Which Norwegian explorer did Robert Feary beat to the North Pole? View the step-by-step solution to: Which Norwegian explorer did Robert Feary beat to the North Pole? This question was answered on May 23, 2016. View the Answer Which Norwegian explorer did Robert Feary beat to the North Pole? yemen67 posted a question · May 23, 2016 at 11:31pm Top Answer Here is the answer... View the full answer {[ getNetScore(29702502) ]} josewriter23 answered the question · May 23, 2016 at 11:32pm Other Answers Here is a detailed explanation... View the full answer {[ getNetScore(29702499) ]} Here is a detailed explanation...

View the full answer {[ getNetScore(29702515) ]} {[ getNetScore(29702519) ]} brainetom answered the question · May 23, 2016 at 11:33pm Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen ( 16 July 1872 – c. 18 June 1928) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He led... View the full answer {[ getNetScore(29702733) ]} View Full Answer or ask a new question Related Questions Need an Ancient History tutor? brightkesenwa 50 Ancient History experts found online! Average reply time is 1 min Get Homework Help Why Join Course Hero? Course Hero has all the homework and study help you need to succeed! We’ve got course-specific notes, study guides, and practice tests along with expert tutors and customizable flashcards—available anywhere, anytime. - - Study Documents Find the best study resources around, tagged to your specific courses. Share your own to gain free Course Hero access or to earn money with our Marketplace.

- Question & Answers Get one-on-one homework help from our expert tutors—available online 24/7. Ask your own questions or browse existing Q&A threads. Satisfaction guaranteed! - Flashcards Browse existing sets or create your own using our digital flashcard system. A simple yet effective studying tool to help you earn the grade that you want! Race to the South Pole | TIME For Kids Race to the South Pole Today marks the 100th anniversary of the first successful expedition to the globe's southernmost point December 14, 2011 Print GETTY IMAGES After arriving at the South Pole on December 14, 1911, explorer Roald Amundsen (left) spent three days there with his companions: Oscar Wisting, Sverre Hassel, Helmer Hanssen and Olav Bjaaland (the photographer, not pictured). On December 14, 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his four-man team became the first people to reach the South Pole, where they raised the Norwegian flag in victory.

On Wednesday, exactly 100 years later, Norway’s prime minister gathered with scientists and polar adventurers at the bottom of the world to remember the famous explorer’s achievements. "We are here to celebrate one of the greatest feats in human history," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said, as he unveiled an ice sculpture of Amundsen. A Great Expedition TIME & LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911. In the early 1900s, there was a race to see who could get to the South Pole first. Amundsen beat his rival, British explorer Robert Flacon Scott, by five weeks. On March 8, 1912, after learning of Amundsen's successful expedition, The New York Times wrote: "The whole world has now been discovered." Amundsen was one of the world’s most notable polar explorers. In 1903, he became the first to make a ship voyage through the Northwest Passage, the sea route through the Arctic Ocean on the northern coast of North America. After learning that American explorer Robert E.

Peary had reached the North Pole first in April 1909, Amundsen made secret plans for a South Pole expedition. At the time, the South Pole was considered to be the last great, undiscovered territory. On October 19, 1911, Amundsen set out from his base, in Bay of Whales, Antarctica, with four companions, 52 dogs and four sleds. His success in reaching the South Pole was aided by careful planning. He took a preliminary trip to drop food and supplies along the first part of his route. His use of sled dogs to carry supplies also helped. Amundsen and his men, along with 11 surviving dogs, made it back to base on January 25, 1912, quicker than expected. In addition to Norway's flag, Amundsen left behind a tent with spare equipment for Scott, and a letter addressed to the King of Norway about his accomplishment. Though Scott eventually reached the South Pole, he died while returning home. On Wednesday, Norway’s prime minister took time to remember the British explorer’s accomplishments, too.

