Scott
"Again we noticed the cold," Scott wrote, "at lunch to-day (Obs.: Lat. 89° 20' 53'' S.) all our feet were cold, but this was mainly due to the bald state of our finnesko.... Oates seems to be feeling the cold and fatigue more than the rest of us, but we are all very fit. It is a critical time, but we ought to pull through. The barometer has fallen very considerably and we cannot tell whether due to ascent of plateau or change of weather. Oh! for a few fine days! So close it seems and only the weather to baulk us." [1]
Lt. Evans, Crean, and Lashly arrived at the Upper Glacier depot at the top of the Beardmore. "We had just enough now for our meal; this is cutting it a bit fine," wrote Lashly. "We have now taken our 3 1/2 days' allowance, which has got to take us another 57 miles to the Cloudmaker [Middle Glacier] Depôt. This we shall do if we all keep as fit as we seem just now. We left a note at the depôt to inform the Captain of our safe arrival, wishing them the best of a journey home. We are quite cheerful here to-night, after having put things right at the depôt, where we found the sugar exposed to the sun; it had commenced to melt, but we put everything alright before we left, and picked up our crampons and got away as soon as we could. We know there is not much time to spare." [2]
Amundsen
"82° [45'] -10 -11 SW wind," noted Bjaaland tersely. "Thick weather, bloody horrible light. Are on the line of cairns. Saw dog tracks at 46' mile cairn, they were heading north. Skiing good." [3]
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 14 January, 1912, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[2] William Lashly, diary, 14 January, 1912, quoted by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XII.
[3] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 15 January, 1912, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.243.
Showing posts with label Beardmore Glacier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beardmore Glacier. Show all posts
January 14, 2012
December 23, 2011
Saturday, 23 December 1911
Scott
After a rough afternoon climb over crevasses and waves of ice, Scott wrote, "quite suddenly at 5 P.M. everything changed. The hard surface gave place to regular sastrugi and our horizon levelled in every direction. I hung on to the S.W. till 6 P.M., and then camped with a delightful feeling of security that we had at length reached the summit proper. I am feeling very cheerful about everything to-night. We marched 15 miles (geo.) (over 17 stat.) to-day, mounting nearly 800 feet and all in about 8 1/2 hours. My determination to keep mounting irrespective of course is fully justified and I shall be indeed surprised if we have any further difficulties with crevasses or steep slopes. To me for the first time our goal seems really in sight. We can pull our loads and pull them much faster and farther than I expected in my most hopeful moments. I only pray for a fair share of good weather. There is a cold wind now as expected, but with good clothes and well fed as we are, we can stick a lot worse than we are getting. I trust this may prove the turning-point in our fortunes for which we have waited so patiently." [1]
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 23 December 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
After a rough afternoon climb over crevasses and waves of ice, Scott wrote, "quite suddenly at 5 P.M. everything changed. The hard surface gave place to regular sastrugi and our horizon levelled in every direction. I hung on to the S.W. till 6 P.M., and then camped with a delightful feeling of security that we had at length reached the summit proper. I am feeling very cheerful about everything to-night. We marched 15 miles (geo.) (over 17 stat.) to-day, mounting nearly 800 feet and all in about 8 1/2 hours. My determination to keep mounting irrespective of course is fully justified and I shall be indeed surprised if we have any further difficulties with crevasses or steep slopes. To me for the first time our goal seems really in sight. We can pull our loads and pull them much faster and farther than I expected in my most hopeful moments. I only pray for a fair share of good weather. There is a cold wind now as expected, but with good clothes and well fed as we are, we can stick a lot worse than we are getting. I trust this may prove the turning-point in our fortunes for which we have waited so patiently." [1]
Notes:
[1] R.F. Scott, diary, 23 December 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
December 21, 2011
Thursday, 21 December 1911
Scott
A 1965 map of the top of the Beardmore Glacier, from aerial photographs taken 1960-1962 by the USGS. [1]
"I write this sitting in our tent waiting for the fog to clear," wrote Scott in a letter home, "an exasperating position as we are in the worst crevassed region. Teddy Evans and Atkinson were down to the length of their harness this morning, and we have all been half-way down. As first man I get first chance, and it's decidedly exciting not knowing which step will give way. Still all this is interesting enough if one could only go on." [2]
When the fog cleared in the afternoon, they "made a dash for it", heading for Mount Darwin, now visible in the near-distance.
