Amundsen reaches South Pole
Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole beating his British rival Robert Falcon Scott.Amundsen born in Borge near Oslo in 1872 was one of the great figures in polar exploration.In 1897 he was first mate on a Belgian expedition that was the first ever to winter in the Antarctic.In 1903 he guided the 47-ton sloop Gja through the Northwest Passage and around the Canadian coast the first navigator to accomplish the treacherous journey.
Amundsen planned to be the first man to the North Pole and he was about to embark in 1909 when he learned that the American Robert Peary had achieved the feat.Amundsen completed his preparations and in June 1910 sailed instead for Antarctica where the English explorer Robert F.Scott was also headed with the aim of reaching the South Pole.In early 1911 Amundsen sailed his ship into Antarcticas Bay of Whales and set up base camp 60 miles closer to the pole than Scott.
In October both explorers set offAmundsen using sleigh dogs and Scott employing Siberian motor sledges Siberian ponies and dogs.On December 14 1911 Amundsens expedition won the race to the Pole and returned safely to base camp in late January.Scotts expedition was less fortunate.The motor sleds broke down the ponies had to be shot and the dog teams were sent back as Scott and four companions continued on foot.
On January 18 1912 they reached the pole only to find that Amundsen had preceded them by over a month.Weather on the return journey was exceptionally badtwo members perishedand a storm later trapped Scott and the other two survivors in their tent only 11 miles from their base camp.Scotts frozen body was found later that year.After his historic Antarctic journey Amundsen established a successful shipping business.
He later made attempts to become the first explorer to fly over the North Pole.In 1925 in an airplane he flew within 150 miles of the goal.In 1926 he passed over the North Pole in a dirigible just three days after American explorer Richard E.
Byrd had apparently done so in an aircraft.In 1996 a diary that Byrd had kept on the flight was found that seemed to suggest that the he had turned back 150 miles short of its goal because of an oil leak making Amundsens dirigible expedition the first flight over the North Pole.In 1928 Amundsen lost his life while trying to rescue a fellow explorer whose dirigible had crashed at sea near Spitsbergen Norway.
