N.S. ARUN KUMAR 100 th ANNIVERSARY OF REACHING THE SOUTH POLE Amundsen s Polar Conquest The story of the race to reach the South Pole is a tribute to Roald Amundsen s grasp of the prevailing conditions in the icy continent and his sense of intricate planning. The year 2011 celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the conquest of the South Pole. HIS life was as much adventurous and mysterious as his death. While alive, he never let anyone on his plans and eventually became the first human ever to reach the barren icy continent of Antarctica. His death was equally mysterious. He just disappeared while flying a rescue mission over the Barents Sea on 18 June 1928. It is believed that his plane crashed and he died. But his body was never found. Even a hundred years after his amazing exploits, Roald Amundsen still remains a symbol of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration that can never be forgotten. The UNESCO is celebrating the year 2011 as the 100 th anniversary of the first man on the South Pole. The Norwegian government has also declared 2011 as the Amundsen Year as an honour to their great national hero. Amundsen always wanted to be the first man standing at the 90 0 S latitude, literally the south Pole, and he did it, beating the much celebrated British rival Robert Falcon Scott. Even in the midst of howling blizzards and thermometers reading fourties below zero, it was a moment of excitement when he held the Norwegian Flag in his frost-bitten hands securing the pride of his nation, in that faraway land. It was 14 December 1911 when Amundsen achieved this, putting to great shame the British Empire by defeating their imperialistic naval explorer Captain Scott. The British team reached there on 17 January 1912 only to find that Amundsen had preceded them by 33 days. More humiliating was the death of all the team, including Scott, starving and dying in bad weather. It was a great shame, rather than a matter of sorrow to the English world which they avenged through demoralizing and defaming Amundsen. Their point was Amundsen won the race by keeping his plans secret, never revealing his intention to reach the South Pole. Amundsen, the first man standing on the South Pole And enthrallingly enough it was true. During his entire preparation for the expedition, Amundsen kept saying that he was going to the North Pole. Only on the deck of his ship, he disclosed his real destination to his shipmates. But he did send a telegraphic message to Scott that he was moving to the South Pole. Many, however, believed that nobody reached the South Pole other than Scott who owing to some very bad luck lost his way home. Only after the collapse of the British Empire did the iron-curtain over Amundsen s achievement fall apart, revealing him to be an unsung hero. Sadly, it came after the death of Amundsen who SCIENCE REPORTER, DECEMBER 2011 8
Stamps in honour of Amundsen led a painful life troubled by many falsified accusations. Born Voyager Amundsen was born to a family of merchant sea captains and ship owners, in Christinia near Oslo, Norway on 16 July 1872. Even from his childhood he wanted to become an explorer of the high seas, fascinated by the adventures of John Franklin. While in his teens, he insisted on sleeping with the windows open, even during winter time, to condition himself for the climate at the Poles. No wonder, he would later become the first man to reach both the North and South Pole, but his mother couldn t imagine him to be a maritime traveler. His mother wanted Amundsen to be a doctor and he dutifully pursued the study of medicine at a university there. When he was 21, his mother died leaving Amundsen on his own. He had no other choice now than becoming an explorer. Franklin Amundsen s team setting up their headquarters returned to his dreams once again, this time with the map of the Northwest Passage charting which he disappeared during his historic mission in 1849. That was how the word Northwest Passage caught Amundsen s mind, which he traversed in 1903. He did it with a small seal-hunting vessel Gjoa outfitted with a small gasoline engine. The passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans remained historic as it was unsuccessfully attempted earlier by most famous explorers like Christopher Columbus. This was a passage linking Europe to Asia, but no ship had succeeded in sailing its entire length for the past 300 years. The place where Gjoa spent her two winters has been named Gjoa Haven which is near King William Island today. Traversing the Northwest Passage gave Amundsen great confidence in tackling Arctic hardships and gathering survival skills. He learned much from the 9 local Netsilik people, about how to use sled dogs, wearing animal skin to sustain body heat and how to remain healthy with the minimum amount of available food. And probably, he might have also learned that it was important to leave an official acknowledgement always: he sent a message to the new king of Norway, Haakon VII, stating what he had done was a great achievement for Norway. Antarctica! Antarctica! Though the discovery of the Northwest Passage brought great fame to Amundsen, it was the first mate to the Belgian Expedition to Antarctica which was specifically scientific in its objectives. Antarctica was a prevailing fascination among the explorers due to its incredible beauty in view as evident from the expeditions by James Clark Ross. Ross s exploration team was looking for the South Magnetic Pole for which they sailed eastward along the southern Antarctic coast. They saw two mountains encased in eternal ice and snow, to be named Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, after the ships under their command. According to the journal of Dr. Robert McCormick, the expedition s surgeon, it was on 28 January 1841 that they saw it, soon to be followed by a perpendicular cliff of ice. It was about 36 to 70 meters SCIENCE REPORTER, DECEMBER 2011