"Scott was fairly wound up," wrote Bowers, "and he went on and on. Every rise topped seemed to fire him with a desire to top the next, and every rise had another beyond and above it. We camped at 8 p.m., all pretty weary, having come up nearly 1500 feet, and done over eleven miles in a S.W. direction. We were south of Mount Darwin in 85° 7' S., and our corrected altitude proved to be 7000 feet above the Barrier. I worked up till a very late hour getting the depôt stores ready, and also weighing out and arranging allowances for the returning party, and arranging the stores and distribution of weights of the two parties going on." [3]
"So here we are," Scott added, "practically on the summit and up to date in the provision line. We ought to get through."
Wilson had taken Atkinson aside earlier and asked, as a fellow-doctor, which of the seamen he thought fittest to go on to the Pole. Atkinson had said that he felt that was Lashly. Scott wanted, as a Naval officer, to have the "Lower Deck" represented, and had already privately chosen P.O. Evans, a favorite of his since the Discovery days -- and by having Atkinson's opinion, Wilson wanted to reinforce his own arguments in favour of Lashly or perhaps Crean continuing, having doubts about Evans' mental and physical stability. [4]
"There is a very mournful air to-night," Cherry wrote in his diary, "those going on and those turning back. Bill [Wilson] came in while I was cooking, to say good-bye. He told me he fully expected to come back with the next party: that he could see Scott was going to take on the strongest fellows, perhaps three seamen. It would be a great disappointment if Bill did not go on.... I have been trying to give away my spare gear where it may be most acceptable: finnesko to Birdie, pyjama trousers to Bill, and a bag of baccy for Bill to give Scott on Christmas Day, some baccy to Titus, jaeger socks and half my scarf to Crean, and a bit of handkerchief to Birdie. Very tired to-night." [5]
Scott changed Atkinson's orders for the dogs, that he was to bring the dog teams south in the event of Meares returning home. "Come as far as you can," he added casually. [6] "This was not meant in any way to be a relief journey," Cherry noted later. "Scott said that he was not relying upon the dogs; and that in view of the sledging in the following year, the dogs were not to be risked." [7]
"The temperature has dropped below zero," Scott wrote, "but to-night it is so calm and bright that one feels delightfully warm and comfortable in the tent. Such weather helps greatly in all the sorting arrangements, &c., which are going on to-night. For me it is an immense relief to have the indefatigable little Bowers to see to all detail arrangements of this sort." [8]
Amundsen
"Pure summer today," wrote Bjaaland. "Absolutely calm, sunshine, tracks indistinct but cairns gleaming like electric beacons." [9]
Another dog had been put down, worn out, possibly -- although they did not realise it at the time -- due to dehydration.
Notes:
[1] United States Geological Survey, "Buckley Island" map.
[2] R.F. Scott, 21 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1. The passages in inverted commas, such as this one, are from letters home, and are quoted in the correspondingly-dated diary entries in both the print and online versions of the journals.
[3] H.R. Bowers, diary, 21 December, 1911, quoted in by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.X.
[4] Roland Huntford, Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.467-468.
[5] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, diary, 21 December 1911, quoted in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.X.
[6] Roland Huntford, Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.470.
[7] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XIII. "According to the [original] plans for the Polar Journey the food necessary to bring the three advance parties of man-haulers back from One Ton Depôt to Hut Point was to be taken out to One Ton during the absence of these parties. This food consisted of five weekly units of what were known as XS rations. It was also arranged that if possible a depôt of dog-biscuit should be taken out at the same time: this was the depôt referred to above by Scott. In the event of the return of the dog-teams in the first half of December, which was the original plan, the five units of food and the dog-biscuit would have been run out by them to One Ton. If the dog-teams did not return in time to do this a man-hauling party from Cape Evans was to take out three of the five units of food." Since Meares and the dog teams had been taken on further than planned, they had not returned until a month later, on 4th January.
[8] R.F. Scott, diary, 21 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[9] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 22 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.200.
"I write this sitting in our tent waiting for the fog to clear," wrote Scott in a letter home, "an exasperating position as we are in the worst crevassed region. Teddy Evans and Atkinson were down to the length of their harness this morning, and we have all been half-way down. As first man I get first chance, and it's decidedly exciting not knowing which step will give way. Still all this is interesting enough if one could only go on." [2]
When the fog cleared in the afternoon, they "made a dash for it", heading for Mount Darwin, now visible in the near-distance.
"Scott was fairly wound up," wrote Bowers, "and he went on and on. Every rise topped seemed to fire him with a desire to top the next, and every rise had another beyond and above it. We camped at 8 p.m., all pretty weary, having come up nearly 1500 feet, and done over eleven miles in a S.W. direction. We were south of Mount Darwin in 85° 7' S., and our corrected altitude proved to be 7000 feet above the Barrier. I worked up till a very late hour getting the depôt stores ready, and also weighing out and arranging allowances for the returning party, and arranging the stores and distribution of weights of the two parties going on." [3]
"So here we are," Scott added, "practically on the summit and up to date in the provision line. We ought to get through."