"Scott and his men will forever be remembered for their valor and their determination to reach the most inhospitable place on Earth," Stoltenberg said. The two explorers share the name of the research station now located at the South Pole: the Amundsen-Scott Station. A Land of Research Today, Antarctica is a base for a variety of global scientific research projects, from oceanography to cosmology. Cosmology is the study of the origin and structure of the universe. The land holds many clues to Earth's past and future changes, especially those related to global climate change. Wednesday’s ceremony at the pole also served a reminder of the importance of continuing scientific research in this distant place. "The loss of ice in the Antarctic can have grave global consequences,” Stoltenberg said. “Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott and their men went to extraordinary lengths to accomplish their goals. We must be prepared to do the same.” TFK Footer Primary Polar Expeditions - Lesson Plan Library Polar Expeditions ï¿½ Buy this video ï¿½ View discussion discuss the hardships and obstacles the four polar explorers faced and how they overcame them; and create a scrapbook highlighting the journey of one of these explorers.

Begin the lesson by asking for volunteers to point out the location of the North and South Poles on a world map. Ask students to compare the geography of the two poles. How are they similar? How are they different? Ask students how difficult they think it would be to get to one of the poles. Brainstorm how explorers could travel there, and what supplies they would need to survive in the extreme polar environment. Review with students the historic polar expeditions of the early 1900s, when four explorers set out on perilous journeys to a pole, all competing to be the first to reach their destination. Make sure students understand that Admiral Robert Peary and Dr. Frederic Cook were in a race to reach the North Pole, while Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen were in a race to reach the South Pole. Ask students to recall specific examples of hardships and obstacles the explorers and their crews faced. Tell students that, working individually or in pairs, they will research one of these four explorers and create a scrapbook documenting the explorer's experiences. For each explorer, students should answer the following questions: When did he and his crew set out on their journey?

What modes of transportation did they use to reach the pole? What supplies did they take? What obstacles did they face during their journey? How did they overcome these obstacles? Was the explorer considered a hero? Why or why not? Students may use library as well as Internet resources for their research. They should be sure to include pictures in their scrapbooks. The Web sites listed below have both printed information and pictures about each explorer. Admiral Robert Peary Students may wish to take materials home and work on their scrapbooks there. When they have finished, have students share their scrapbooks with the class. In a final discussion about the four polar explorers, ask students why they think Robert Peary beat Frederic Cook to the North Pole. In the race to reach the South Pole, what advantages did Roald Amundsen have over Robert Scott? Evaluation Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson. Three points:Students actively participated in class discussions; completed their research carefully and thoroughly; made highly creative and informative scrapbooks. Two points:Students participated somewhat in class discussions; completed their research; made somewhat creative and informative scrapbooks.

One point:Students participated little, if at all, in class discussions; had difficulty completing their research; did not complete their scrapbooks. Roald Amundsen Definition:The Norwegian explorer who became the first person to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911 Context:Capt. Roald Amundsen's Norwegian team beat the British team led by Capt. Robert Scott, ending the century-long race for the South Pole. Frederic A. Cook Definition:An explorer who claimed to have reached the North Pole first; most historians believe he was an impostor. Context:Frederic A. Cook first explored the North Pole with Robert Peary, but later became his biggest adversary. North Pole Definition:A term used to identify several invisible points in the Arctic region; the best known is the north geographic pole, which lies near the center of the Arctic Ocean where all Earth's lines of longitude meet. Context:The North Pole is a cold, desolate spot, and it took hard work and perseverance for explorers to reach this region. Robert E.

Peary Definition:An admiral in the United States Navy who took a leave of absence from naval service to search for the North Pole Context:Although Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909, a recent examination of his diary and notes has cast some doubt on this assertion. Robert Falcon Scott Definition:The head of the British team striving to reach the South Pole; he lost out to Norwegian Roald Amundsen. Context:Robert Falcon Scott's team reached the South Pole on January 7, 1912, five weeks after Roald Amundsen. South Pole Definition:A region used for several invisible points in the Antarctic region; the south geographic pole, the one referred to most often, lies ear the center of Antarctica at the point where all Earth's lines of longitude meet. Context:Located on 9,200 feet (2,800 meters) of glacial ice, the South Pole is a frigid, remote place.