Amundsen s ship Fram in a museum (left); a monument honouring Amundsen (right) high, flat on the top and made of solid snow. Nothing could be seen beyond that and not an inch could be moved ahead. So, they retreated, naming it Ross Ice Shelf and placing the British flag there. But, Ross wrote in his diary: (this beauty). would soon be made to contribute to the wealth of our country. This statement and the presence of the Union Jack at the farthest end of the world turned to be the real temptation for many that came later. The Belgian Expedition was one among those. It was led by a young Belgian Navy Lieutenant, Andrian de Gerlache who was aboard Belgica leaving Belgium in August 1897. Upon reaching the Antarctic Peninsula in early 1898, Amundsen and other crew members were engaged in collecting specimens from the Antarctica shore for about two months. But, inevitably in March, winter crept in, freezing the waters. Belgica was to remain stuck for 347 days taking a terrible toll on the explorers. The constant darkness and deep cold plunged in isolation left many in a state of severe psychological instability. Only two could manage to maintain their high morale Amundsen and an officer by the name Frederick Cook. This experience helped Amundsen to harden himself as one among the most successful polar explorers ever born. Belgica s voyage marked the beginning of what become known as the Heroic age of Antarctic exploration. It created many heroes, iconising their personal bravery and stoicism. Among them, the first that is worth mentioning is Robert Falcon Scott, the all time rival of Roald Amundsen. He was appointed to command the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904 which was a joint venture of the Royal Society and Royal Geographic Society. Initially, the expedition was considered as a purely scientific one with a scientist in overall command but the fascination for the unknown treasures of the South Pole, made it an exploratory one with Robert Scott at the wheels. Though they could reach only up to the latitude of 82 0 17 S, 850 km away from the Pole, it reflected the desire of the British Poster announcing Amundsen s lecture on how he reached the South Pole A Norwegian Airlines aircraft with Amundsen s image on the tail SCIENCE REPORTER, DECEMBER 2011 10
The Legacy of Amundsen A number of places have been named after Amundsen, as an honour of his life as the most successful Polar explorer. The sea off the coast of Antarctica has been named Amundsen Sea. Similarly, there are Amundsen glacier, Amundsen Bay, and Mount Amundsen, all in Antarctica. Amundsen Gulf is in the Arctic Ocean. There is a memorial of Amundsen on the Moon also a crater on the Moon s South Pole! Empire to be there in the Polar plateau. Evidently, it had a political significance too. With the Union Jack already put there by Ross, the British dreamed of Antarctica becoming another of their colonies. What remained was capturing the remaining part too, though they hadn t any idea about its actual vastness. And for the same reason, other colonial forces also began targeting the hidden land. Between 1901 and 1910, there were seven missions to Antarctic Germanic, Swedish, Scottish, French and even Japanese. Among them was the Nirmod Expedition carried out by Ernest Shackleton. On 9 January 1909, Shackleton reached upto 100 nautical miles nearer to the South Pole, to the latitude of 88 0 23 S. And on 16 January 1980, Professor Edgeworth David reached the South Magnetic Pole (mean position 72 0 25 S 155 0 16 E). In September 1909, another news flashed throughout the world Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole. And to the surprise of many, he was an American! The Secret Plan What Shackleton and Peary did was a severe blow to Amundsen s intentions. He wanted to be the first at either of the Poles, but both the plans now seemed useless. Since Peary had already done it, there was no scope of returning to the North Pole, but he found something still left to be done at the South Pole. Moreover, he heard that Scott was preparing for a South Pole conquering expedition. Amundsen saw no reason to concede the South Pole to him, but he didn t reveal his plan. Upon being asked about his future plan publicly, he always spoke about the prospects of going to the North Pole. In his mind, however, he was sure that though Shackleton had done something in the South, a little corner remained