Wilson had taken Atkinson aside earlier and asked, as a fellow-doctor, which of the seamen he thought fittest to go on to the Pole. Atkinson had said that he felt that was Lashly. Scott wanted, as a Naval officer, to have the "Lower Deck" represented, and had already privately chosen P.O. Evans, a favorite of his since the Discovery days -- and by having Atkinson's opinion, Wilson wanted to reinforce his own arguments in favour of Lashly or perhaps Crean continuing, having doubts about Evans' mental and physical stability. [4]
"There is a very mournful air to-night," Cherry wrote in his diary, "those going on and those turning back. Bill [Wilson] came in while I was cooking, to say good-bye. He told me he fully expected to come back with the next party: that he could see Scott was going to take on the strongest fellows, perhaps three seamen. It would be a great disappointment if Bill did not go on.... I have been trying to give away my spare gear where it may be most acceptable: finnesko to Birdie, pyjama trousers to Bill, and a bag of baccy for Bill to give Scott on Christmas Day, some baccy to Titus, jaeger socks and half my scarf to Crean, and a bit of handkerchief to Birdie. Very tired to-night." [5]
Scott changed Atkinson's orders for the dogs, that he was to bring the dog teams south in the event of Meares returning home. "Come as far as you can," he added casually. [6] "This was not meant in any way to be a relief journey," Cherry noted later. "Scott said that he was not relying upon the dogs; and that in view of the sledging in the following year, the dogs were not to be risked." [7]
"The temperature has dropped below zero," Scott wrote, "but to-night it is so calm and bright that one feels delightfully warm and comfortable in the tent. Such weather helps greatly in all the sorting arrangements, &c., which are going on to-night. For me it is an immense relief to have the indefatigable little Bowers to see to all detail arrangements of this sort." [8]
Amundsen
"Pure summer today," wrote Bjaaland. "Absolutely calm, sunshine, tracks indistinct but cairns gleaming like electric beacons." [9]
Another dog had been put down, worn out, possibly -- although they did not realise it at the time -- due to dehydration.
Notes:
[1] United States Geological Survey, "Buckley Island" map.
[2] R.F. Scott, 21 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1. The passages in inverted commas, such as this one, are from letters home, and are quoted in the correspondingly-dated diary entries in both the print and online versions of the journals.
[3] H.R. Bowers, diary, 21 December, 1911, quoted in by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.X.
[4] Roland Huntford, Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.467-468.
[5] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, diary, 21 December 1911, quoted in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.X.
[6] Roland Huntford, Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.470.
[7] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, in The Worst Journey in the World, ch.XIII. "According to the [original] plans for the Polar Journey the food necessary to bring the three advance parties of man-haulers back from One Ton Depôt to Hut Point was to be taken out to One Ton during the absence of these parties. This food consisted of five weekly units of what were known as XS rations. It was also arranged that if possible a depôt of dog-biscuit should be taken out at the same time: this was the depôt referred to above by Scott. In the event of the return of the dog-teams in the first half of December, which was the original plan, the five units of food and the dog-biscuit would have been run out by them to One Ton. If the dog-teams did not return in time to do this a man-hauling party from Cape Evans was to take out three of the five units of food." Since Meares and the dog teams had been taken on further than planned, they had not returned until a month later, on 4th January.
[8] R.F. Scott, diary, 21 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[9] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 22 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen (London : Continuum, c2010), p.200.
December 18, 2011
Monday, 18 December 1911
Scott
"Scott set a hot pace," wrote Silas Wright. "May I never again be the only long-legged one in such a team. All did their best but I am damn sure I had to provide the extra speed." [2]
Their day's march of fourteen miles got them to 84° 34', 4500 ft. (1372 m) above the Barrier.
"After lunch got on some very rough stuff within a few hundred yards of pressure ridge," Scott wrote. "There seemed no alternative, and we went through with it. Later, the glacier opened out into a broad basin with irregular undulations, and we on to a better surface, but later on again this improvement nearly vanished, so that it has been hard going all day, but we have done a good mileage (over 14 stat.). We are less than five days behind S. now." [3]
"Still sweating horribly on the march and very thirsty at the halts."
Amundsen
In the evening -- switching to night travel, in order to have the sun behind them and avoid glare from the snow -- the Norwegians left the Pole for Framheim. Bjaaland was forerunner for the journey home. "We got away in the most wonderful weather conditions one could possibly desire," he wrote. "-19 deg. [C] must be said to be fine at the South Pole. The dogs, poor devils, have not been over fed at the Pole, yet they are quick and lively." [4] They backtracked to the first Pole camp to pick up their outward trail, and headed off. Fifteen miles out, Amundsen put up another black flag at about the 180th meridian, the approximate British route from the Beardmore.