On This Day: Roald Amundsen Becomes First Man to Reach South Pole more » National Library of Australia Four of the five explorers in Amundsen’s team are pictured at the South Pole by the fifth member, Olav Bjaaland, Dec. 14, 1911. On This Day: Roald Amundsen Becomes First Man to Reach South Pole December 14, 2011 06:00 AM by findingDulcinea Staff On Dec. 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen and four fellow Norwegian explorers became the first men to reach the South Pole, beating the ill-fated team of British Capt. Robert F. Scott by just over a month. The Race to the South Pole Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer who in 1898 was part of the first expedition to winter in Antarctica and in 1903 became the first man to sail through the Northwest Passage, had been planning an expedition to the North Pole in September 1910, but he lost interest when he heard that Americans Robert Peary and Frederick Cook had each achieved the feat in April 1909.

Amundsen secretly began planning to travel to the South Pole instead. In October, he sent a telegram notifying British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, who was a preparing a South Pole exploration, of his intentions. “Beg leave inform you proceeding Antarctic. Amundsen,” the telegram read. Thus began the race to the South Pole . Each party arrived in Antarctica in January 1911; Scott established base camp at McMurdo Sound, while Amundsen set up his camp, called Framheim, at the Bay of Whales on the Ross Ice Shelf, located 60 miles closer to the pole. The two parties prepared for the journey to the pole by making expeditions south and establishing supply depots along their intended paths. The Amundsen party, which relied on sled dogs, reached farther south than the Scott party, whose Siberian ponies were less equipped for the conditions. Amundsen set off for the pole with seven men in September, the start of the Antarctic spring. Just days into their trip, the weather turned cold, and they retreated back to Framheim. Hjalmer Johansen criticized Amundsen’s leadership and was expelled from the traveling party; the humiliated Johansen would later commit suicide upon his return to Norway.

Amundsen began his second push for the pole on Oct. 20, accompanied by four men and more than 50 dogs. Scott and his 13 men set off from their camp on Nov. 1 with dogs, ponies and motor sledges. The Scott party was slowed by many setbacks: the motor sledges did not work reliably in the cold and the ponies could not manage the journey. The explorers had to abandon the sledges and they eventually killed all the ponies for food. Traveling much lighter, the Amundsen team had few difficulties. On the afternoon of Dec. 14, the five explorers—Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Olav Bjaaland, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting—became the first men to ever reach the South Pole. Amundsen later wrote: “ After we had halted we collected and congratulated each other . … After this we proceeded to the greatest and most solemn act of the whole journey—the planting of our flag. … I had determined that the act of planting it—the historic event—should be equally divided among us all.

It was not for one man to do this; it was for all who had staked their lives in the struggle, and held together through thick and thin.” Related Events Canada's North won Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen the South - The Globe and Mail National Amundsen and four others in the south pole expedition planted the Norwegian flag at the South Pole. The moment was later pictured on this postcard. (Artist: Andreas Bloch; Printer: Mittet & Co./National Library/Artist: Andreas Bloch; Printer: Mittet & Co./National Library) Amundsen and four others in the south pole expedition planted the Norwegian flag at the South Pole. The moment was later pictured on this postcard. (Artist: Andreas Bloch; Printer: Mittet & Co./National Library/Artist: Andreas Bloch; Printer: Mittet & Co./National Library) Antarctic Exploration BBC - History - British History in depth: Different Approaches to Antarctic Exploration Different Approaches to Antarctic Exploration By Sian Flynn Last updated 2011-03-03 What was the secret of Amundsen's success at the South Pole? As Sian Flynn explains, the devil's in the detail.

On this page Print this page Different agendas In 1911, Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Captain Roald Amundsen set off from their respective base camps on the Antarctic coast, each trying to reach the South Pole first. Amundsen reached it on 15 December 1911 (the date is sometimes given as 14 December - the difference being due to differing interpretations of the international date line) and returned to civilisation within three months. Scott and his four men arrived at the Pole 33 days later, on 17 January 1912, and faced an agonising struggle to get back to base camp. They all perished. Exactly why Amundsen's team completed the return journey with comparative ease and Scott's party died has been the source of fierce debate ever since. Getting the smallest details right or wrong can be the difference between life and death... Despite Scott and Amundsen's shared aim to reach the Pole first, they differed in how they organised their expeditions. From the type of men they chose to the food and equipment they took, the differences were marked. In the extreme and hostile conditions of the Antarctic, getting the smallest details right or wrong can mean the difference between life and death.

