Roald Amundsen and the Journey to the South Pole
Story 1 in the nonfiction serial, Into Danger with the Adventurers - Twelve Epic Lives of the Twentieth Century
Part 1
Roald Amundsen and Oscar Wisting sat astride the boxes on the sledge as they sped south across the snow-covered ice of Antarctica. Thirteen dogs were pulling the sledge and Wisting was steering, occasionally using his whip to nudge the dogs in the right direction. Their sledge was at the back. Three other sledges were in front of them, each pulled by thirteen dogs. Helmer Hanssen was in the lead and behind him was Sverre Hassel. Then, just ahead of Roald and Wisting’s sledge, was Olav Bjaaland. It was 21 October 1911, three days since they had left their base at Framheim to try to be the first to reach the South Pole.
Snow was falling and visibility was poor. To make matters worse, they were near an area which they knew had many dangerous crevasses. These are cracks in the ice which are very deep, but often hidden by a covering of snow which could give way at any minute. They had discovered the crevasses on previous trips which they had made in the autumn. During these trips they had set up supply depots for the main journey. Roald would normally have ordered his men to stay in the tents for the day until the weather improved. Crossing a crevassed area in poor visibility was surely dangerous. They would not be able to see a crevasse until it was too late. But Roald could see the tracks from where they had previously travelled and he set his course a little further east. He hoped to steer clear of the danger area.
For the first two hours all went well. They passed over a few narrow crevasses, but they were not wide enough to cause a problem. They were also going slightly downhill which helped them to go faster. Roald knew he could not afford to waste time. The British explorer, Captain Scott, was also leading an expedition to the South Pole. It was a race to get there first. As they sped along they were making good progress. Then Roald saw Bjaaland’s sledge tilting to one side.
Roald and Wisting stopped their sledge and watched in horror as Bjaaland’s sledge slowly disappeared into a crevasse. Bjaaland had realized straightway what was happening and had flung himself off the sledge onto the snow. He grabbed the main trace, the rope which connected the sledge to the traces of each dog. He clung on with all his might. The dogs, too, knew something was wrong. They strained at their traces and dug their claws into the snow. But the sledge was slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the crevasse.
Roald and Wisting ran up to the crevasse and looked down. It was only a metre wide, but Roald could not see the bottom. If the sledge fell down there it would never been seen again and all the supplies on the sledge would be lost. And not only that, the dogs were beginning to slip into the crevasse.
“I can’t hold it any longer,” gasped Bjaaland.
Part 2
Roald Amundsen was born in 1872 in a house called Hvidsten, near Sarpsborg in Norway. Soon afterwards, the family moved to the outskirts of the capital, Christiania, today called Oslo. Roald’s father worked for the family shipping company and was captain of a ship. Roald and his three elder brothers liked to play in the countryside and Roald learned to ski when he was young.
The family would go back to Hvidsten in the holidays. Roald learned to skate on the river when it was frozen and sailed small boats in the summer. Ships from the sea moored there. Roald often visited the family shipyard which was nearby. He was always asking questions and learning about ships. They were happy times, but when he was fourteen, sadly, his father died at sea.
When he was fifteen he read a book by the British explorer, Sir John Franklin, about his journeys in the Canadian Arctic. The Arctic is a vast circular area with the North Pole at its centre. The edge of the circle marks the point within which the sun does not set in the summer and does not rise in the winter. Roald was spellbound by the way Franklin endured the freezing weather. A year later the Norwegian Arctic explorer, Fridtjof Nansen, crossed the Greenland icecap. This further fired the imagination of Roald; he too wanted to be an Arctic explorer. But his mother wanted him to become a doctor, so he went to Christiania University to study medicine. He preferred walking and skiing in the hills and forests rather than studying medicine, but eventually, in June 1893, he passed his first medical exam. Then, in September, his mother died and he left university to become an explorer.
He went on skiing expeditions, including high up in the mountains. He also decided that he should get a qualification as a sailor. In March 1894 he joined the crew of a small vessel which went to the Arctic to hunt seals. The slaughter of many seals upset him, but he learned about sailing in icy conditions. Other voyages followed and, by May 1895, he had obtained his Mate’s Certificate, an important sailor’s qualification. He applied to the Belgian explorer, Adrien de Gerlache, to join his expedition to the Antarctic, at the far south of the world. Antarctica is a landmass almost twice the size of Australia. It is covered by a polar ice cap and the seas around it are often frozen. To prepare for the expedition, Roald learned about navigation and taught himself some French and Flemish as these would be the languages of many of the crew. In August 1897 the ship, the Belgica, sailed for the South. In January 1898 they arrived at the continent of Antarctica.
