UK's first Amundsen exhibition celebrates extraordinary explorer

Cambridge News -

The snowshoes, knife and boots belonging to Roald Amundsen as he led the first team to reach the South Pole are among objects on display in the UK’s first ever full-scale exhibition on the life of the Norwegian explorer, opening at the Polar Museum on September 2.

The museum, part of Cambridge University’s Scott Polar Research Institute, is celebrating the life and exploits of the man is regarded as one of the greatest polar explorers in history.

His many, almost superhuman, accomplishments included the first transit of the Northwest Passage, conquering the South Pole, attaining the North Pole, crossing the Arctic Ocean by airship and completing the first journey around the Arctic Ocean.

Amundsen’s place in polar history is secure. What Amundsen understood was the value of thorough planning, preparation and continuous adjustment to local conditions. His methods are as valid today as they were a hundred years ago.

Librarian and Keeper of Collections at SPRI, Heather Lane, said: “A hundred years after the expeditions made by Scott and Amundsen, cooperation between British and Norwegian scientists has never been stronger. It seemed fitting that the Polar Museum should celebrate Amundsen’s life and achievements. Though mainly known in Britain as the first person to the South Pole, there is so much more to this extraordinary man.

“In a career as an explorer which spanned more than 25 years he achieved more than most people do in a whole lifetime.

“This exhibition examines his life from his youthful aspirations to emulate his hero, the famous 19th century Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, through a career learning the skills of polar travel which would propel him to worldwide fame and ultimately to his death attempting to rescue another polar explorer.

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