Cadbury's cocoa powder, taken by Amundsen's Fram expedition © To begin with, Scott's agenda was more diverse. He planned to continue his vast programme of scientific work, following on from the tasks undertaken on his Discovery expedition (1901-4), as well as wanting to reach the Pole. Amundsen, on the other hand, did not even take any scientists and had relatively limited interest in major scientific achievement. His childhood desire was to be the first man at the North Pole, but when it was claimed in 1909, he was determined to be the first at the South Pole instead. He wrote in his journal: '...my plans made the Pole the first objective.' This competitive focus enabled Amundsen to spend all his energy and funds on the journey south. Scott and Amundsen represented two very different nations and this inevitably influenced how their expeditions were organised, as well as their expectations of achievement. Scott was appointed to lead two official British expeditions to the Antarctic and always planned his voyages in the gaze of an inquisitive media. Due to Britain's world standing, it was naturally assumed that an Englishman would reach the Pole first.

In contrast, Norway was a relatively new nation in Amundsen's day, having only achieved its independence from Sweden in 1905. Amundsen was taking a massive gamble in his quest to reach the Pole first. One of the reasons why he planned his Antarctic expedition secretly was because Norway needed diplomatic support from Britain. He saw the political sensitivity in pitching himself against the English explorer and feared people would try to stop him if he made his plans public. Pride and an independent nature also contributed to Amundsen's pretence of continuing with his plans to journey to the Arctic. Top Camp conflicts Tryggve Gran, T Griffith (geologist) and Charles Wright (physicist), aboard the 'Terra Nova', 22 December 1910 © Scott's Terra Nova expedition was large compared to Amundsen's hand-picked party. Over 60 men manned the British ship and 25 men comprised the shore party, who would winter at base camp. Amundsen picked 19 men for his Fram expedition but only nine wintered at Framheim (meaning 'home of the Fram'), the hut they built on the ice shelf.

Scott had yet to pick his Polar team from the shore party and, in fact, did not settle the matter until he was about 240km (150 miles) from the Pole. Oates was candid in his criticism of Scott... Amundsen planned for eight of the men to go to the Pole, with the Swedish cook, Adolf Lindstrøm, remaining at Framheim. The only man he feared in his party was Hjalmar Johansen, a famous Arctic explorer in his own right. When Amundsen set off too early in September 1911, the party was forced to return to the hut, and Johansen was appalled by the disarray and publicly chastised Amundsen. He was dropped with two others from the polar party - Amundsen would not tolerate people who criticised his leadership. In contrast, Scott included Captain Oates in his Polar party (as a representative of the army), despite the fact that the two men clashed. In letters home to his mother, Oates was candid in his criticism of Scott and this conflict was yet another strain on Scott's leadership.

Inuit-style wolfskin fur suit © Regarding the equipment they planned to use, Amundsen's men were used to cold climates. As a nation, Norway pioneered skiing and Amundsen deliberately included a skiing champion, Olav Bjaaland, in his party. The British party was not so skilled at skiing and had little experience of how to adapt skis to different kinds of terrain. In the final push to the Pole, one of Scott's men, Birdie Bowers, even left his skis behind at one of the depots, forcing him to stumble through the snow. Meanwhile, Amundsen and his men had spent time working out what type of skis and bindings to use for the variety of terrain and snow they would face. The Norwegians also spent time at base camp re-building their boots to prevent crippling blisters. Unlike the British party, the Norwegians took wolf-skin fur suits, adapted from Inuit clothing, in addition to the windproof Burberry suits they wore, made of a lighter gabardine material. Amundsen had also learnt from the Inuit that in order to reduce sweating, clothing must be worn loosely.

Top The devil's in the detail Murray Levick's reindeer-hide sleeping bag, used on Scott's 'Terra Nova' expedition © One of the small details that later appeared to have contributed to the demise of Scott's team was the use of leather washers for his expedition's fuel cans. On his return from the Pole, having learned that Amundsen had got there before him, Scott noted in his diary that when his men opened the cans some of the fuel had apparently evaporated. This was caused by the deterioration of the washers used to seal the cans in the extreme temperatures, allowing the fuel to 'creep'. Amundsen knew of this 'creeping' in low temperatures, and one of his team devised bungs that hermetically sealed the cans, to prevent any loss of the life-giving fuel. By the time, later in their voyage, that Scott, Wilson and Bowers were confined to their tent, they had run out of fuel, which was of course needed for turning ice into water for drinking. Dehydration is as much a problem in Antarctica as starvation. ...enough dogs were killed to feed the hungry men and the rest of the dogs.

