Roald Amundsen and the 1925 North Pole Expedition

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Riiser-Larsen reconnoitered the area and discovered a patch of ice roughly 600 square yards that could be leveled as a runway. Unfortunately, it was nearly 1,000 feet from N25. The men began shaping an icy ramp over which they could maneuver their plane toward the patch for a takeoff run. After hours of backbreaking labor, they pushed the Dornier into place between two icebergs that would have to be partially leveled to permit takeoff. But the short Arctic summer was approaching, and daylight hours were becoming warmer. If N25 did not get airborne soon, the drag from the sticky snow on top of the ice would be too great.

Amundsen knew there was nothing to do except shovel the snow aside. He calculated the men would have to create a track more than 1,500 feet long and 40 feet wide. The snow was nearly three feet deep and would have to be shoveled about six yards away from each side of the runway so it would not interfere with the takeoff. Such a task was beyond what the crews could produce on less than half rations, but they knew an effort had to be made before they became progressively weaker.

June 9 through June 11 found the men struggling to level the surface. Suddenly Omdahl shouted, ‘See, this is what we can do instead of shoveling.’ Stupefied, the other crew members watched as the mechanic began to stomp the wet snow into solid patches. Following suit, they began to trample the area into a useable runway. Ice ridges still had to be chipped and removed by hand.

‘On the 14th of June as we laid down our tools I don’t think I exaggerate when I say that, all in all, we had removed 500 tons of ice and snow,’ noted Amundsen. Unfortunately, thawing conditions prevented two more attempts to get airborne. Amundsen worried that the continuing spate of warm, foggy weather would frustrate every takeoff attempt. As their supply of food dwindled, he wrestled with the notion of heading southward on foot; perhaps they could reach solid land in a few weeks. But in their weakened state, they might not be able to cross the broken snow ridges or open leads in the ice in their canvas boat. He finally decided they must wait for proper conditions and attempt another takeoff.

On June 15, with the temperature hovering around 28 F, the Norwegian explorer inspected the runway they had chipped, shoveled and stamped into the snow and ice. The 1,500-foot expanse was relatively smooth and had seemed to firm up a bit in the chill air, but small cracks had developed just in front of N25. And 250 yards down the track, a 7-foot-wide crack threatened to expand and ruin their runway. Beyond that, a 10-foot-wide open lead of water led to another 45-yard plain of stable, flat ice. Amundsen and his crew felt the time to fly was now or never.

By 9:30 p.m., the engines on N25 had been sufficiently warmed up to attempt a liftoff. The six men had unloaded all cargo except for a few bare necessities lest they be forced back onto the ice and, of course, the extra barrels of fuel. With rueful glances at the crippled N24, perched awkwardly on the ice in the distance, they clambered aboard the remaining Dornier.

Riiser-Larsen, in the pilot’s seat, opened the throttle and N25 began to move across the icy plain. With engines roaring at 2,000 rpm, the big Dornier shook and rattled as it scraped over the runway. The ice sheet held firm. Dashing over the 10-foot-wide crack, N25 rushed along the last flat piece of ice. ‘The scraping noise stopped; only the humming of the motor could be heard,’ recalled Amundsen. ‘At last we were in flight.’

Navigator Dietrichson plotted his course southward using magnetic compasses. Within two hours the sun broke through the fog, and the solar compass showed they were exactly on course. Below them, a twisted mass of ice ridges flanked basins of open water choked with icebergs. If engine trouble developed now, there would be no safe place to land.

Tags: Adventurers & Trail Blazers, Aircraft, Aviation History, Expeditions, Historical Discoveries, Historical Figures

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