Amundsen's South Pole expedition Geocoin

Auf dem Weg zum Südpol.

"Wild wie kein anderes Land unserer Erde liegt es da, ungesehen und unbetreten."
                ~ Roald Amundsen, 1911 ~

Deutsch:
Die Fram-Expedition (1910–1912) unter der Leitung des norwegischen Polarforschers Roald Amundsen war eine Forschungsreise in die Antarktis mit dem Ziel, erstmals den geografischen Südpol zu erreichen. Amundsen fuhr mit der Fram, die bereits zweimal zuvor bei Expeditionen in die Arktis eingesetzt worden war, in die Bucht der Wale, wo er Ausrüstung und Hunde an Land brachte und sein Winterquartier aufschlug. Von dort zog er per Hundeschlitten von seiner Basis Framheim aus zum Südpol, den er am 14. Dezember 1911 35 Tage vor seinem Konkurrenten Robert Falcon Scott von der britischen Terra-Nova-Expedition erreichte. Damit hatte er das „Rennen um den Pol“ gewonnen.

Die Expedition sollte zunächst in die arktischen Gewässer führen, um den Nordpol zu erreichen; als Amundsen jedoch im Herbst 1909 erfuhr, dass sowohl Frederick Cook als auch Robert Edwin Peary beanspruchten, den Pol erreicht zu haben, änderte er das Ziel, worüber Geldgeber und Öffentlichkeit erst nach seiner Abreise informiert wurden.

English:
The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911 five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later learned that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.

Amundsen's initial plans had focused on the Arctic and the conquest of the North Pole by means of an extended drift in an icebound ship. He obtained the use of Fridtjof Nansen's polar exploration ship Fram, and undertook extensive fundraising. Preparations for this expedition were disrupted when, in 1909, the rival American explorers Frederick Cook and Robert E. Peary each claimed to have reached the North Pole. Amundsen then changed his plan and began to prepare for a conquest of the South Pole; uncertain of the extent to which the public and his backers would support him, he kept this revised objective secret. When he set out in June 1910, even most of his crew believed they were embarking on an Arctic drift.

Amundsen made his Antarctic base, "Framheim", in the Bay of Whales on the Great Ice Barrier. After months of preparation, depot-laying and a false start that ended in near-disaster, he and his party set out for the pole in October 1911. In the course of their journey they discovered the Axel Heiberg Glacier, which provided their route to the polar plateau and ultimately to the South Pole. The party's mastery of the use of skis and their expertise with sledge dogs ensured rapid and relatively trouble-free travel. Other achievements of the expedition included the first exploration of King Edward VII Land and an extensive oceanographic cruise.

Although the expedition's success was widely applauded, the story of Scott's heroic failure overshadowed its achievement. Also, Amundsen's decision to keep his true plans secret until the last moment was criticised by some. Recent polar historians have more fully recognised the skill and courage of Amundsen's party; the permanent scientific base at the pole bears his name, together with that of Scott.