Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thanks Larry. When I was 8-10 years old in my native Poland, I did not want to be a fireman or professional football player. I wanted to be a polar explorer. I devoured books about the events you describe below, and others. My heroes were indeed Nansen and of course Robert Peary (yes, I am aware of the various controversies). As I read and learned more, I became more and more disappointed that everything had apparently been discovered, so I gave up my explorer dream by age 10 or 11. Then we moved to Denmark, I discovered the joys of beer and girls, and all was well. Nathan Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.nathanfoto.com PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog YNWA On Aug 18, 2010, at 4:03 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote: > A very long post about a very cold place. > > The temperature is hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk today so we > cooled off by watching a PBS videotape "The Worst Place on Earth." This is > a > reasonably factual retelling of the race to the South Pole. We enjoyed > seeing explorers slog through the snow. Of course we might feel differently > about it in February. It is also the 100th anniversary of Amundsen's > decision to head for the South Pole instead of going north as everyone > expected. > > My wife is Norwegian and comes from a sailing and shipyard family - so > every > time we visit her home country we get a full rundown on the lives and loves > of the various explorers. Seems they were all a pretty raunchy bunch, > although gifted in many ways. As far as the Norwegians are concerned, > Nansen > is at the top of the heap. But not for his exploration. He was Norwegian > cross country skiing champion for eight years in a row and as an 18 year > old > set a speed skating record for the mile. In Norway, ski champions are Babe > Ruth, Wayne Gretsky and Michael Jordan rolled into one. Nansen trained as a > neuro physiologist and published frequently in medical journals. He was the > first to cross Greenland on skis. He was a staunch patriot and was > instrumental in freeing Norway from Swedish domination. Nansen was Norway's > first ambassador to London. Finally he won the Nobel Prize for his work > with > Russian refugees after WW1. Who cares if he slept with Kathleen Scott, even > through, at the time, he was married and had several children. Certainly > not > the Norwegians. Unfortunately he never reached either pole. > > Amundsen is grudgingly given second place in Norway's pantheon of polar > explorers although, objectively speaking, his exploration record is > significantly greater than Nansen's. He was the first to complete the > Northern Passage, drifting and sailing from the North Sea to the Bering > Strait in a converted fishing trawler. The boat, the Gjoa is on display > outside the Fram Museum in Olso. Inside the museum is, of course the Fram, > the Colin Archer designed boat that Nansen had constructed to sail to the > North Pole and Amundsen borrowed for his South Pole exploration. Fram was > allegedly the strongest wooden boat ever constructed and was designed to be > frozen in the ice without damage. Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole > was masterfully planned and executed. More important, he succeeded while > the > much more elaborate Scott venture failed. > > Norwegians tend to ignore the fact that he defrauded his backers, violated > his promise to Nansen to go to the North Pole, and had a very abrasive > personality that annoyed most of those who befriended him. Despite his > character flaws Amundsen was a very experienced Arctic explorer. He had > lived with the Eskimos and was well acquainted with the rigors of overland > Arctic travel. His use of dogs and skis was exactly right. The final dash > to > the Pole was largely without incident. One of the reasons that he is still > reviled in England is that in addition to beating Scott HE ATE HIS DOGS as > the load lightened. Or rather he fed them to the remaining dogs. Unlike > Indonesians, a proper Englishman would as soon eat a dog as a Hindu would > eat a cow. I can testify that letters protesting Amundsen's butchery still > come into the London Times on every anniversary of Scott's death. > > In 1928 he died with his mucklucks on attempting to rescue the ill fated > Nobile "Italia" airship expedition to the North Pole. A fitting passing. > > Shackleton seems to occupy a unique place in the annals of polar > exploration. At least according to the Norwegian scholars I met. He is > regarded as a man of unsurpassed courage, great leadership ability but a > lousy explorer. He was blessed with amazing luck where it really counted. > As > a sailor, I am most impressed with his 800 mile voyage though the Southern > Ocean to get help for his crew in a boat that I would find unsuitable for > an > afternoon trip on Long Island Sound. On the other hand, many would question > the poor planning that led to the loss of his ship, the Endurance, and made > such a sea voyage necessary. Incidentally, Shackleton is not to be credited > with the amazing photos of the Endurance expedition. He wanted to abandon > the heavy glass plates and movie film. All credit must be given to > Australian photographer Frank Hurley who risked his life rescuing the films > from the sinking hull of the Endurance. He later convinced Shackleton that > the photos would be the only record of the failed voyage. > > Scott is now regarded, at least in Norway, as the flip side of Amundsen and > Shackleton. A poor planner, an inept explorer, an incompetent leader, and > unlucky to boot. He is regarded as a necessary contrast to the better > qualities of the other guys. But the Brits still revere him. > > Here are a number of pictures from various sources relevant to Amundsen's > voyage. I took the actual pictures of the interior of the Fram with an > early > Leica digital camera, a Digilux Zoom. > > This is Roald Amundsen, the photo is copied from one published in the > Norwegian press. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Amundsen.jpg.html > > Next comes a picture of the actual telegram Amundsen sent to Scott > informing > him that the race to the south pole was on. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Amundsen+note.jpg.html > > A model of the Fram showing hull details. Most shipwrights of the time used > models to show workers what the completed boat would look like. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Fram+model.jpg.html > > This is a painting of the Fram displayed in the Fram Museum in Oslo. The > Fram was a very poor sea boat and the crew was probably seasick in > conditions like this. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Fram+painting.jpg.html > > Fram frozen in the ice from one of Nansen's expeditions to reach the north > pole. The boat suffered no damage. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Fram+in+ice.jpg.html > > The internal bracing of the Fram. Now you can see why the boat wasn't > crushed. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Fram+bracing.jpg.html > > Here is the Fram's helm. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Fram+helm.jpg.html > > Amundsen and his team reached the South Pole in December, 1911. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Amundsen+at+South+Pole.jpg.html > > Finally, the actual camera that was used to photograph the Amundsen team at > the South Pole. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Amundsen+_s+camera.jpg.html > > Now I hope everyone feels cooler. > > > Larry Z > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >