What is Amundsens South Pole Expedition?
“Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition” is the unpretentious name of the first expedition to make it to the South Pole, led by Norweigan explorer Roald Amundsen. Running between September 1910 and March 1912, Amundsen reached the South Pole at a time when the competition was intense — he beat Englishman Robin Falcon Scott by a month, reaching the Pole on 14 December 1911. The accomplishments of Amundsen’s South Pole Expedition were overshadowed by many years by the death of Scott’s expedition as it was returning to the Antarctic coast from the South Pole. Amundsen was already an experienced explorer by the time of launching his South Pole Expedition, having been part of the first crew to overwinter in Antarctica (1899), and being the leader of the first expedition to make it through the Northwest Passage (1903), a goal of explorers for over four centuries prior, since the time of Columbus. Originally, Amundsen wanted to be the first to the North Pole, using the ship Fram (sometimes conside