They had actually reached a part of Antarctica which juts out northwards beyond the Antarctic Circle. They were awed by the desolate beauty of the icy wastes. They made numerous landings and Roald went on small trips. He learned a lot about the techniques needed to survive and travel in polar regions. They sailed beyond the Antarctic circle and de Gerlache allowed the ship to become frozen in the ice for the winter. The sun dipped below the horizon for the last time for many weeks. It was a depressing time. Many suffered from scurvy. It has many nasty symptoms and can lead to death. Today we know it is caused by a lack of Vitamin C, which is found in fresh fruit, vegetables and some meat. A few sailors were mentally ill, but Roald stayed positive and learned a lot. In February 1889 they finally freed the ship from the ice. When Roald reached Norway he began planning his own expedition. He would try to be the first to sail right through the Northwest Passage.
The Northwest Passage connects the Atlantic with the Pacific across the top of the North American continent. Routes through the passage were discovered earlier in the nineteenth century, but they were often blocked by ice. Explorers had only got through by a combination of ship and on foot. Roald bought a small fishing sloop called the Gjøa. After taking it on a training voyage he had it refitted. He was short of money, but Fridtjof Nansen persuaded Oscar II, king of Sweden-Norway, to donate money to Roald. In June 1903, with a crew of six, he set sail.
By October he reached a haven he called Gjøahavn. Using his ship as a base, he went on long trips with scientific equipment to try and find the magnetic pole. The magnetic pole is where compasses point towards, the geographical pole is the point around which the earth spins. The local Inuit (which some call Eskimos) taught him how to build igloos and how to tow sledges with dogs. He also wore their type of clothes because they were warmer and drier. In August 1905 they set off again and within two weeks they had sailed through the Northwest Passage.
For his next expedition Roald aimed to be the first to reach the North Pole. He obtained the ship used by Nansen, the Fram, and the Norwegian government gave him some money. But then, in late 1909, came some startling news. Another explorer, the American Robert Peary, had reached the North Pole. It was a bitter blow to Roald. He had wanted to be first to the North Pole. So he secretly changed his mind. Instead, he would try to be the first to reach the South Pole. But meanwhile, the British explorer, Captain Robert Scott, had announced he was going to lead an expedition to the South Pole. Roald would be in a race against Scott.
At first Roald only told his brother, Leon, where he was going. At the time the Norwegian government was trying to keep on friendly terms with Britain. It would not look good if they were funding an expedition to compete against the British. So instead, Roald told everyone he would sail around South America and then up the west coast of the Americas towards the Arctic.
Roald bought dogs which were good for towing sledges from Greenland. He had special skis made which were long and narrow, ideal for skiing across flat snow and ice. He had a special food prepared called Pemmican which contained concentrated fat and protein. For clothes he used sealskin, reindeer and wolf skin, like the Inuit. He had a strong wooden hut built which could be used as a base in the Antarctic. This was then dismantled for storage on the ship. Some wondered why he needed such a strong hut and why he was taking so many dogs, but no one suspected he was heading for Antarctica. On 6 June 1910 Roald, with a crew of eighteen men, set sail.
On 6 September the Fram arrived at Madeira, a group of islands southwest of Portugal. Here, Roald informed his men of their true destination. They were loyal and supported Roald. A few weeks later, Captain Scott reached Melbourne in Australia. Here he received a cable sent by Leon Amundsen on behalf of Roald. It read: ‘Beg leave to inform you Fram proceeding Antarctic Amundsen’. Now the secret was out. Some, including many Norwegians, thought Roald had been underhand in not telling people his true destination, but he felt he had no choice.
By January 1911 the Fram had arrived at Antarctica. The hut was built and they called the base Framheim. It was on the Ross Ice Barrier. There was a small risk this ice could break off and become an iceberg, but it was further south than other locations. In February Roald sent various parties on the first stages of the route south they would later take, to establish depots of food and provisions. In the middle of February the Fram sailed away with ten of the men to get supplies and carry out repairs in Argentina. They would then perform scientific investigations in the South Atlantic before returning to pick up the remainder of the party when they returned from the attempt to reach the South Pole.
In late April the sun disappeared beneath the horizon for the winter. The men dug tunnels in the snow around the hut and carved out rooms in which they could work and keep the dogs. They repaired equipment such as boots and sledges and packed food and other supplies. Roald was keen to start the march to the Pole as soon as possible. Scott was also in Antarctica and would be starting soon. They set off in early September, but it was still too cold so they returned to base. Roald then decided he and four others only would aim for the Pole. The other three would explore an area known then as King Edward VII Land. By mid-October the weather had improved. Adolf Lindstrøm, who would stay to look after the base, and the three going to King Edward VII watched as Roald, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting set off across the icy wastes. For the first three days everything went well. Then Bjaaland’s sledge fell into the crevasse.
