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EARLY LIFE
★ Roald Engelbert Gravning Amundsen was born on July 16, 1872 in Borge,
Ostfold, Norway.
★ He was born into a well-to-do family of Norwegian shipowners and captains
from Borge. He was the fourth son of Jen Amundsen and Hanna Sahlqvist.
★ His mother tried to steer him away from the family maritime trade and
pressured him to be a doctor. Amundsen conceded until his mother died
when he was 21. He immediately quit university for an explorer life.
★ He was proud to be referred to as "the last of the Vikings”. From the first
time he saw the frozen terrain and read about Englishman John Franklin's
catastrophic search for the Northwest passage, he developed a fascination
with the polar regions. He would sleep with his windows open despite the
frigid Norwegian winter to prepare for polar exploration.
Roald Amundsen Facts
Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions.
He was the first to sail the Arctic's Northwest Passage from the
Atlantic to Pacific, the first to reach the South Pole, and the
first to cross the Arctic by air. He was one of the most
significant figures during the Heroic Age of Antarctic
Exploration.
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EARLY LIFE
★ At the age of 25, Amundsen sailed as a first mate when he joined the
Belgian Antarctic Expedition led by Adrien de Gerlache using the RV
Belgica ship.
★ The ship got stuck in the sea ice at 70°30′S off Alexander Island, west of
the Antarctic Peninsula. The crew was very susceptible to scurvy. The
ship's doctor, Frederick Cook, saved them by feeding them hunted
animals' meat that made their own vitamin C. It was an essential lesson
for Amundsen that he could use in the future
Roald Amundsen Facts
★ In 1903, Amundsen was ready to
lead his first expedition. It
traversed Canada's Northwest
Passage between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans.
★ His crew consisted of just six men
in a 45-ton fishing vessel, Gjøa.
His plan was to use a small ship
to maneuver the shallow
passages through the Canadian
archipelago.
FIRSTS EXPEDITIONS
★ They spent two winters at the harbor of King William Islands, now called
the Gjøa Haven, where they learned about Arctic survival skills from the
local Netsilik Inuit natives.
★ It included how they should carefully choose and treat reindeer skins so
that they could keep them comfortably dry and warm while still allowing
them to move freely, and how to drive sleds and use them for the
transportation of goods. The locals also taught him how to hunt for seals
and fish.
★ He was the first to complete the Northwest Passage's navigation in 1905
but had to stop for the winter before going to Nome on Alaska's Pacific
coast. He wanted to wire a message of his success, but as the nearest
telegraph station was 500 miles away, Amundsen had to travel there
overland. He returned to Nome in 1906.
The Gjøa
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★ Armed with new survival skills in the polar regions, he planned the North
Pole expedition in 1909. However, when he learned that a team of
American explorers claimed to have reached the North Pole, he changed
his plan and moved his mission to the South instead as he wanted to do
something important in the eyes of the world.
★ His plans became problematic again when Robert Falcon Scott
announced the same intention to go south. Also, the Norwegian
government funded his expedition, knowing that it was for the Arctic.
★ He decided to keep his journey to the South secret and have everyone
think, including his crew, that he was bound to the North. He only told the
change of plan to his brother Leon and Thorvald Nilsen, the ship's
commander.
★ Amundsen used the ship Fram and left Oslo on June 3, 1910. He waited
until he reached Madeira to let his crew know the change of plan, which
was received positively.
★ He made the news public on October 2, informing Frost through a
telegram saying, "BEG TO INFORM YOU FRAM PROCEEDING
ANTARCTIC- AMUNDSEN." Frost stated that Amundsen's presence did
not affect his own plans for the Pole.
★ They arrived at the eastern edge of Ross Ice Shelf called the Bay of
Whales on January 14, 1911. Despite the place being rejected by previous
explorers as a base camp because of its instability, Amundsen used it and
named his camp Framheim, which means Home of Fram.
★ He created supply depots at 80°, 81°, and 82° south, along a line directly
to the South Pole. During the winter period, Amundsen's crew prepared
for the attempt on the Pole the following spring. They kept busy improving
equipment, particularly the sleds.
★ The spring came, and Amundsen thought they were ready to start their
journey to the Pole. His team consisted of eight people, Olav Bjaaland,
Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, Oscar Wisting, Jørgen Stubberud,
Hjalmar Johansen, Kristian Prestrud, and Amundsen. Soon after their
departure, the temperatures fell to -60°F so they decided to turn back to
Framheim and wait for warmer conditions.