there for him. With his understanding of the climate of the Antarctic, he prepared everything in advance, catering to minute details. He was fortunate to get an expert to guide Fridtjof Nansen, who had good command over the polar exploration technique. Nansen had made an attempt to reach the North Pole, but failed due to the general drifting pattern of the polar ice. He had also made an attempt, though unsuccessful, to reach the South Pole by walking. So, the lessons he could impart were priceless, Amundsen felt. The main attraction was the ship used by Nansen in his Arctic exploration called Fram. 11 It proved to be the best in fighting the harshest attributes of the polar climate. Though the ship was under Nansen s command, it was the property of the Norwegian government. And, if the government would fund Amundsen s expedition, the ship would remain with him. Nansen was a very influential person in the Norwegian parliament and could easily sanction the funding. But, the expedition would have to be a northward one, as conquering the North Pole was his unfulfilled dream. As per the prevailing political climate, the Norwegian government also was not interested in offending the British monopoly of the South Pole. Amundsen was well aware of these facts. Nansen submitted Amundsen s project before the Norwegian Geographical Society. No wonder, the fund was granted, accompanied by Fram as a personal gift from Nansen. With the ship and money in hand, Amundsen began his preparations for the journey. His first attempt was to get about hundred fully trained North Greenland sledge dogs. He was keen on selecting the strongest available, the best money could buy. His Belgian expedition had made him realize that they were the most reliable mode of transport in the Polar environment. The Inuit of North America and the indigenous people of Arctic Asia had been using them to haul sledges for many hundred years. One pound of food could keep a dog pulling a sledge of about 100 pounds for up to 10 hours, with few rest stops. The huskies as they were commonly called were loyal to their master, but were SCIENCE REPORTER, DECEMBER 2011
Cruise liner on way to Antarctica (left); country flags fluttering in Antarctica (left below); Amundsen s memoirs of his exploits in the South Pole (above) savage enough to have vicious fights among themselves. So, if not properly handled, the whole team of dogs could deteriorate into chaos of tangled harnesses and snarling dogs. Amundsen was very cautious in recruiting dog-trainers in which Nansen also lent a helping hand. Nansen was also helpful in arranging a lightning course in surgery and dentistry for the expedition doctor Frederick Gjertsen. Amundsen was also aware of the dangers of Scurvy in high-sea voyages, though the true cause of the disease was not known at that time. From his Belgica experience, he could understand that eating fresh meat could counter the disease. Amundsen also found the clothing and footwear to be as important. He acquired 200 heavy-duty blankets from the Royal Norwegian Navy to which skins of Seals, Reindeer and Wolf were tailored into, while keeping in line with the contemporary fashion. He also carried wines and alcohol for festive and social occasions. Remembering the monotonous winter nights, he also turned a cabin in Fram into a library of around 3,000 books. There was also a gramophone, a large number of musical records and instruments. And on the upper deck there was one large cabin, fully air-conditioned not for himself but for the sledge-dogs! Amundsen wanted to keep them as comfortable and healthy as possible with regular supplements of seal meat because he knew that without those huskies he would not be reaching the South Pole! The Journey Amundsen s plan was to leave Oslo in August 1910 sailing to Maderia in Atlantic and from there directly to the Rose Sea in Antarctica. He thought of making his base camp nearer the Ross Ice Shelf that could be reached through the Bay of Whales, the southernmost point to which a ship could penetrate. Amundsen s team left SCIENCE REPORTER, DECEMBER 2011 12 Norway on 9 th August, eight weeks after Scott s Terra Nova expedition departed Cardiff. On board Amundsen s ship were 97 dogs, whereas Scott s Terra Nova carried 65 men, 19 Siberian Ponies and three motorized-sledges. With Amundsen, there were only 19 men including the dog-team drivers. A month later, on September 6, Amundsen s ship Fram reached Maderia. Water and food were taken on board and the crew enjoyed some free time ashore for three days. On the evening of the 9 th, Amundsen called an urgent meeting on the main deck. When they came they saw Amundsen standing next to the map of Antarctica pinned to the mainmast. Amundsen raised his voice and said: Gentlemen, my intention is to sail southwards, land a party on Antarctica and try to reach the South Pole. Anybody who wants to leave may depart now, I will be booking their traveling tickets home. Most of the crew stood there with their mouth agape, but none left. Then Amundsen asked his brother Leon to write a telegraphic message to Scott, which read like this: BEG TO INFORM YOU FRAM PROCEEDING ANTARCTIC AMUNDSEN. But while Leon was about to go ashore, Amundsen asked him not to send it until the beginning of October. When Scott arrived in Melbourne, on the evening of October 12, he saw Amundsen s telegram waiting for him. Although there is no record of Scott s actual reaction, it created anger and scorn when the news reached the British. Amundsen s
