Amundsen's Way
Page 19
Short of cash, Amundsen set out immediately on a lecture tour of Australia and New Zealand. Everybody wanted to hear the story first hand of how a band of Norwegian adventurers had so expertly married the best of Inuit and Scandinavian cultures to claim the last continent on earth. Dogs, sledges and skis – there wasn’t much more to tell. From Hobart, the men headed home. All except Hjalmar Johansen, who had taken to drink, become quarrelsome and been ordered from the ship to make his own way home to Norway. Shortly after, he took his own life.
As for the dogs, they were thankfully spared another unpleasant sea voyage. A gift was made of them to another expedition that was soon to leave Hobart for Antarctica. The Australian explorer Douglas Mawson was infinitely grateful to the Norwegians. As it turned out, the gift was literally life-saving when dire circumstances compelled him to eat some of their number to survive. Having endured his ordeal, Mawson was able to return a national hero, along with many of Amundsen’s original contingent, who lived out their remaining days in far from unpleasant conditions in Tasmania.
Despite his success, the name Amundsen has often been overshadowed by the tragic story of another great Antarctic explorer, Robert Falcon Scott, who died on his way back from the South Pole, in second place. It’s true that Amundsen’s story may not be as moving as Scott’s, but it is difficult not to find the Norwegian explorer an extremely compelling character. Secretive and stubborn, prepared to mislead his colleagues and consume his dogs if it helped him achieve his aims, Amundsen could be viewed in a less than favourable light. But the truth is far more complex and far more interesting.
It’s fair to say Roald Amundsen was not the most popular man in Great Britain once his Antarctic achievement was reported in the press. Even less so when news of Captain Scott’s death on the ice reached the world the following year. The British public was scandalised. Had Amundsen indirectly caused the death of their national hero by forcing Scott and his men into a race for the pole?
Nobody knows if Amundsen ever spent much time pondering the tragedy and any role he might have unwittingly played in it. We do know he considered Scott ‘a splendid sportsman and a great explorer’. We also know that Amundsen was never interested in basking in the glory of his achievement with parades, parties and public addresses, although these things were necessary for a man who desperately needed others to support his endeavours. For him, success meant money. Not personal riches, but funds to finance his next expedition.
Amundsen was no amateur. He was a professional, with no shortage of men to follow him to the ends of the earth. Signing up to one of his expeditions meant hardship, extreme cold, deprivation, possibly death, along with adventure in the company of one of the world’s greatest explorers. Being associated with Amundsen would set a man up for life and preserve his name in the rich history of polar exploration. Amundsen’s many achievements will never crumble into the sea like Framheim. His achievements are now set in stone. This is the story of but one.
Self-possessed and incisive, Roald Amundsen exudes the confidence and fearlessness of a true polar hero. At over 180 centimetres tall with piercing blue eyes, he is the very embodiment of the Viking spirit.
The care of dogs provides a welcome diversion during the long and often monotonous sea voyage from Norway to the Bay of Whales. Here Captain Thorvald Nilsen feeds a puppy while its mother watches on.
Aboard the Fram. Top row from left: Sverre Hassel (1st), Olav Bjaaland (4th), Oscar Wisting (8th); Middle from left: Hjalmar Johansen, Kristian Prestrud, Roald Amundsen, Captain Nilsen, Lieutenant Gjertsen, Helmer Hansen; Front from left: Adolf Lindstrøm, Jørgen Stubberud.
Every man takes responsibility for fine-tuning his sledging outfit, headgear and goggles to suit his individual needs and preferences. The result is an impressive, if comical, array of improvements.
By autumn, Framheim has almost entirely disappeared under a deep layer of snow, which serves to insulate the hut from the severe Antarctic winter while providing the necessary conditions for an ambitious tunnelling operation.
Hauling heavily laden sledges over difficult terrain, the dogs sometimes need the encouragement of the whip. Keeping pace with the dogs, the skier steadies the load over uneven ground to lessen the possibility of capsizing.
Hjalmar Johansen warms his hands, taking a break from the packing of milk powder and other provisions into the newly honed sledging cases in the ice cave they’ve nicknamed the ‘Crystal Palace’.
Olav Bjaaland poses for a photo in his reindeer sledging outfit and fur kamiks. In his hand he holds one of the dog harnesses. Fur clothing, while exceedingly warm, is prone to developing bare patches that must be mended – a useful pastime for long winter nights.
Expedition chef and the first person ever to sail around the Americas, Adolf Lindstrøm is shown here holding a plate of his famous pancakes, which sustained the morale of Amundsen and his crew throughout the first navigation of the Northwest Passage and for a year in Antarctica.
Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hansen, Sverre Hassel and Oscar Wisting share a solemn moment at the South Pole ahead of the perilous return journey. Thirty-four days later the tent and a random assortment of clothing and equipment will be discovered by Captain Scott and his four companions, signalling their defeat.
Oscar Wisting poses with his dogs at the South Pole. The Norwegians spend three days at the pole, using a range of instruments to fix their position and ensure beyond a doubt that they have reached 90 degrees south. However, the race is not over until the news reaches the world.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amundsen, Roald, The Roald Amundsen Diaries: The South Pole Expedition 1910–12, Fram Museum Oslo, 2010
—— The North West Passage, Archibald Constable & Company Limited, London, 1908
—— The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram, 1910–1912, Keedick, 1913
—— My Life as an Explorer, Doubleday, 1927
Bown, Stephen R, The Last Viking – The Life of Roald Amundsen, Da Capo Press, 2013
Hanssen, Helmer, Voyages of a Modern Viking, George Routledge & Sons Ltd, London, 1936
Huntford, Roland, Scott and Amundsen – The Last Place on Earth, Abacus, 1979
Kløver, Geir O, ed. Roald Amundsen and the Exploration of the Northwest Passage, Fram Museum Oslo, 2008
——Cold Recall: Reflections of a Polar Explorer, Fram Museum Oslo, 2009
—— Antarctic Pioneers: The Voyage of the Belgica 1897–1899, Fram Museum Oslo, 2010
Ledingham, Rod, The ANARE Antarctic Dog Driver’s Manual, 2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It was tremendous fun writing this book. My research took me to Norway and Tasmania and gave me an excuse to find out about wild locations I hope one day to visit in real life. I’ll get to Gjoa Haven yet! While in Oslo I was granted access to the unpublished English translations of the expedition diaries of Hjalmar Johansen, Kristian Prestrud, Olav Bjaaland, Sverre Hassel and Captain Thorvald Nilsen. I am very grateful to Geir Kløver, the director of the Fram Museum, for his generous assistance in this regard. It was such a privilege to get a sense of these thoroughly regular guys who achieved wholly extraordinary things. To find myself aboard the Fram, to set foot below decks and let my imagination loose was utterly sublime. And how fortunate to access the fascinating resources within the museum’s collection covering all of Roald Amundsen’s many remarkable journeys. What a extravagant pleasure for an Amundsen enthusiast hungry to learn so much more.
While in Tasmania I had the good fortune to meet Rod Ledingham who has been travelling to Antarctica since 1966. Rod’s excellent book, The ANARE Antarctic Dog Driver’s Manual, filled gaps in my research with practical advice drawn from Rod’s many years’ experience working with sledge dogs in Antarctica. It’s a great shame I could not share more of the fascinating detail contained within this volume around sledge lashings and knots, the fashioning of whips from seal skin, and how to make a raft from sledge boxes and tent poles when floating out to se
a with your dogs on an ice floe. The era of sledge dogs in Antarctica may be over but hopefully I’ll find an opportunity to weave Rod’s sledging wisdom into another tale!
Heartfelt thanks to my early readers Helen Cunningham and Hilary Stichbury; my wonderful editor Kate Whitfield who knows just when to add and when to cut; my illustrator Sarah Lippett who, despite being terrifically busy with her own second book, was happy to take on Amundsen and his ninety-seven dogs; and to Andrew Lumsden (aka Te Radar) for sharing such enthusiasm for Amundsen and lending support to my other Antarctic ambitions.
Pawel, my life’s companion, must be credited with constantly pushing me beyond the limits of what I consider possible and into the realm of ‘what could be’ – not an easy task. It is inspiring (and certainly frightening) to be with someone whose work ethic, energy and commitment to excellence would challenge Roald Amundsen himself! Thank you for a colourful life full of spontaneity, love and laughs.
And to my two beautiful boys, Kazimierz and Zygmunt: I hope you can see the simple truth at the heart of this story – life is what you make it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanna Grochowicz’s narrative non-fiction is meticulously researched and compellingly told. By fusing the real and the imagined in her stories of early Antarctic exploration, she reveals the human aspirations and tragedies that have shaped our understanding of what remains an utterly inhuman place. As an Antarctic writer and communicator, Joanna believes strongly that engaging with Antarctic history encourages a deeper connection with a globally significant continent that few will ever visit. While focusing on polar exploration, her ever-popular school sessions guide students in examining the continued importance of resilience, perseverance and curiosity in all human endeavours.