Amundsen knew that he still had to be first back with the news. Scott, he said to Helmer Hanssen, "will arrive during the next day or two. If I know the British, they won't give up once they've started." [5]
"700 miles will be quite tough," Bjaaland had remarked in his diary the night before, "but I'll manage." [6] The job of forerunner was an unenviable one: he had to set the track and keep the course true, as well as keep ahead of the dogs in order to give them something to follow. He also preferred, as a ski-racer, to be at the back, where he could see the rest of the pack and judge the competition. But in Bjaaland, Amundsen wrote, "we have found a forerunner of class. He sees like nobody else, and he goes like nobody else. Thus he has kept our old spoors Northwards ... although they are very indistinct." [7]
Notes:
[1] United States Geological Survey, "The Cloudmaker" map.
[2] Charles Wright, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.473.
[3] R.F. Scott, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[4] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 19 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495.
[5] Helmer Hanssen, Gjennem Isbaksen, p.96, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495. When Amundsen had arrived in Eagle, Alaska at the end of his Northwest Passage journey in 1906, his telegram conveying the news was leaked to the press, causing him considerable financial loss on a supposedly-exclusive story. The lesson that he took away from this experience, as well as from the Peary/Cook North Pole controversy, was that being first out with the news of an attainment such as this was essentially second only to the attainment itself.
[6] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 19 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495.
[7] Roald Amundsen, diary, 19 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.496.
A 1965 map of the middle length of the Beardmore Glacier, from aerial photographs taken 1958-1963 by the USGS. [1]
"Scott set a hot pace," wrote Silas Wright. "May I never again be the only long-legged one in such a team. All did their best but I am damn sure I had to provide the extra speed." [2]
Their day's march of fourteen miles got them to 84° 34', 4500 ft. (1372 m) above the Barrier.
"After lunch got on some very rough stuff within a few hundred yards of pressure ridge," Scott wrote. "There seemed no alternative, and we went through with it. Later, the glacier opened out into a broad basin with irregular undulations, and we on to a better surface, but later on again this improvement nearly vanished, so that it has been hard going all day, but we have done a good mileage (over 14 stat.). We are less than five days behind S. now." [3]
"Still sweating horribly on the march and very thirsty at the halts."
Amundsen
In the evening -- switching to night travel, in order to have the sun behind them and avoid glare from the snow -- the Norwegians left the Pole for Framheim. Bjaaland was forerunner for the journey home. "We got away in the most wonderful weather conditions one could possibly desire," he wrote. "-19 deg. [C] must be said to be fine at the South Pole. The dogs, poor devils, have not been over fed at the Pole, yet they are quick and lively." [4] They backtracked to the first Pole camp to pick up their outward trail, and headed off. Fifteen miles out, Amundsen put up another black flag at about the 180th meridian, the approximate British route from the Beardmore.
Amundsen knew that he still had to be first back with the news. Scott, he said to Helmer Hanssen, "will arrive during the next day or two. If I know the British, they won't give up once they've started." [5]
"700 miles will be quite tough," Bjaaland had remarked in his diary the night before, "but I'll manage." [6] The job of forerunner was an unenviable one: he had to set the track and keep the course true, as well as keep ahead of the dogs in order to give them something to follow. He also preferred, as a ski-racer, to be at the back, where he could see the rest of the pack and judge the competition. But in Bjaaland, Amundsen wrote, "we have found a forerunner of class. He sees like nobody else, and he goes like nobody else. Thus he has kept our old spoors Northwards ... although they are very indistinct." [7]
Notes:
[1] United States Geological Survey, "The Cloudmaker" map.
[2] Charles Wright, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.473.
[3] R.F. Scott, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[4] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 19 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495.
[5] Helmer Hanssen, Gjennem Isbaksen, p.96, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495. When Amundsen had arrived in Eagle, Alaska at the end of his Northwest Passage journey in 1906, his telegram conveying the news was leaked to the press, causing him considerable financial loss on a supposedly-exclusive story. The lesson that he took away from this experience, as well as from the Peary/Cook North Pole controversy, was that being first out with the news of an attainment such as this was essentially second only to the attainment itself.
[6] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 19 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495.
[7] Roald Amundsen, diary, 19 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.496.
