The South Pole, Volume 1

Sydpolen #1

by Roald Amundsen, 1stworld Library (Editor)

On February 10, 1911, we started for the South to establish depots, and continued our journey until April 11. We formed three depots and stored in them 3 tons of provisions, including 22 hundredweight of seal meat. As there were no landmarks, we had to indicate the position of our depots by flags, which were posted at a distance of about four miles to the east and west. The first barrier afforded the best going, and was specially adapted for dog-sledging. Thus, on February 15 we did sixty-two miles with sledges. Each sledge weighed 660 pounds, and we had six dogs for each. The upper barrier ("barrier surface") was smooth and even. There were a few crevasses here and there, but we only found them dangerous at one or two points. The barrier went in long, regular undulations. The weather was very favourable, with calms or light winds. The lowest temperature at this station was -49° F., which was taken on March 4.

296 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2007

About the author

Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) was Norwegian explorer, first man to reach the South Pole (1911).

Roald Amundsen first navigated completely Amundsen Gulf, an inlet, opening of the Arctic Ocean in Northwest Territories, Canada, on the Beaufort Sea, during his expedition of 1903 to 1906 to the region.

A Norwegian expedition explored and named Amundsen Sea, an arm of the southern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica, in the late 1920s.

At the turn of the late 19th century, Amundsen led the expedition successfully to traverse the Northwest Passage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_A...

Reviews

[Royce Ratterman]

Read to augment a writing research. A detailed record of Amundsen's explorative endeavors and experiences in reaching the South Pole. Numerous captivating events highlight this work's picturesque descriptions of the areas encompassing the frozen continent of Antarctica. These descriptions, clothed with historic content, paint vivid landscapes of times present and of times past. "There is a glitter in the sea, a sparkle on the ice, and a stillness in the atmosphere, which fascinates the soul but overpowers the mind."

-Excerpts:
"On our way across these endless plains, where no landmarks of any kind are to be found, we had repeatedly thought of a means of marking our depots so that we might be perfectly sure of finding them again... we therefore marked this depot in 80deg. S. with high bamboo poles carrying black flags. We used twenty of these — ten on each side of the depot... Each bamboo was marked with a number, so that we should always be able to tell from this number on which side the depot lay, and how far off. This method was entirely new and untried, but proved afterwards to work with absolute certainty. Our compasses and sledge-meters had, of course, been carefully adjusted at the station, and we knew that we could rely on them."

"The aurora australis was seen for the first time on the evening of March 28. It was composed of shafts and bands, and extended from the south-west to the north-east through the zenith. The light was pale green and red. We see many fine sunsets here, unique in the splendour of their colour. No doubt the surroundings in this fairyland of blue and white do much to increase their beauty."

"On April 19 we saw the sun for the last time, since it then went below our horizon — the ridge to the north. It was intensely red, and surrounded by a sea of flame, which did not disappear altogether until the 21st."

[Susan Ingram]

Fascinating and very in depth. Long and detailed, I really enjoyed it.

[Jarmby]

Can’t say I enjoyed Amundsens writing style
What seemed might be important decisions were glossed over but quite a lot said of equipment modifications
Ah but he was an explorer and not an author so one can’t be overly disappointed

[Alexandre Militão]

muito organizados