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Mission Seeks to Find the Lost Discoverer of the South Pole - By Michael Stillman The Search For Amundsen website. By Michael Stillman Some of the greatest nonfiction writers were those who participated in history. Among the greatest of the great are the explorers who expanded the tiny pre-Columbian known universe to the entire world. Names like Columbus, Cook, Lewis and Clark, while perhaps not the most noted masters of prose, wrote some of the greatest books (or letters, as in Columbus' case) ever. Of course, no one gets to write the final chapter of his or her story. That is left to those who survive. By the 20th century, pretty much all of the places you might want to live had been discovered and explored. Columbus' America, Cook's Australia, Lewis and Clark's Louisiana were all well known and populated by European descendants. Exploration was now left to the most inhospitable regions on Earth, notably the poles. Only the hardiest could hope to enter these lands where death awaited every turn. These are places settlers will never settle. Six months of darkness and twelve months of bitter winter welcomes no one. Still, the explorers came, and among those were Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Englishman Robert Falcon Scott. Amundsen cut his exploratory teeth in the Antarctic in the waning days of the 19th century as part of a Belgian expedition. By 1903, he was off leading his own expedition, and it was a momentous one. After centuries of unsuccessful attempts, Amundsen led the first successful attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage, a route through Arctic waters north of the Canadian mainland. That brought him to his attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole in 1911. Robert Falcon Scott was more of a traditionalist. It was his Navy career that put him in charge of the ship Discovery when it traveled to Antarctica at the time Amundsen was tracking down the Northwest Passage. His trip, too, was a great success, but no attempt was made to reach the Pole. In 1911, however, he joined the competition with Amundsen, attempting to reach the South Pole. Unlike Amundsen, who was up on using sled dogs and techniques of those who lived in far northern climates, Scott resorted to a combination of horses, motorized sledges, dogs, and simple manpower, humans pulling the heavy sledges of supplies. History records that both were successful in their attempts to reach the South Pole. It also notes, of course, that only one made it first. That would be Amundsen, with his speedy dogs (Amundsen also needed fewer supplies as he cleverly ate the dogs on the way back). The Norwegian was well prepared for every possible contingency, and his journey to the Pole and back was as uneventful as could be under such harsh conditions. Forty-five days later, Scott arrived, to the horror of finding a Norwegian flag resting on the Pole. From there it was all downhill. The weather turned brutal, even by polar standards, and Scott and his men were not equipped for a return trip under such conditions. They froze. Shortly before his death, Scott wrote the next-to-last chapter of his life, which appeared in his final book. The following spring, Scott's last written words and his remains were found by a search party.
Mission Seeks to Find the Lost Discoverer of the South Pole - By Michael Stillman Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. With the discovery by the search party, the final chapter was complete on Scott's life. His last letters home were retrieved, and a marker was placed to note his final resting place. However, no such final chapter was ever written, nor any marker erected, for Amundsen. He returned safely, and lived until 1928, sixteen years after Scott died. Now, over 80 years later, a new expedition is about to be launched to write the final chapter on Amundsen's life. After his return, Amundsen led an expedition through the Northeast Passage, and then began exploring by air. In 1926, he became either the second or first (depending on whether you believe the claims of Admiral Richard Byrd) to fly over the North Pole. Then, in 1928, an exploration by air headed by Umberto Nobile, an Italian aircraft designer who accompanied Amundsen on his flight over the North Pole, went down on sea ice. An international rescue effort was launched, and Amundsen was one of those who took to the skies. Ironically, Nobile and his men were found, but the great Norwegian explorer was lost. His plane went down over the sea, and unlike Nobile and Scott, he was never found. A pontoon from his seaplane was located, but the resting place of Amundsen and his plane remains a mystery. Recently, the Royal Norwegian Navy announced that the search for Amundsen will resume this summer. The navy, along with some specialty partners, will be using the latest sonar equipment and submarine technology to locate the missing plane. Amundsen is believed to have gone down in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Norway's Spitsbergen Island. The Navy has a particular area in mind where it believes the plane is most likely to be located. They have no expectation of finding any remains of Amundsen. As Scott was consigned to the ice, Amundsen is forever consigned to the sea. Among the books Amundsen wrote are The South Pole. An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram," 1910 - 1912 (published in 1912), and The North West Passage being the record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Gjoa" 1903-1907... published in 1908. The Arctic and Antarctic regions have become quite popular fields for collecting, with booksellers such as Aquila Books and Bjarne Tokerud specializing in the area. Amundsen's works are important elements of such a collection.

