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The Voyage to the South(Amundsen)
Amundsen had originally planned on reaching the North Pole. He organized an Arctic expedition and was about to leave when he learned that Commander Robert E. Peary ,an American explorer, had just reached the pole.Amundsen changed his plans and decided to lead an expedition to the South Pole instead.Another team led by an Englishman,
Robert Scott was also heading to the South Pole.The race had begun.
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Amundsen spent three months preparing supplies for the trip. He set out with four men, four sledges and forty-eight dogs. Scott was using motor sleighs and ponies for travelling. Amundsen knew that the motors in Scott’s sleighs would break down in the fierce cold. In January 1911 Amundsen and Scott set off on their journey to the South Pole. Amundsen’s companions had to wear dark goggles to protect their eyes from the glare of the bright sun on the white snow. They had to wear many different layers of clothing for protection against the blizzards and harsh temperatures . Amundsen prepared carefully for the coming journey, making a preliminary trip to deposit food supplies along the first part of his route to the pole and back. To transport his supplies, he used sled dogs, while Scott depended on Siberian ponies.
Later Polar Journeys
From 1918 to 1920, Amundsen sailed the Northeast Passage. He travelled from Norway through the waters of the Arctic Ocean to the Bering Sea. Amundsen thus became the first person to sail both the Northwest and Northeast passages. In 1926, Amundsen made history by flying over the North Pole in an airship called the Norge. The aircraft was piloted by Umberto Nobile, an Italian explorer. In June 1928, Amundsen and his crew vanished in the Arctic while searching for Nobile, who had disappeared in May. Nobile was eventually rescued.
Biography................Roald Amundsen
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