December 17, 2011
Sunday, 17 December 1911
Scott
Mount Hope -- the centre peak -- discovered and photographed by Shackleton's party in December 1908. [1]
A good run in the afternoon up the centre of the glacier took them about 12 1/2 miles, to an altitude of about 3,500 ft. "This has put Mount Hope in the background and shows us more of the upper reaches," Scott wrote. "If we can keep up the pace, we gain on Shackleton, and I don't see any reason why we shouldn't, except that more pressure is showing up ahead. For once one can say 'sufficient for the day is the good thereof.' Our luck may be on the turn -- I think we deserve it." [2]
Amundsen
Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Hassel, and Wisting taking leave of Polheim, 18 December, 1911, photographed by Bjaaland. The sloping edge of the tent was a special construction to reduce wind resistance. [3]
The Norwegians boxed the "remaining few minutes of arc" by putting pennants a few miles in each direction. "We have done what we can," wrote Amundsen. "I think our observations will be of great interest for the experts." [4] Polheim was within 2,500 yards of the mathematical point.
Work finished at midday, and they began to prepare for the return journey. At the Pole mark, Amundsen raised the reserve tent made by Rønne on the Fram, revealing two yellow leather labels sewn to it, one reading "Bon Voyage" and the other "Welcome to 90 degrees", signed by Rønne and Beck. To the top of the tent was lashed a long bamboo pole onto which was fixed the Norwegian flag and a pennant reading "Fram".
Inside the tent, Amundsen left some superfluous equipment, a few items of reindeer-skin clothing they didn't need, and a letter to King Haakon. "Your Majesty," it read, "We have determined the Southernmost extremity of the great 'Ross Ice Barrier', together with the junction of Victoria Land and King Edward VII Land at the same place. We have discovered a mighty mountain range with peaks up to 22,000 ft. a.s.l., which I have taken the liberty of calling -- with permission, I hope -- 'Queen Maud's Range'. We found that the great inland plateau ... began to slope gently downwards from 89°.... We have called this gently sloping plain on which we have succeeded in establishing the position of the Geographic South Pole -- with I hope Your Majesty's permission -- 'King Haakon VII's Plateau'...." [5]
The envelope and a covering letter were addressed to Scott, who, Amundsen wrote in his diary, "I must assume will be the first to visit the place after us." [6] "The way home was a long one," he explained later, "and so many things might happen to make it impossible for us to give an account of our expedition." [7] His explanation was certainly logical, but, as Hassel put it, "It won't be nice for Scott, if he gets here now, to arrive and see the tent with the Norwegian flag and the burgee with Fram on it." [8]
At half past seven in the evening, they turned again to the North. "And so, farewell, dear Pole," wrote Amundsen. "I don't think we'll meet again." [9]
Back at the Bay of Whales, Prestrud, Johansen, and Stubberud departed Framheim again for a five-day journey to explore the long eastern arm of the bay. "Although we came across no bare rock," Prestrud wrote later, "and in that respect the journey was a disappointment, it was nevertheless very interesting to observe the effects of the mighty forces that had here been at work, the disruption of the solid ice-sheath by the still more solid rock." [10]
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 17 December 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[3] National Library of Australia.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.493.
[5] Roald Amundsen, letter to King Haakon VII, 15 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.494.
[6] Roald Amundsen, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.494.
[7] Roald Amundsen, The South Pole, ch.12.
[8] Sverre Hassel, diary, [18 December, 1911], quoted by Tor Bomann-Larsen in Roald Amundsen (Stroud, Gloucestershire : Sutton, c2006, c1995), p.109.
[9] Roald Amundsen, diary, [18 December, 1911], quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495.
[10] Kristian Prestrud, "The Eastern Sledge Journey", in Roald Amundsen's The South Pole, ch.15. Note that the date is given as 18th December; see Hinks' note on dates in "The Observations of Amundsen and Scott at the South Pole" (The Geographical Journal, April 1944, p.169).
Mount Hope -- the centre peak -- discovered and photographed by Shackleton's party in December 1908. [1]A good run in the afternoon up the centre of the glacier took them about 12 1/2 miles, to an altitude of about 3,500 ft. "This has put Mount Hope in the background and shows us more of the upper reaches," Scott wrote. "If we can keep up the pace, we gain on Shackleton, and I don't see any reason why we shouldn't, except that more pressure is showing up ahead. For once one can say 'sufficient for the day is the good thereof.' Our luck may be on the turn -- I think we deserve it." [2]
Amundsen
Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Hassel, and Wisting taking leave of Polheim, 18 December, 1911, photographed by Bjaaland. The sloping edge of the tent was a special construction to reduce wind resistance. [3]The Norwegians boxed the "remaining few minutes of arc" by putting pennants a few miles in each direction. "We have done what we can," wrote Amundsen. "I think our observations will be of great interest for the experts." [4] Polheim was within 2,500 yards of the mathematical point.