Team that crossed the North Pole Amundsen publicly announced his success on 7 March 1912, when he arrived at Hobart, Australia. Everything went like a dance. Amundsen with the crew that went on the Fram is a very dirty trick, wrote Sir Clements Markham, an influential member of the Royal Geographic Society who was reported to have said: If I were Scott, I would not let Amundsen land. Norway, however, received the news of Amundsen s altered plan with cheers and unrestrained enthusiasm. Even Nansen was not annoyed by the altered plan of Amundsen and called it a wonderful one. Newspapers gave titles like An Exciting Fight for the South Pole. It took four months for Fram to reach the Ross Ice Shelf, on 14 January 1911. Amundsen selected a site for the expedition s winter headquarters ashore, which was about 2 nautical miles away from the ship s anchoring point on the Bay of Whales. It was 60 miles closer to the Pole than McMurdo Sound where Scott made his base later. Furthermore, the ice was stable and weather better at the Bay of Whales both making an enormous difference in travel time, for which Scott s team would have to pay a big price later. By February, Amundsen and his men built a 26-by-13-foot hut having foundations dug deep in to the ice, with the door facing to the west, as the winds came from the East. The hut was well insulated, with a bunk and seat for each. A large supply of food and meat was brought to the base. But, the maximum Fram Amundsen s Ship Fram was originally the ship used by Fridtjof Nansen during his North Pole expedition during 1893 96. Nansen made it specifically for his Arctic expedition with strict specifications to withstand prolonged exposure to the killing environment of the Polar waters. Fram was designed and built by Norway s leading ship builder, Colin Archer, in 1893. The ship s hull was sheathed in South American Green Heart, the hardest timber available with crossbeams and braces fitted all over. The hull had a peculiar rounded shape, which according to Nansen, helped the ship to slip like an eel out of the embraces of ice. The wide beam of 36 feet when compared to the overall length of 128 feet, gave it a stubby appearance. This shape and the extra-sheathing over the hull is now treated as an architectural mistake. It would have affected the ship s performance in open sea, making its movement rather sluggish with a tendency to roll uncomfortably. After returning from Nansen s Arctic Exploration, Fram was under the command of Otto Sverdrup for about four years, exploring the uncharted territories of Northern Canadian Islands. When Amundsen first found it, Fram was laying idle in Christinia. Nansen still had the first call over it and so Amundsen had to wait for his consent. At last, by September 1907, Amundsen could attain it. Though Amundsen was in charge of the South Pole Expedition, the Captain of the ship was Lieutenant Thorvald Nilsen, because Fram was assigned only for leaving Amundsen s party to the Bay of Whales and then returning to pick them back by the following year. Meanwhile, it would carry out oceanographic work in Atlantic. Fram is now installed in the Fram Museum on the peninsula of Bygdoy in Olso. Visitors can go inside the ship, where its original whereabouts are preserved. 13 luxury was two stoves that heated the interior of the hut. Amundsen called it the Framheim or home of the Farm. One morning, while at work, they were surprised to see a ship moving across the Bay of Whales. On approaching, they found it to be Scott s Terra Nova. Scott was not there on the ship, but the six men in the ship were in search of Amundsen s team. That Amundsen had made a base at the Bay of Whales came as a shock to them, because they too knew about its proximity to the Pole. Though Scott did not visit Framheim, Amundsen paid a visit to Scott s camp, noticing a great flaw among its elaborate facilities they had no wireless radio! That meant, Scott had no scope of alerting the world about his achievement even if they were to be the first to reach the Pole. But, in the true spirit of a race, Amundsen offered a site for Scott s team near their base at Whales Bay. Scott might have been thinking of his motorized-sledges that could ensure greater speed and so he refused. The Race Begins On April 21, the sun sank over Framheim and the long winter night began that was to last for the next four months. There was much to be done before it would rise again on 24 August. Inside their small hut, Amundsen s men refined their equipment. They tried reducing the weight of the sledges, making the clothes ice-proof and so on. Amundsen was thinking of a new route to beat the enhanced speed of Scott s motorized sledges. He also wanted an imminent departure, but the temperatures were unbearable, dropping down to -58 0 C. By 8 September, there was a slight improvement and Amundsen felt he could delay no longer though the temperatures still remained nearer to -27 0 C. Leaving one to guard the base, the eight-men team headed towards the Pole. There were 86 dogs and plenty of food. They covered 31 miles over the next three days, Amundsen SCIENCE REPORTER, DECEMBER 2011
