heading off into          a raging blizzard. They had already waited two days longer than planned          so they had no choice but to push on. For the next ten days they struggled,          five men and 18 dogs, against driving snow in 35 mph winds and thick fog.          At last they reached the plateau, only to be confronted by "The Devil's          Ballroom", a glacier with a thin crust of snow covering a number          of dangerous, deep crevasses. This proved to be the last major obstacle.
On              December 8, with the sun shining brightly, they passed Shackleton 's              farthest south, 88°23'S. They were only 95 miles from the South              Pole. The dogs were hungry and exhausted, the men had many sores and              frostbitten faces, yet still the party pushed on. The closer they              came to the Pole, the more Amundsen worried that Scott had already              beaten them. The temptation to race on, at full speed, was shared              by everyone. At 3:00 pm, on Friday, December 14, 1911, there was a              simultaneous cry of "Halt!" as the sledge meters registered their              arrival at the South Pole. They had achieved their goal. Symbolic              of their struggle in unity, each of the men, with their weathered              and frostbitten hands, grasped the Norwegian flag and planted it firmly              at the geographical South Pole. Amundsen named the plain King Haakon              VII's Plateau. There were festivities in the tent that evening with              each man sharing a little seal meat. At midnight observations were              taken that put them at 89° 56'S. Arrangements were now made to              encircle the camp with a radius of approximately twelve and a half              miles.
At noon,          on December 17, the observations had been completed and it was certain          the men had done all that could be done. In order to come a few inches          closer to the actual Pole, Hanssen and Bjaaland went out four geographical          miles and promptly returned. Bjaaland surprised Amundsen when he pulled          out a cigar-case full of cigars at dinner. A cigar at the Pole! Following          the festival dinner, preparations for departure began. A tent was erected,          naming it Poleheim, with Amundsen leaving a message inside for Scott,          along with a letter for King Haakon. Thirty-nine days later the party          returned to Framheim, as planned, with all five men and 11 dogs "hale          and hearty". The month-long voyage back to Tasmania was a frustrating          time for Amundsen, who was now quite anxious to be the first to announce          the news of their achievement. On March 7, 1912, Amundsen finally cabled          his brother Leon with the historic news.
During World War I          Amundsen made a significant amount of money from supplying "neutral" shipping.          He went on to build the MAUD in order to continue his Arctic          drift. He managed to complete the Northwest Passage around Siberia--only          the second to do so--but failed in his attempt to proceed farther north.          Subsequently, he left the ship in 1921. Amundsen now became consumed with          flying, but was soon facing extreme financial hardship before gaining          support from Lincoln Ellsworth. Together with Ellsworth, history was made          when they flew the airship NORGE from Spitsbergen to Alaska          via the North Pole. This was the first trans-Arctic flight right across          the Pole. Amundsen, fulfilled by his reputation, now retired. Unfortunately,          he never could come to terms with the British reaction to his secret change          of plans in 1910. Mill, of the Royal Geographic Society, described him          as the most unhappy of all the polar explorers he had ever met. In 1928,          while searching for survivors of an airship disaster, Amundsen's plane          crashed and he disappeared without a trace.
Ham Radio QSL Card          Confirming My 2-Way Radio Contact With the South Pole
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