Polar Heroes

The city of Tromsø has always been a hotspot for polar expeditions. Several of the most famous polar heroes were trained by local trappers.

Perhaps the best known polar hero is Roald Amundsen. Amundsen led his famous expedition in the race to reach the South Pole in 1911. His rival was the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott.

Amundsen’s right-hand man was Helmer Hanssen from Tromsø. Hanssen was a navigator and a highly skilled musher.

Since only a short distance remained, Hanssen made it seem as if his dogs were tired so that Amundsen would become the first man to reach the South Pole.

THE TRAGEDY

Englishman Scott and his companions reached the South Pole a month later. They died on the way back from disappointment,

cold, exhaustion and scurvy. Hanssen was full of admiration for Scott’s achievement and thought that in terms of sheer willpower his expedition was far greater than the Norwegian expedition.

Scott and his crew pulled the heavy sledges themselves for great distances, while the Norwegians had learned from the Eskimos and used dogs to pull their sleds.

Describing Amundsen’s expedition, Hanssen wrote in his memoirs: “Amundsen’s brilliant planning, our comrades’ careful preparatory work and our dogs’ endurance had made the journey into a recreational trip.”

AMUNDSEN DIES

Like the other famous explorers, Amundsen learned seamanship from Tromsø’s many trappers. Most of his polar expeditions started in Tromsø, including what proved to be his final expedition - a rescue mission to save his Italian colleague, Umberto Nobile.

The port of Tromsø in June 1928. One of the last known photos of Amundsen and his seaplane "Latham".

Nobile went missing in the far north in 1928. Amundsen went on a rescue mission using a seaplane. The plane was last seen as it took off from the port of Tromsø in June 1928. No one has been able to find the wreck of Amundsen’s seaplane, but Nobile was found in good shape.

When he arrived in Norway, the grief of losing Amundsen was felt so badly that Nobile did not step onto Norwegian soil. A landing from a ship was added directly into the train that transported the Italian out of the country.

TRICKERY

The great explorer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Fritdjof Nansen also had Tromsø as a starting point. Nansen financed an expedition for Amundsen to conduct research in the Arctic.

Amundsen had other plans, and just after the ship had left the dock he told the crew that the destination was the South Pole. Nansen never forgave Amundsen for this, although the South Pole expedition was a success.

Ironically, Scott is the reason we can state with certainty that Amundsen’s expedition was the first to reach the South Pole. The finding of Scott’s tent, and thereby Scott’s diary and photographs of Amundsen’s tent, provides the proof that Amundsen had been to the South Pole.