In terms of transportation, Scott always planned to man-haul using harnesses attached to sledges. This was exhausting work, but he believed it was more noble and less cruel than using animals. Amundsen had experienced man-hauling sledges in the Arctic and did not want to repeat this experience. He took well-trained dogs, bought specially in Greenland, and two expert dog-handlers, Sverre Hassel and Helmer Hanssen. The dog teams set the pace for the journey to the Pole and every detail was seen to, from making sure traces were comfortable to feeding the dogs properly. Dogs that weakened or became disobedient were killed or set free. The dogs were also part of the Norwegian's meal plan and at Butcher's Camp, about half way to the Pole, enough dogs were killed to feed the hungry men and the rest of the dogs. Amundsen and his men were sickened by such butchery but they knew it was key to survival. The British party never ate their dogs but they did eat the ponies, burying some of the carcasses in the snow for their return journey.

Top Nutrition Penguins provided Amundsen's expedition with much-needed vitamins © Lack of good nutrition has been seen by some historians as being the main reason for the British party's eventual failure. Before setting off for the Pole, the British team probably already had nutritional deficiencies. Scurvy, caused by a lack of vitamin C, was an illness long known to sailors. This painful debilitating condition is always fatal if left untreated. Even though vitamins had not been identified in the 1910s, it was known that fresh food appeared to be the cure. Amundsen and his men were eating fresh seal and penguin meat which, unknown to anyone at that time, contained enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy. The Norwegians, of course, had got this idea from indigenous peoples in the Arctic who ate an almost exclusively meat diet. The British palate preferred a less fishy taste and their penguin and seal meat was often overcooked, destroying the vitamin C. A biscuit found in Scott's tent © Another difference between the two teams was the flour used for 'sledging' biscuits, a staple part of any explorer's diet. The British biscuits were made with white flour and sodium bicarbonate.

The Norwegian biscuits were made with oatmeal and yeast, which provided the essential B vitamins needed to keep the nervous system healthy. Pemmican, a cake made by mixing pounded dried beef with beef fat, was also eaten every day. Although it was nutritious and compact, it was unappetising. On sledging journeys, pemmican was mixed with melted snow to make a hot stew or 'hoosh'. Scott's pemmican lacked the oatmeal and peas of Amundsen's recipe, depriving his men of essential roughage. Top Leadership Ultimately, the main difference between the Norwegian and British parties was leadership. Scott was a complex, sensitive and introspective man with considerable literary skills and charm. His concept of leadership was honed by his training as an English naval officer, which was inevitably hierarchical and formal. However, had his training been less conventional, he would not have been chosen by Sir Clements Markham (President of the Royal Geographical Society) nor the 'official' committee-men who appointed him. The competing expedition leaders, Amundsen and Scott, never met © Conversely, Amundsen was more of an innovative individualist - a professional explorer with a genuine passion for snow and ice.

He was also complex, particularly in his tangled relationships, but his competitive focus and drive was unparalleled. They never met, despite Scott's attempt to make contact with Amundsen when he visited Christiania (modern-day Oslo) in 1910. Scott's death, in the context of the mass-scale slaughter of World War One soon afterwards, put him beyond immediate criticism. Questioning his status as a 'hero' came later. By contrast, despite winning the race to the Pole, Amundsen had to live, embittered and insolvent, with anti-climax for the rest of his life - his victory at the South Pole very much eclipsed by the British tragedy. National Geographic Magazine - NGM.com The Race to the South Pole The Man Who Took the Prize A century ago Scott lost and Amundsen won—partly because he knew when to turn back. By Caroline Alexander Photograph courtesy National Library of Norway, Picture Collection "September 12—Tuesday. Not much visibility. Nasty breeze from S. -52°C. The dogs clearly affected by the cold.

