Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Artic Explorers

Dear Travelers,

After the failed Franklin expedition of 1845 it would take more than a half century to pass before an innovative explorer finally conquered the Northwest Passage.

On 16 June 1903, a 29-year-old Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, set out with improbably slim resources: six men and a tiny shallow vessel, the Gjoa, which he presumed could slip through channels that endangered larger ships. Caught by the winter ice, Amundsen did what the earlier Franklin crew had been unable or unwilling to do. He turned to the native Inuit to learn their ancient skills of Arctic survival. What they taught him not only ensured the success of his voyage but were crucial training for his conquest of the Sout Pole in 1912. During this time, they also mapped the frozen, island-studded area of the north.

Your travel host,

Rinell :-)

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