The North West Passage; Volume 1

Nordvestpassasjen #1

by Roald Amundsen

In 1903, Amundsen led the first expedition to successfully traverse Canada's Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. With him were six others in a 45-ton fishing vessel, Gjøa. His technique was to use a small ship and hug the coast. Amundsen had the ship outfitted with a small gasoline engine. They travelled via Baffin Bay, the Parry Channel and then south through Peel Sound,James Ross Strait, Simpson Strait and Rae Strait and spent two winters at King William Island in what is today Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, Canada. During this time Amundsen learned from the local Netsilik people about Arctic survival skills that would later prove useful. For example, he learned to use sled dogs and to wear animal skins in lieu of heavy, woolen parkas. Leaving Gjoa Haven he went west and passed Cambridge Bay which had been reached from the west by Richard Collinson in 1852. Continuing to the south of Victoria Island, the ship cleared the Canadian Arctic Archipelago on 17 August 1905, but had to stop for the winter before going on to Nome on the Alaska District's Pacific coast. Five hundred miles (800 km) away, Eagle City, Alaska, had a telegraph station; Amundsen travelled there (and back) overland to wire a success message (collect) on 5 December 1905. Nome was reached in 1906. Because the water along the route was as shallow as 3 ft (0.91 m), a larger ship could not have made the voyage. It was at this time that Amundsen received news that Norway had formally become independent of Sweden and had a new king. Amundsen sent the new King Haakon VII news that it "was a great achievement for Norway". He said he hoped to do more and signed it "Your loyal subject, Roald Amundsen." The crew returned to Oslo in November 1906, after almost 3.5 years aboard. It took until 1972 to get the Gjøa back to Norway. After a 45-day trip from San Francisco on a bulk carrier, the Gjøa was placed in her present resting place outside the Fram Museum in Oslo.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

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

[Bard Reian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amundsen har en meget god fortellerstemme. Denne er absolutt verd å lese. Spesielt interessant å høre om Gjøa-mannskapets opplevelser av eskimoene.

[Kačenka Schlosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed description of the journey and Eskimos. I was surprised how easy to read the book was. Pleasure to see how determined people were before and how they kept their common senses and high standards even in these conditions.

[Ela Bělíková · Rating 5 out of 5]

Successful grandpa

[Leila Danielsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my style of book, but interesting none-the-less. I found some parts a little tedious and other parts that could've used more elaboration were a bit lacking. But in general, it was a good book. It would be interesting to hear from some of the others on the expedition, however, as I understand not all opinions were aligned.