The men, stiff in their frozen clothes, more or less satisfied after a night in the frost … prospect of milder weather doubtful." The writer of this terse diary entry was Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer who had won renown five years earlier for being the first to sail the Arctic's fabled Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Now he was at the opposite end of the world, in the Antarctic, aiming for the most prestigious prize the world of exploration still offered: the South Pole. Planned with characteristic meticulousness, this bold venture was also the result of happenstance. Two years earlier Amundsen had been immersed in plans to extend his exploration of the Arctic Ocean and to drift over the North Pole, when he received news (later contested) that Robert Peary had already claimed the Pole. At that instant, Amundsen recalled later, "I decided on my change of front—to turn to the right-about, and face to the South." As Amundsen reckoned, if he won the South Pole, fame as well as financing of future exploration would be secure. Ostensibly preparing for the north, he secretly planned for the south. Winning the South Pole, however, was not to be taken for granted.

Also heading south was the well-advertised British Antarctic Expedition, under the command of Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen was keenly conscious of his rival, as his September 12 diary entry shows. Tormented by the prospect that Scott might beat him, Amundsen had jumped the gun, starting before the arrival of polar springtime and manageable weather. The result was the death of valuable dogs and frostbite on the feet of his men that would require a month to heal. Racing back to his base, Framheim (named after his ship, the famous polar-going Fram, meaning "forward"), Amundsen abandoned two companions, who struggled into camp a day after his return. "I don't call it an expedition. It's panic," Hjalmar Johansen, the most experienced polar explorer of the team, told Amundsen. Bitterly resented, Johansen's damning words cost him a place on the eventual Pole-seeking party. These glaring errors are worth dwelling on not to find fault with Amundsen but to dispel a myth that has long claimed him: His attainment of the Pole was just a passionless application of expertise and cold ambition, and Amundsen himself, therefore, was a colorless professional.

This characterization contrasts starkly with the perception of Scott, who, with his gallant British party, showed grit and courage, fighting for every mile, and who died tragically on the ice. The false start of September 1911 is a reminder that there is no such thing as an inevitable outcome in the risky enterprise of polar exploration. Methodical and careful, Amundsen was also a man of towering ambition, prey to the same dangerous dreams and impulses that drive all explorers to risk their lives in wild places. Amundsen's greatness is not that he lacked such driving forces but that he mastered them—as his diary entries go on to show. Four days after his premature start Amundsen assessed his party's situation dispassionately and made the decision to "hurry back to wait for the spring. To risk men and animals by continuing stubbornly once we have set off, is something I couldn't consider. If we are to win the game, the pieces must be moved properly; a false move and everything could be lost." The ability to regain and maintain perspective in the pursuit of something as heady as a personal dream is a rare asset. Like other great explorers, Amundsen knew when to turn back.

A dazzling résumé lay behind Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen's South Pole venture. Born in 1872 into a well-to-do ship-owning, seafaring family, he sailed at the age of 25 as second officer on the Belgica, as part of a scientific expedition to the Antarctic. When the Belgica became stuck in pack ice, her crew achieved the unintended distinction of being the first humans to overwinter in the Antarctic. Demoralized and suffering ill health, the company was held together by the ship's surgeon, Frederick Cook (later infamous for unsubstantiated "firsts" at the North Pole and the summit of Mount McKinley), and by Amundsen, whose diary shows him to be wholly engaged in his surroundings. "As for the tent, with regard to shape and size it is comfortable but it is too susceptible to the wind," he observed in February 1898. Over the years he would make many resourceful improvements to polar equipment. Since reading about it as a boy, Amundsen had been fascinated by Englishman John Franklin's disastrous search for the Northwest Passage. Although Amundsen continued his sea career, he also began planning for an Arctic venture.

In 1903 he headed north in the ship Gjøa with a remarkably small crew of only six men (Franklin had taken 129) to seek the Northwest Passage and, possibly calculated to bestow scientific respectability, the current position of the north magnetic pole. Over three winters Amundsen lived and worked in the Arctic, eventually navigating a passage that threaded through the islands, shoals, and ice of Canada's Arctic archipelago to the Beaufort and then the Bering Sea—a historic first. "The North-West Passage was done," Amundsen wrote in his diary on August 26, 1905. "My boyhood dream—at that moment it was accomplished. A strange feeling welled up in my throat; I was somewhat overstrained and worn—it was a weakness in me—but I felt tears in my eyes." The Gjøa expedition gave Amundsen more than his first geographic prize. Through it he became closely acquainted with the Netsilik Eskimos and their superb adaptation to the rigors of the Arctic world. Amundsen was not the first European explorer to learn from indigenous people.