Work finished at midday, and they began to prepare for the return journey. At the Pole mark, Amundsen raised the reserve tent made by Rønne on the Fram, revealing two yellow leather labels sewn to it, one reading "Bon Voyage" and the other "Welcome to 90 degrees", signed by Rønne and Beck. To the top of the tent was lashed a long bamboo pole onto which was fixed the Norwegian flag and a pennant reading "Fram".
Inside the tent, Amundsen left some superfluous equipment, a few items of reindeer-skin clothing they didn't need, and a letter to King Haakon. "Your Majesty," it read, "We have determined the Southernmost extremity of the great 'Ross Ice Barrier', together with the junction of Victoria Land and King Edward VII Land at the same place. We have discovered a mighty mountain range with peaks up to 22,000 ft. a.s.l., which I have taken the liberty of calling -- with permission, I hope -- 'Queen Maud's Range'. We found that the great inland plateau ... began to slope gently downwards from 89°.... We have called this gently sloping plain on which we have succeeded in establishing the position of the Geographic South Pole -- with I hope Your Majesty's permission -- 'King Haakon VII's Plateau'...." [5]
The envelope and a covering letter were addressed to Scott, who, Amundsen wrote in his diary, "I must assume will be the first to visit the place after us." [6] "The way home was a long one," he explained later, "and so many things might happen to make it impossible for us to give an account of our expedition." [7] His explanation was certainly logical, but, as Hassel put it, "It won't be nice for Scott, if he gets here now, to arrive and see the tent with the Norwegian flag and the burgee with Fram on it." [8]
At half past seven in the evening, they turned again to the North. "And so, farewell, dear Pole," wrote Amundsen. "I don't think we'll meet again." [9]
Back at the Bay of Whales, Prestrud, Johansen, and Stubberud departed Framheim again for a five-day journey to explore the long eastern arm of the bay. "Although we came across no bare rock," Prestrud wrote later, "and in that respect the journey was a disappointment, it was nevertheless very interesting to observe the effects of the mighty forces that had here been at work, the disruption of the solid ice-sheath by the still more solid rock." [10]
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 17 December 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[3] National Library of Australia.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.493.
[5] Roald Amundsen, letter to King Haakon VII, 15 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.494.
[6] Roald Amundsen, diary, 18 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.494.
[7] Roald Amundsen, The South Pole, ch.12.
[8] Sverre Hassel, diary, [18 December, 1911], quoted by Tor Bomann-Larsen in Roald Amundsen (Stroud, Gloucestershire : Sutton, c2006, c1995), p.109.
[9] Roald Amundsen, diary, [18 December, 1911], quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.495.
[10] Kristian Prestrud, "The Eastern Sledge Journey", in Roald Amundsen's The South Pole, ch.15. Note that the date is given as 18th December; see Hinks' note on dates in "The Observations of Amundsen and Scott at the South Pole" (The Geographical Journal, April 1944, p.169).
December 11, 2011
Monday, 11 December 1911
Scott
The Beardmore Glacier, discovered by Shackleton on his Nimrod expedition in 1908. This aerial photograph was taken in 1956. [1]
"[Lt. Evans's team] started quite well," wrote Scott, "but got into difficulties, did just the wrong thing by straining again and again, and so, tiring themselves, went from bad to worse. Their ski shoes, too, are out of trim. Just as I thought we were in for making a great score, this difficulty overtakes us -- it is dreadfully trying. The snow around us to-night is terribly soft, one sinks to the knee at every step; it would be impossible to drag sledges on foot and very difficult for dogs. Ski are the thing, and here are my tiresome fellow-countrymen too prejudiced to have prepared themselves for the event." [2]
Wright, with Atkinson and Lashly on Lt. Evans's team, wrote somewhat testily in his diary, "Scott came back to wonder why we were behind the other teams. I was in front with Evans and had found one could do better by pulling at an angle of about 15° to the side and thus get a grip on the surface without my ski sliding back. Scott then said to Birdie, 'See that's the way to do it,' to which Birdie unthinkingly replied, 'Yes, but look at the loss of pull due to the angle.' I felt like reminding Birdie that the cosine at 15° would not lose more than 1 per cent effort of the straight pull.... However I kept my peace, for conditions were then at their worst and any argument ... should be avoided." [3]
In the afternoon, Meares and Dimitri finally turned for home with the dog teams. "They have done splendidly," Cherry wrote in his diary. "It looks as if Amundsen may have hit off the right thing." [5]
"The dogs should get back quite easily," Scott added, "there is food all along the line." There were in fact only two depots between the foot of the Beardmore and 80° (to Amundsen's seven), the Mid-Barrier depot and One Ton, 120 miles apart.
The dogs were supposed to have turned back two days earlier. In order to provide Meares with two days' more food, everyone else in the party gave up one biscuit daily, almost five percent of an already-low ration. [6]
Amundsen
At 89° 15', they started now to go downhill, sinking gently from the summit.
