In 1911, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the leader of the first expedition to fulfil the aim of reaching the South Pole. He was a highly experienced polar traveller, and his thorough, practical preparations for the difficulties of this arduous journey into the unknown were instrumental in his success, as demonstrated by this article from National Geographic.

Amundsen Reaches the South Pole

This page was already on the press when the cable came from New Zealand announcing the attainment of the South Pole by Roald Amundsen. December 14-17, 1911. Amundsen is a gold medalist of the National Geographic Society, having been awarded the Hubbard Medal of the Society for his achievement of the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and for his explorations and observations on that remarkable voyage of discovery. The Society rejoices at his well-earned success in attaining the coveted goal at the far South.

Many geographers had feared that Amundsen would yield to the temptation of following, for a considerable part of the way to the South Pole, the route previously discovered and opened by Shackleton: but his account shows that he was not satisfied to do this, and in consequence he has made discoveries and surveys that are entirely new.

The whole distance traversed by him—approximately 700 miles from his base, where he moored his ship to ice-front—to the pole itself, appears to have been across previously untraversed and unknown ice and land. He has defined the eastern and southern boundaries of the Great Ice Harrier, that vast plain of floating ice which flows down from the great Antarctic Continent, and whose western boundary had been defined previously by Shackleton. This enormous glacial ice plain is one of the wonders of the world. It is a solid mass of ice, floating for the most part, approximately 800 to 1,600 feet thick, and covering an area of about 100,000 square miles, or considerably larger than New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined.

Amundsen found traveling across the barrier comparatively easy. He marched 382 geographical miles due south across the plain until he was confronted by the high mountains. Here he was so fortunate as to find a glacier route up to the inland plateau easier than the Beardmore Glacier, which was used by Shackleton to ascend to the inland plateau three years before.

Amundsen and four companions accomplished the ascent from the ice plain to the plateau, 10,500 feet, in the marvelously short time of four days. He was now about 275 miles from the pole, and thence onward his greatest difficulties were encountered. The rare atmosphere at this high elevation made breathing difficult. Storms delayed them, but they pushed on and reached the pole December 14, staying there for three days. The pole is at an elevation of 10,500 feet. Amundsen reports a lofty chain of mountains, some attaining 15,000 feet, extending southeastward as far as he could see. The chain is probably an extension of the lofty range seen by Shackleton, and probably stretches across the South Polar area to Waddell Sea.

Shackleton in 1909 reached a point so near the South Pole that we have known pretty accurately the conditions at that extreme point, so that the part of Amundsen’s narrative dealing with the pole itself, while highly entertaining, is not so important or so novel as it would otherwise have been.

Amundsen owes his success to his very carefully prepared equipment, to his splendid dogs and his skill in handling them, and to many years of previous experience in battling with the ice and snow of the far North. Next to Peary, he is the most experienced traveler on ice in the world. The following notes from his cable to the New York Times, to whom the world is indebted for his story, illustrate the minute care with which every detail was anticipated:

“Washing was a luxury never indulged in on the journey, nor was there any shaving; but, as the beard has to be kept short, to prevent ice accumulating from one’s breath, a beard-cutting machine which we had taken along proved invaluable. Another article taken was a tooth extractor, and this also proved valuable, for one man had a tooth which became so bad that it was absolutely essential that it should be pulled out, and this could hardly have been done without a proper instrument.

“For food we relied entirely on pemmican, biscuits, chocolate, powdered milk, and, of course, dog meat. The dogs were fed on pemmican.

“In my opinion we had the best and most satisfying provisions possible. In fact, from the beginning to the end of the journey we never felt an undue craving for something to eat or any feeling of not having had sufficient nourishment.”

Source: “Amundsen’s Attainment of the South Pole.” National Geographic, [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/].

Appears in

Exploration, Geographical; Polar Exploration; Amundsen, Roald; Antarctica