The great polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen and others had learned how to dress and travel and eat from Norway's northern Sami people. Now Amundsen supplemented that wisdom with survival tools he had studied and experienced firsthand: loose reindeer skin clothing that provided warmth and ventilation, fur boots, dogsleds, snowshoes, ice caves, igloos. "We are used to saying, Well, the Norwegians grow up on skis," polar historian Harald Jølle says, "but we forget the other skills." When Roald Amundsen set up his base camp in Antarctica's Bay of Whales in January 1911, he was 38 years old and a seasoned polar veteran. He was in wholly unknown territory, but he was also in a familiar landscape of snow and ice. Amundsen and his men used the months preceding the polar journey to lay down depots of supplies and to subject every article of food, clothing, and equipment to ruthless scrutiny and refinement. Every detail was considered with focused seriousness grounded in Amundsen's profound respect for the environment he now confronted.

The more than 800-mile journey began at last on October 20, with Amundsen and his four companions on skis behind four loaded sledges, each weighing 880 pounds and pulled by 13 dogs. Ahead, across unknown terrain, lay an arduous slog over (and occasionally into) crevasses, around the abysses and ice of the Queen Maud range, and onto the Polar Plateau, through perilously unpredictable weather. Yet without any major mishap, the Norwegians reached their goal on schedule. "And so at last we reached our destination," Amundsen wrote in his diary on December 14, 1911, "and planted our flag on the geographical South Pole, King Haakon VII's plateau. Thank God!" Before leaving Polheim, as the men had dubbed their polar camp, Amundsen left a letter for Norway's King Haakon VII on special notepaper he had brought, "and a few words to Scott, who I presume will be the first to come here after us." The letter ensured a report of his success in the event of some disaster and was an elegant way of telling Scott, I won.

Scott's honorable safeguarding of this letter would be the proof of Amundsen's success. On the return leg the men abandoned surplus stores (some of which would be gratefully collected by Scott's party). As throughout the journey, dogs were shot and, along with dogs that had died, consumed as food by both surviving dogs and the men. Early on January 26, 1912, the polar victors arrived back in Framheim. "Good morning, my dear Lindstrøm," Amundsen greeted his startled cook. "Have you any coffee for us?" The contrast between what Apsley Cherry-Garrard, the legendary chronicler of the British expedition, called Amundsen's "business-like" operation and Scott's "first-rate tragedy" is painful to draw, but it highlights issues that still concern adventurers and explorers today. Amundsen used dogs; Scott ponies and motor sledges. Amundsen traveled by ski, a skill at which he and his men were brilliantly adept; Scott never learned to ski proficiently, so he and his men trudged, pulling their own sledges. Amundsen depoted three times the supplies Scott did; Scott starved and suffered scurvy.

Some of Scott's fatal errors can be defended in terms of the precedents of his own times—after all, his compatriot and rival, Ernest Shackleton, had used ponies and almost reached the Pole. And some of Amundsen's tactics are troubling, such as his calculated slaughter of dogs that had been affectionately named and treated as companions. At root, though, the contrast between Amundsen and Scott is not about details of management but broad outlooks—those of the professional and of the amateur. "In Norway there is very little tolerance for failure in expeditions," one historian says. "You go and you come back whole." The British, in contrast, emphasized the struggle, believing that character, not skill, would win out and that death was heroic—a view that would be judged irresponsible today. "I am inspired by how Amundsen prepared his expeditions," Børge Ousland, a Norwegian explorer who made the first solo crossing of the Antarctic, says. "He always tried to learn from others.

He identified the problem, then looked to solve the problem." Amundsen enjoyed celebrity until the end of his life, but unlike his compatriot and mentor—the multifaceted, charismatic Nansen—he never achieved the financial security he had hoped his books and lectures would bring. In July 1918 he returned to the Arctic to undertake the scientific work he had promised Nansen: following the ice drift in his ship Maud. In the 1920s, searching for new prizes, Amundsen turned to aviation, making several unsuccessful attempts to fly over the North Pole. In 1926 he commanded the airship Norge, flown by Italian pilot Umberto Nobile, for the first successful crossing of the Arctic by air. Daring as these later adventures were, Amundsen participated more as passenger than leader, surrendering control to others. Financially strapped, he had become embittered, lashing out at old allies. Yet in May 1928, when Nobile's airship went missing over the Arctic, Amundsen hastened to join the multinational rescue effort, pushing friends to finance a rescue plane.