"[The] same fine terrain and going," Amundsen wrote in his diary. [7] In sunshine and clear skies, the men had done seventeen miles instead of their stipulated fifteen.
"The Pole is in sight," Bjaaland wrote. "Hope and pray to my God that the weather may continue fine. I whipped the dogs on to keep level with Helmer Hanssen's." [8]
With the goal fast approaching, nerves were tight. Hassel found Amundsen "distant and cantankerous", writing in his diary, "One would think the man has a screw loose. He has many times in the last few days actually initiated quarrels, an extraordinary stand to take for a Governor and leader for whom peace and good camaraderie should be the main target." [9]
In King Edward VII Land, Prestrud's Eastern Party had their first day of real sunshine. "At our midday rest we found ourselves abreast of the bay, where, on the outward journey, we had laid down our depot of seals' flesh. I had intended to turn aside to the depot and replenish our supply of meat as a precaution, but Johansen suggested leaving out this detour and going straight on. We might thereby run the risk of having to go on short rations; but Johansen thought it a greater risk to cross the treacherous ground about the bay, and, after some deliberation, I saw he was right. It was better to go on while we were about it." [10]
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 11 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[3] Charles Wright, diary, 11 December, 1911, quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.472.
[4] Henry Fountain, "Antarctic Odyssey, Through the Eyes of a Polar Pioneer", New York Times, October 17, 2011.
[5] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, diary, 11 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.465.
[6] R.F. Scott, diary, 11 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[7] Roald Amundsen, diary, 12 December ,1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
[8] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 12 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
[9] Sverre Hassel, diary, [12 December, 1911], quoted by Tor Bomann-Larsen in Roald Amundsen (Stroud, Gloucestershire : Sutton, c2006, c1995), p.108.
[10] Kristian Prestrud, "The Eastern Sledge Journey", in Roald Amundsen's The South Pole, ch.15. Note that the date is given as 12th December; see Hinks' note on dates in "The Observations of Amundsen and Scott at the South Pole" (The Geographical Journal, April 1944, p.169).
The Beardmore Glacier, discovered by Shackleton on his Nimrod expedition in 1908. This aerial photograph was taken in 1956. [1]"[Lt. Evans's team] started quite well," wrote Scott, "but got into difficulties, did just the wrong thing by straining again and again, and so, tiring themselves, went from bad to worse. Their ski shoes, too, are out of trim. Just as I thought we were in for making a great score, this difficulty overtakes us -- it is dreadfully trying. The snow around us to-night is terribly soft, one sinks to the knee at every step; it would be impossible to drag sledges on foot and very difficult for dogs. Ski are the thing, and here are my tiresome fellow-countrymen too prejudiced to have prepared themselves for the event." [2]
Wright, with Atkinson and Lashly on Lt. Evans's team, wrote somewhat testily in his diary, "Scott came back to wonder why we were behind the other teams. I was in front with Evans and had found one could do better by pulling at an angle of about 15° to the side and thus get a grip on the surface without my ski sliding back. Scott then said to Birdie, 'See that's the way to do it,' to which Birdie unthinkingly replied, 'Yes, but look at the loss of pull due to the angle.' I felt like reminding Birdie that the cosine at 15° would not lose more than 1 per cent effort of the straight pull.... However I kept my peace, for conditions were then at their worst and any argument ... should be avoided." [3]
The camp at Lower Glacier Depot, 11th December, 1911, photographed by Scott. [4]
In the afternoon, Meares and Dimitri finally turned for home with the dog teams. "They have done splendidly," Cherry wrote in his diary. "It looks as if Amundsen may have hit off the right thing." [5]
"The dogs should get back quite easily," Scott added, "there is food all along the line." There were in fact only two depots between the foot of the Beardmore and 80° (to Amundsen's seven), the Mid-Barrier depot and One Ton, 120 miles apart.
The dogs were supposed to have turned back two days earlier. In order to provide Meares with two days' more food, everyone else in the party gave up one biscuit daily, almost five percent of an already-low ration. [6]
Amundsen
At 89° 15', they started now to go downhill, sinking gently from the summit.
"[The] same fine terrain and going," Amundsen wrote in his diary. [7] In sunshine and clear skies, the men had done seventeen miles instead of their stipulated fifteen.