Part 3
Bjaaland’s sledge sank lower and lower. The dogs were straining with all their strength, clawing into the snow, but they were being dragged over the edge. Bjaaland hung on with great determination, but Roald knew that he would have to let go at any moment. At that point Roald and Wisting could do little to help for they were the wrong side of the crevasse.
As soon as Hanssen and Hassel had realized what was happening they turned round and dashed back. They grabbed a climbing rope from Hanssen’s sledge and began tying it to the trace from which the sledge was hanging. But all this was taking time and Bjaaland had little time left. It had been about five minutes since the sledge had fallen into the crevasse. It must have been the longest five minutes of Bjaaland’s life. At last, the rope was tied to the trace. By now, Roald and Wisting had got across the crevasse. They got hold of the rope and took some of the weight of the sledge, much to the relief of Bjaaland. Hanssen and Hassel then got the dogs to safety. Now they had to somehow get the sledge back up.
They could not drag Bjaaland’s sledge all the way out of the crevasse because, with all the equipment and supplies tied to it, it was too heavy. They placed Hassel’s sledge across the crevasse to form a bridge. Then everybody hauled Bjaaland’s sledge as high as they could and tied its traces to Hassel’s sledge. The sledge was now secure, but still dangling in the dark crevasse. The next task was to get the boxes and packing cases off the sledge. Somebody would have to be lowered down by the climbing rope to do this. They all volunteered to go down, but Roald chose Wisting.
Wisting tied the climbing rope round his waist and Roald and Bjaaland lowered him down. When he reached the sledge he found the box containing the small cooker was hanging by just one piece of strapping. It could fall at any moment. He carefully tied a rope to it which was lowered down by the men above. Hassel and Hanssen then they hauled it up. One by one, all the other boxes were hauled to the surface. The crevasse widened just below the surface which meant that all this time Hassel and Hanssen were standing on a very thin layer of snow and ice. Roald admired their bravery, but he knew he must not let his men take such risks in future. Finally, after and hour and a half, the last box was removed and the sledge itself was dragged to the surface.
Roald could see that they were surrounded by crevasses and by now a fog had descended. He decided it was too risky to carry on for the time being. They pitched a tent and waited for the fog to clear. A few hours later the visibility improved and they were able to carefully make their way out of the danger area and continue south.
Part 4
In the coming days they faced fog, blizzards and more crevasses, but they made steady progress. By mid-November they reached the Transantarctic Mountains. They found a route up and by 20 November they had made it onto the Polar Plateau. They now needed only three sledges and fewer dogs. Some of the dogs were put down and their carcases were given to the remaining dogs for food.
They were now 3000 metres above sea level so the air was thinner and therefore breathing was more difficult. There were also strong winds and a driving blizzard. Then they entered an area they later called the Devil’s Ballroom. It was full of crevasses covered by thin ice, made worse by thick fog. But they got through safely. Now it was full speed ahead for the Pole.
They worked out their position each day by measuring the distance travelled using wheels with counters attached to their sledges and by measuring the angle of the sun using a sextant. On 14 December, they arrived at the approximate location of the South Pole. There was no sign of Captain Scott and Roald placed a Norwegian flag in the ice. The next day they placed flags a few kilometres in different directions to mark out the area within which the pole lay. After more measurements, they identified the exact spot and pitched a tent. Inside Roald left a letter to the Norwegian king and one to Scott in which Roald asked Scott to forward the letter to the king. This would prove Roald had reached the Pole.
Roald returned to Framheim in late January and was soon on the way towards New Zealand in the Fram. Scott reached the Pole in January, but he and his men never returned. They died in their tent still hundreds of kilometres from their base. Scott had preferred walking to using skis, and he preferred ponies to dogs, even though dogs were better suited for those conditions. Roald had learned a lot from the Inuit, but Scott did not have such a good understanding of how to live and travel in polar conditions. Yet many people admired Scott more than Roald. This was partly because Roald had initially kept his plans secret, but also because Scott was seen as valiant and brave.
Roald never lost his taste for adventure. In 1918 he led an expedition in a boat to drift with the ice across the North Pole. The voyage took seven years and never reached the pole, but Roald left the voyage after five years to take up flying. In 1925 he and six others attempted to fly in two planes to the North Pole, but they all had to return at just over 870 north when one of the planes developed mechanical problems. In 1926 he flew over the North Pole in an airship piloted by an Italian, Umberto Nobile. Two years later, Nobile was trapped on an ice floe near Spitsbergen after crash-landing in another airship. Roald took off in a plane to rescue him, but his plane was never seen again.
Roald had died aged fifty-six, trying to dramatically rescue another adventurer. It was perhaps a fitting end to a life of adventures, of which the greatest adventure was the journey to the South Pole.
A particularly helpful source was:
Huntford, R. (2000) Scott and Amundsen: The Last Place on Earth, (London: Abacus).