He was poised to get married, and his determination to be involved suggests that, as an essentially solitary man, he was running from this commitment. It's clear that he also missed the limelight his heroic feats had earlier won him. Like the confused start of his South Pole success, Amundsen's last quest belies the workmanlike image imposed upon him, revealing instead a very human man. In Tromsø, above the Arctic Circle, he boarded his plane, a Latham 47 fitted with floats, which had come from France. By then the pilots had been flying for three days and were operating on very little sleep. With difficulty the lumbering, heavily laden plane struggled to become airborne. The air was still, which often presaged banks of summer fog and dangerous visibility to the north. Under modern scrutiny, the accumulation of errors is foreboding. The plane left Tromsø on June 18, and at 4 p.m. it was seen for the last time passing over Sommarøy, where the mountainous land abuts the sea. It was summer, and the land was green, but Amundsen was heading north, toward the ice.

Contributing Writer Caroline Alexander is the author of The Endurance and most recently The War That Killed Achilles. | The race to the South Pole, 1911 | Explore Royal Museums Greenwich The race to the South Pole, 1911 The race to the South Pole It was a race between a Brit and Norwegian, but who won? Roald Amundsen Was Amundsen the first man to reach the South Pole? Robert Falcon Scott Was Scott the first Brit to reach the South Pole? Previous Home Discover Explore by theme The race to the South Pole, 1911 The race to the South Pole, 1911 Share In 1911, British explorer Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen went head to head to be the first to reach the South Pole. In the early 20th century, the race was on to reach the South Pole, with a number of explorers setting out to claim it for their own.

In 1911, Britain’s Robert Falcon Scott and Norway’s Roald Amundsen went head to head to reach the Pole, and it was to prove a dramatic journey for both of them – ending in victory for Amundsen and tragedy for Scott. Scott’s expedition Robert Falcon Scott had attempted to reach the South Pole once before in 1902 but his party were forced to turn back due to ill health and sub-zero conditions. It was always Scott’s intention to return and, with the support of the British Admiralty and the government, he secured a grant of £20,000. Scott recruited men from his original Antarctic voyage and from Ernest Shackleton’s ship Nimrod, which had recently returned from the Antarctic. His crew included naval seamen, scientists and paying members. His ship Terra Nova sailed from Cardiff on 15 June 1910. Amundsen’s expedition Roald Amundsen was a respected Norwegian explorer who was determined to beat the Brits and be the first to reach the South Pole.

He kept his plans to head south very secret and set out with his crew on the Fram, appearing to head north round South America to the Arctic, but all the time intending to head south to Antarctica first and then continue north. Fram reached the Ross Ice Shelf on 14 January 1911, Amundsen having chosen to land at the Bay of Whales. This gained the Norwegians a 60-mile advantage over Scott, who returned to land at McMurdo Sound. The race On 18 October 1911, after the Antarctic winter, Amundsen's team set out on its drive toward the Pole. Captain Scott began his trek three weeks later. At around 15.00 on 14 December 1911, Amundsen raised the flag of Norway at the South Pole. He had reached the Pole a full 33 days before Captain Scott arrived. Amundsen and his crew returned to their base camp on 25 January 1912, 99 days and roughly 1400 nautical miles after their departure. Scott left his base camp with his team to the Pole on 1 November 1911.

He finally reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, disappointed to learn that Amundsen had beaten him to it. The tortuous return journey was faced with stoicism and dignity. Weak from exhaustion, hunger and extreme cold, his last diary entry is dated 29 March 1912. He died in his tent alongside two of his men. Amundsen’s success was celebrated worldwide, and he received personal telegrams of congratulations from US President Theodore Roosevelt and King George V of England. Scott was also recognised for his achievements and posthumously made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. Find out more:

Question: Which Norwegian explorer did Robert Feary beat to the North Pole?
Answer: Roald Amundsen