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Charles Finch
Monday, December 17, 2007
Amundsen's Anniversary
I meant to write at the time, but forgot, that Friday was the 96th anniversary of Roald Amundsen and his team becoming the first men to reach the true South Pole: December 14, 1911. Amundsen is my favorite polar explorer, though I must acknowledge that it's an inherited preference; my grandmother taught me to love him and Ernest Shackleton, and rather to scorn that great romantic hero, Robert Falcon Scott, for his quixotic stupidity.
Amundsen was supremely intelligent. He was the first explorer of Antarctica, for example, to use black tents, which both relieved his men's eyes and made the home base easier to spot. But he was daring as well, an attribute usually ascribed to Scott and Shackleton, those two quintessential Englishmen, and not to the Norwegian. When he learned that Nansen had already laid claim to the North Pole, Amundsen turned his ship 180 degrees and sailed south without telling anybody. His death, too, proved his courage; when two men came to his house to enlist his aid on a dangerous rescue mission, he turned the book he had been reading face down and stood up, ready to leave that instant. The plane they took disappeared, but for me, at any rate, his mortal acts live on.
Amundsen was supremely intelligent. He was the first explorer of Antarctica, for example, to use black tents, which both relieved his men's eyes and made the home base easier to spot. But he was daring as well, an attribute usually ascribed to Scott and Shackleton, those two quintessential Englishmen, and not to the Norwegian. When he learned that Nansen had already laid claim to the North Pole, Amundsen turned his ship 180 degrees and sailed south without telling anybody. His death, too, proved his courage; when two men came to his house to enlist his aid on a dangerous rescue mission, he turned the book he had been reading face down and stood up, ready to leave that instant. The plane they took disappeared, but for me, at any rate, his mortal acts live on.
posted by Charles Finch # 12:40 PM 
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It's disappointing to see another person sadly misguided about the character and fortitude of Scott. Isn't it amazing how people who have no real idea about the conditions which Antarctic explorers endure are so keen to pass judgement on something that happened nearly 100 years ago. I hope history is a little kinder to them when they are dead.
Thanks for your comment.
Nobody could possibly deny Scott's bravery. But the conditions in the Antarctic are the same Amundsen and Shackleton accommodated roughly well. Everything you need to know about Scott can be summarized in this fact: he took horses to the South Pole. And this one: all of his men died. Not a single one of Amundsen's even had frostbite.
Nobody could possibly deny Scott's bravery. But the conditions in the Antarctic are the same Amundsen and Shackleton accommodated roughly well. Everything you need to know about Scott can be summarized in this fact: he took horses to the South Pole. And this one: all of his men died. Not a single one of Amundsen's even had frostbite.
Charles, I think you've fallen into the trap most people do when they compare Amundsen to Scott - the purpose of the two expeditions where like chalk and cheese and cannot really be compared together. Scott's expedition was mainly for scientific learning with an attempt on the pole as a feature, while Amundsen was only down there to attempt the pole. Scott planned to be in the Antarctic for nearly three years and two winters whereas Amundsen's planning was surgical and the execution brutal - he planned for minimal time on the continent and slaughtered dozens of dogs to make the pole and came away with no real scientific data. Because of the difference between the two expeditions, their makeup differed greatly and no real comparison can be made. People focus on just the 'race' to the pole, but there was much more to it than that as far as Scott was concerned - he was on the continent for many months prior to Amundsen's arrival and his planning had to account for this and the fact he'd be there after the pole attempt was complete. As for the weather, read Susan Solomon's book 'The Coldest March' and you'll see it wasn't the same for Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton at all - Scott and his men were unfortunate enough to be caught in a 1 in 100 year weather event which saw the temperatures they encountered to be much colder than normal and earlier than expected - something Amundsen was lucky to miss by a few weeks.
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