Roald Amundsen Facts
EXPEDITION IN THE SOUTH POLE
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★ Johannsen accused Amundsen of abandoning him and Prestud, who
suffered from frostbite, and the latter had to be carried through the
blizzard.
★ Amundsen decided to reorganize his Pole team and reduced it to five. He
tasked Pestrud with Johannsen and Stubberd in the exploration of Edward
VII Land.
★ The new team departed on October 19, 1911, with their four sleds and 52
dogs. They chose to climb the newly discovered route Axel Heiberg Glacier
during this journey, which they were lucky to find as it gave a quicker way
up to the Polar Plateau. They camped at a place named "Butcher Shop”,
where 24 of their dogs were killed and fed to the remaining dogs. They
also had to brave several days of blizzards.
Roald Amundsen Facts
EXPEDITION IN THE SOUTH POLE
★ On December 14, 1911, the
Amundsen's team arrived at the Pole
(90°00'S). They arrived 35 days earlier
than Scott's group. The latter followed
the route discovered by Shackleton
three years previously. Also, unlike
Amundsen's team, they were not as
skilled as handling sleds and dogs.
They even transported Mongolian
horses on the initial part of their
journey. Amundsen's party left a small
tent stating their accomplishment.
The tent erected at the South Pole
by Amundsen and his team
OTHER EXPEDITIONS
★ Amundsen began a new expedition in
1918 with the new ship, Maud. It lasted
until 1925 and was considered
unsuccessful.
★ Its goal was to explore the Arctic Ocean’s
undiscovered areas and freeze the Maud
into an Arctic ice cap and drift it towards
the North Pole.
The Maud Ship
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★ However, the ice became so thick and froze the ship on the ice sea. It was
only able to break free after several days but got stuck again after eleven
days.
★ Amundsen also suffered a broken arm and was attacked by polar bears
during this expedition, so he did very little work outdoors.
★ Other difficulties they encountered included discovering that the ice was
not solidly frozen in the Bering Strait and could not be crossed, and
Amundsen going bankrupt during the expedition. The Maud did not reach
the North Pole.
★ Amundsen also tried Aerial Expeditions to the North Pole in 1923 with
Oskar Omdal of the Royal Norwegian Navy. They abandoned the journey
after the aircraft was damaged. He went on a lecture tour in the United
States in 1924 to raise additional funds.
★ He engaged in two more Aerial expeditions in 1925 and 1926, wherein in
the latter year, they made the historic first crossing of the Arctic using the
airship Norge, designed by Nobile.
Roald Amundsen Facts
OTHER EXPEDITIONS
★ On May 25, the airship led by Nobile
crashed while returning from the North
Pole. With the Norwegian pilot Lief
Dietrichson, French pilot René
Guilbaud, and three other Frenchmen,
Amundsen conducted a rescue mission
in the Arctic.
★ However, on June 18, his French
Latham 47 airship never returned. It is
assumed the plane crashed in the
Barents sea and all of them were killed
even though no bodies were found.
DEATH AND DISAPPEARANCE
Amundsen's Latham 47 flying
boat
★ A search party was conducted by the Royal Norwegian Navy using the
unmanned submarine to look for the wreckage of the Amundsen’s plane in
2004 and 2000, but they found nothing from said flight.
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Tale of Two Explorers
Name: ________________________________
Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott engaged in
a race of who could reach the South Pole
first. Compare their expeditions by describing how
each of their teams reached the South Pole.
Roald Amundsen
Robert Falcon Scott
ROALD AMUNDSEN WORKSHEET
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Tale of Two Explorers
Answer Key
Roald Amundsen
Robert Falcon Scott
ROALD AMUNDSEN WORKSHEET
• They chose to climb the newly discovered route
Axel Heiberg Glacier during this journey, which
they were lucky to find as it gave a quicker way
up to the Polar Plateau.
• Amundsen applied the survival skills he learned
from the local Netsilik, such as reindeer clothing,
using sled dogs, and hunting for fish and seals.
• Scott's team followed the route discovered by
Shackleton three years previously.
• They were not as skilled as handling sleds and
dogs. They used Mongolian horses on the initial
part of their journey.