"The Pole is in sight," Bjaaland wrote. "Hope and pray to my God that the weather may continue fine. I whipped the dogs on to keep level with Helmer Hanssen's." [8]
With the goal fast approaching, nerves were tight. Hassel found Amundsen "distant and cantankerous", writing in his diary, "One would think the man has a screw loose. He has many times in the last few days actually initiated quarrels, an extraordinary stand to take for a Governor and leader for whom peace and good camaraderie should be the main target." [9]
In King Edward VII Land, Prestrud's Eastern Party had their first day of real sunshine. "At our midday rest we found ourselves abreast of the bay, where, on the outward journey, we had laid down our depot of seals' flesh. I had intended to turn aside to the depot and replenish our supply of meat as a precaution, but Johansen suggested leaving out this detour and going straight on. We might thereby run the risk of having to go on short rations; but Johansen thought it a greater risk to cross the treacherous ground about the bay, and, after some deliberation, I saw he was right. It was better to go on while we were about it." [10]
Notes:
[1] Wikipedia.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 11 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[3] Charles Wright, diary, 11 December, 1911, quoted by David Crane in Scott of the Antarctic (New York : Knopf, c2005), p.472.
[4] Henry Fountain, "Antarctic Odyssey, Through the Eyes of a Polar Pioneer", New York Times, October 17, 2011.
[5] Apsley Cherry-Garrard, diary, 11 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.465.
[6] R.F. Scott, diary, 11 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition : the Journals, v.1.
[7] Roald Amundsen, diary, 12 December ,1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
[8] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 12 December, 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
[9] Sverre Hassel, diary, [12 December, 1911], quoted by Tor Bomann-Larsen in Roald Amundsen (Stroud, Gloucestershire : Sutton, c2006, c1995), p.108.
[10] Kristian Prestrud, "The Eastern Sledge Journey", in Roald Amundsen's The South Pole, ch.15. Note that the date is given as 12th December; see Hinks' note on dates in "The Observations of Amundsen and Scott at the South Pole" (The Geographical Journal, April 1944, p.169).
December 10, 2011
Sunday, 10 December 1911
Scott
Instead of the blue ice that Shackleton had found at the foot of the Beardmore, there was soft, deep snow. The going was easy enough at first, but as the incline steepened the pulling became "extraordinarily fatiguing".
"[Lt.] Evans' party could not keep up, and Wilson told me some very alarming news concerning it," wrote Scott. "It appears that Atkinson says that Wright is getting played out and Lashly is not so fit as he was owing to the heavy pulling since the blizzard. I have not felt satisfied about this party. The finish of the march to-day showed clearly that something was wrong. They fell a long way behind, had to take off ski, and took nearly half an hour to come up a few hundred yards. True, the surface was awful and growing worse every moment. It is a very serious business if the men are going to crack up. As for myself, I never felt fitter and my party can easily hold its own. P.O. Evans, of course, is a tower of strength, but Oates and Wilson are doing splendidly also." [2]
Amundsen
"Four long days more," Bjaaland wrote in his diary, "and there's the Pole." [3]
The polar plateau sits about 2,835 meters (9,306 ft) above sea level. Amundsen noted that the altitude was having an effect on them: it was hard to work, and breathing was an effort. "[But] we'll get our breath back, if only we win." [4]
Notes:
[1] United States Geological Survey, "Mount Elizabeth" map.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 10 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 11 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 11 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
A 1965 map of the foot of the Beardmore Glacier, from aerial photographs taken 1958-1962 by the USGS. [1]
Instead of the blue ice that Shackleton had found at the foot of the Beardmore, there was soft, deep snow. The going was easy enough at first, but as the incline steepened the pulling became "extraordinarily fatiguing".
"[Lt.] Evans' party could not keep up, and Wilson told me some very alarming news concerning it," wrote Scott. "It appears that Atkinson says that Wright is getting played out and Lashly is not so fit as he was owing to the heavy pulling since the blizzard. I have not felt satisfied about this party. The finish of the march to-day showed clearly that something was wrong. They fell a long way behind, had to take off ski, and took nearly half an hour to come up a few hundred yards. True, the surface was awful and growing worse every moment. It is a very serious business if the men are going to crack up. As for myself, I never felt fitter and my party can easily hold its own. P.O. Evans, of course, is a tower of strength, but Oates and Wilson are doing splendidly also." [2]
Amundsen
"Four long days more," Bjaaland wrote in his diary, "and there's the Pole." [3]
The polar plateau sits about 2,835 meters (9,306 ft) above sea level. Amundsen noted that the altitude was having an effect on them: it was hard to work, and breathing was an effort. "[But] we'll get our breath back, if only we win." [4]
Notes:
[1] United States Geological Survey, "Mount Elizabeth" map.
[2] R.F. Scott, diary, 10 December, 1911, quoted in Scott's Last Expedition, v.1.
[3] Olav Bjaaland, diary, 11 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
[4] Roald Amundsen, diary, 11 December 1911, quoted by Roland Huntford in Scott and Amundsen (New York : Putnam, 1980, c1979), p.484.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