Mission Seeks to Find the Lost Discoverer of the South Pole

- By Michael Stillman

The Search For Amundsen website.

By Michael Stillman

Some of the greatest nonfiction writers were those who participated in history. Among the greatest of the great are the explorers who expanded the tiny pre-Columbian known universe to the entire world. Names like Columbus, Cook, Lewis and Clark, while perhaps not the most noted masters of prose, wrote some of the greatest books (or letters, as in Columbus' case) ever. Of course, no one gets to write the final chapter of his or her story. That is left to those who survive.

By the 20th century, pretty much all of the places you might want to live had been discovered and explored. Columbus' America, Cook's Australia, Lewis and Clark's Louisiana were all well known and populated by European descendants. Exploration was now left to the most inhospitable regions on Earth, notably the poles. Only the hardiest could hope to enter these lands where death awaited every turn. These are places settlers will never settle. Six months of darkness and twelve months of bitter winter welcomes no one. Still, the explorers came, and among those were Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Englishman Robert Falcon Scott.

Amundsen cut his exploratory teeth in the Antarctic in the waning days of the 19th century as part of a Belgian expedition. By 1903, he was off leading his own expedition, and it was a momentous one. After centuries of unsuccessful attempts, Amundsen led the first successful attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage, a route through Arctic waters north of the Canadian mainland. That brought him to his attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole in 1911.

Robert Falcon Scott was more of a traditionalist. It was his Navy career that put him in charge of the ship Discovery when it traveled to Antarctica at the time Amundsen was tracking down the Northwest Passage. His trip, too, was a great success, but no attempt was made to reach the Pole. In 1911, however, he joined the competition with Amundsen, attempting to reach the South Pole. Unlike Amundsen, who was up on using sled dogs and techniques of those who lived in far northern climates, Scott resorted to a combination of horses, motorized sledges, dogs, and simple manpower, humans pulling the heavy sledges of supplies.

History records that both were successful in their attempts to reach the South Pole. It also notes, of course, that only one made it first. That would be Amundsen, with his speedy dogs (Amundsen also needed fewer supplies as he cleverly ate the dogs on the way back). The Norwegian was well prepared for every possible contingency, and his journey to the Pole and back was as uneventful as could be under such harsh conditions. Forty-five days later, Scott arrived, to the horror of finding a Norwegian flag resting on the Pole. From there it was all downhill. The weather turned brutal, even by polar standards, and Scott and his men were not equipped for a return trip under such conditions. They froze. Shortly before his death, Scott wrote the next-to-last chapter of his life, which appeared in his final book. The following spring, Scott's last written words and his remains were found by a search party.

Mission Seeks to Find the Lost Discoverer of the South Pole

- By Michael Stillman

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen.

With the discovery by the search party, the final chapter was complete on Scott's life. His last letters home were retrieved, and a marker was placed to note his final resting place. However, no such final chapter was ever written, nor any marker erected, for Amundsen. He returned safely, and lived until 1928, sixteen years after Scott died. Now, over 80 years later, a new expedition is about to be launched to write the final chapter on Amundsen's life.

After his return, Amundsen led an expedition through the Northeast Passage, and then began exploring by air. In 1926, he became either the second or first (depending on whether you believe the claims of Admiral Richard Byrd) to fly over the North Pole. Then, in 1928, an exploration by air headed by Umberto Nobile, an Italian aircraft designer who accompanied Amundsen on his flight over the North Pole, went down on sea ice. An international rescue effort was launched, and Amundsen was one of those who took to the skies. Ironically, Nobile and his men were found, but the great Norwegian explorer was lost. His plane went down over the sea, and unlike Nobile and Scott, he was never found. A pontoon from his seaplane was located, but the resting place of Amundsen and his plane remains a mystery.

Recently, the Royal Norwegian Navy announced that the search for Amundsen will resume this summer. The navy, along with some specialty partners, will be using the latest sonar equipment and submarine technology to locate the missing plane. Amundsen is believed to have gone down in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Norway's Spitsbergen Island. The Navy has a particular area in mind where it believes the plane is most likely to be located. They have no expectation of finding any remains of Amundsen. As Scott was consigned to the ice, Amundsen is forever consigned to the sea.

Among the books Amundsen wrote are The South Pole. An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram," 1910 - 1912 (published in 1912), and The North West Passage being the record of a voyage of exploration of the ship "Gjoa" 1903-1907... published in 1908. The Arctic and Antarctic regions have become quite popular fields for collecting, with booksellers such as Aquila Books and Bjarne Tokerud specializing in the area. Amundsen's works are important elements of such a collection.