Scott The Rival Robert Falcon Scott, the true rival of Amundsen, was a Royal Navy Officer. Scott was born on 6 June 1868 in a family of naval and military traditions. Scott s naval career began as a cadet at the age of 13 entering training at HMS Britannia in 1881. While in West Indies he had his first encounter with Clements Markham, then secretary of the Royal Geographical Society who was the main motivating force behind the Discovery Expedition to Antarctica led by Scott during 1901 1904. It was this expedition that made Scott a popular hero. And it also led Scott to be bitten by the Pole Mania tempting an expedition to the South Pole. But, he didn t know that he was in a race, until he received Amundsen s telegram revealing his plan to conquer the South Pole, in October1910. Scott s party of five reached the pole on 17 January 1912 only to know that he had been defeated by Amundsen. Scott is presumed to have died on 29 March 1912, on his journey back from the South Pole. calling it a good start. But the morning of 11 th was stuck in frigid temperatures once again. By the evening, a decision was made to race back to Framheim, and unload the sledges at a depot on the way. The return journey was worse than expected. Two members of the team had their heels frostbitten. Even the dogs were suffering from cold and two of them froze to death. After returning to Framheim, the next morning, Amundsen made a slight change in his plan. He said that only five men would be going to the Pole, while a second party would explore the King Edward VII Land. Amundsen s team The Pole exploring party led by Amundsen was accompanied by Olav Olavson Bjaaland, Hilmer Hanssen, Sverre H. Hassel and Oscar Wisting. After everyone had taken enough rest and recovered from the frostbites, 19 October would be the date to start again. Each of the five members was in charge of a sledge pulled by a team of thirteen dogs. Their path across the Ross Ice Shelf proved easy and on 11 November, the Queen Maud Mountains came into view. The weather was good and the temperature never dropped below -34 0 C. The most dangerous were crevasses that seemed bottomless hidden by innocent-looking drifts of snow. Amundsen was lucky to strike the Trans Antarctic Mountain range at its narrowest point. He spotted a glacier that led to the central plateau. It was short, but very steep, demanding a brief pause. The journey ahead needed only a few sledges. So, they decided to kill some dogs and fed their flesh to the others. Though they did that with extreme regret and sadness, there was no other way. Fresh meat was required to prevent the symptoms of Scurvy. It was Amundsen who gave the orders to kill the dogs, but when the first shots were fired he remained SCIENCE REPORTER, DECEMBER 2011 14 within the tent. In his own biography, Amundsen referred to that site as the Butcher s Shop. Then they began the climb through the glacier (which was later found to be the Axel Heiberg Glacier). They could climb about 1,700 meters a day to reach the top on 21 November. They were now at 85 0 36 S. The Winners Point On 8 December, the Polar party passed Shackleton s record of the farthest South Point. They put the Norwegian flag on the top of the leading sledge. Hilmer Hanssen was driving the lead sledge and he asked Amundsen to walk in front. He told Amundsen that, dogs run better with someone in front of them. Thus they ensured that Amundsen would be the first man to cross the South Pole! At 3:00 pm, on Friday, December 14, there was a loud cry of Halt! from one of the fellow travelers. The sledge-meter showed the latitude to be 90 0 S! Yes, the South Pole! They had achieved their goal! The five men together grasped the Norwegian flag and planted it firmly there. Amundsen wanted to affirm his achievement. The entire locality of the Geographic South Pole was repeatedly traversed with careful observations and calculations. Within the period of their three-day stay there, they also made a small tent and gave it the name the Polheim, meaning Home on the Pole. Inside it they left two letters, one for Scott and the other for King Haakon VII. In the letter to Scott, he was asked to deliver the other letter to the Norwegian King in case anything happen to Amundsen s team. On 18 December they began their return journey and reached Framheim on 25 January 1912. Amundsen publicly announced his success on 7 March 1912, when he arrived at Hobart, Australia. Everything went like a dance, this was what he said while referring to his race to the South Pole. But he was one who would be content to rest on his laurels. Later in life also he carried out many challenges including a daring expedition to the North Pole. He did it by flying an air-ship Norge in 1926. Mr N.S. Arun Kumar is Editorial Assistant, Kerala State Institute for Children s Literature, Sanskrit College Campus, Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala-695034