Friday 15 Dec. [Actually December 14]So we arrived, and were able to raise our flag at the geographical South Pole – King Håkon VII’s Vidda. Thanks be to God!
The time was 3 p.m. when this happened. The weather was of the best kind when we set off this morning, but at 10 a.m., it clouded over and hid the sun. Fresh breeze from the SE. The skiing has been partly good, partly bad. The plain – King H VII’s Vidda – has had the same appearance – quite flat and without what one might call sastrugi. The sun reappeared in the afternoon, and now we must go out and take a midnight observation. Naturally we are not exactly at the point called 90°, but after all our excellent observations and dead reckoning we must be very close. We arrived here with three sledges and 17 dogs. HH put one down just after arrival. ‘Helge’ was worn out. Tomorrow we will go out in three directions to circle the area round the Pole. We have had our celebratory meal – a little piece of seal meat each. We leave here the day after tomorrow with two sledges. The third sledge will be left here. Likewise we will leave a little three man tent (Rønne) with the Norwegian flag and a pennant marked Fram. This transcript comes from “Race for the South Pole - The Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen” by Roland Huntford. It appears by courtesy of the author and The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. |
South Pole 1911–2011 is an informational outreach project run by the Norwegian Polar Institute
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