When he sailed from Oslo on the 3rd June 1910, the crew and indeed everyone else believed that they were bound for the North Pole to explore the North Polar Basin. However, upon arriving in Madeira he broke the news to his crew and sent a telegram to Captain Scott reading “BEG TO INFORM YOU FRAM PROCEEDING ANTARCTICA = = AMUNDSEN”. The race was well and truly on.

Fram and her crew arrived at the Ross Ice Shelf (known then as the Great Ice Barrier) early in 1911. Amundsen noted in his diary “"Along its outer edge the Barrier shows an even, flat surface; but here, inside the bay, the conditions were entirely different. Even from the deck of the Fram we were able to observe great disturbances of the surface in every direction; huge ridges with hollows between them extended on all sides. The greatest elevation lay to the south in the form of a lofty, arched ridge, which we took to be about 500 feet high on the horizon. But it might be assumed that this ridge continued to rise beyond the range of vision." This was exploring in its truest nature.

In the end, the race to the Pole was largely won by Amundsen’s knowledge and skill as a driver of dog teams, animals that were used to working in the harshest of cold climates. Of the 52 dogs that began Amundsen’s final attempt for the pole, only 16 reached the destination. Far from dying of the cold, Amundsen had meticulously planned their demise as they were a good source of fresh meat for him and his team. Scott’s team mostly relied on ponies and, having reached the pole 33-34 days after Amundsen, all 5 men perished during their 800-mile return trek to his ship Terra Nova. Despite the professional rivalry between Amundsen and Scott, upon hearing of the details of the team’s death Amundsen poignantly said “I would gladly forgo any honour or money if thereby I could have saved Scott his terrible death".

Amundsen became a national hero whose name is synonymous with polar exploration and research. Hurtigruten guests will be sure to discover echoes of his legacy throughout Norway and our fleet of ships.

You can sail to the extremes of the earth on our own MS Fram, our newest, purpose-built expedition ship. Voyages to Spitsbergen and Greenland are available from May – August 2012, with Antarctica being explored from October 2012 – February 2013. In between, MS Fram explores the coastlines in-between, offering voyages across the Atlantic, through various routes in Europe and along the Norwegian Coast. Amundsen and the history of polar exploration are fully explained by the experts at the Polar Museum in Tromsø, just a short walk along the quay from where our coastal ships dock.

We look forward to welcoming you on an unforgettable voyage soon.