Amundsen Route To South Pole
Amundsen s route to the south pole volume 19 issue 121 d.
Amundsen route to south pole. Norwegian roald amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the south pole beating his british rival robert falcon scott. Amundsen chose the ross ice shelf in the bay of whales to set up his camp framheim. Map showing amundsen s route to the pole oct dec 1911. Roald amundsen s south pole route map.
The two expeditions took very different routes to the pole. The first expedition to reach the geographic south pole was led by the norwegian explorer roald amundsen he and four others arrived at the pole on 14 december 1911 five weeks ahead of a british party led by robert falcon scott as part of the terra nova expedition amundsen and his team returned safely to their base and later heard that scott and his four companions had died on their return. On december 14 1911 amundsen s team arrived in the general vicinity of the south pole then spent three days skiing throughout the area trying to calculate the south pole s precise location. Between december 1911 and january 1912 both roald amundsen leading his south pole expedition and robert falcon scott leading the terra nova expedition reached the south pole within five weeks of each other.
At 550km it is one of the shortest routes to the south pole and follows the flagged mcmurdo south pole highway. More people finish partial antarctic traverses here than use it as a starting point. Over a hundred years later there is still debate about the events how well the two men were prepared how they conducted themselves what role luck had to play and not least of their legacies. Finally the five explorers pitched a tent polheim or home at the pole at 90 s.
The attainment of the south pole by roald amundsen ahead of robert scott has frequently described amundsen as the winner in a race. Crucially in terms of the race amundsen had elected to use dog teams instead of ponies for hauling the sledge loads and he did so with utter proficiency. Only seven people across four expeditions have gone from the leverett glacier or the nearby reedy glacier to the south pole. Scott s base in mcmurdo sound was good for the scientific research but sixty miles further away from the south pole than amundsen s camp.
Amundsen born in borge near oslo in 1872 was one of the great. The depots marked at 80 81 and 82 were laid in the first season feb march 1911. The routes to the south pole taken by scott green and amundsen red 1911 1912. Traditionally scott s and amundsen s expedition are portrayed as lines on a map.