Amundsen and Scott ? Yes but not only…
Published on 22.10.2011 - General Info
Johan Ernst Nilson is byking down to Punta Arenas
© J. E. Nilson's website
If this year is the Amundsen/Scott's Centenary year, it will also be the year on the polar adventurers who want to pay a tribute to the famous heroes. Some are tempting first class voyages, the others want only to be there.
These days, we are busy putting on line all the 35 expeditions scheduled to go to the Antarctic this year. So far, twenty or so are on line already - just check our 'Expedition' section.
Most of them are of norwegian origin of course because one forgets often that this 2011 year is not only the year of the south pole conquest (1911-12) but it is also the year of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the big norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen.
But not only. This 2011-12 year Antarctic expedition season marks also 100 years of Australian Antarctic Expeditions (AAE). Those who journey south that season join a tradition established a century earlier by the first Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) of 1911-14, led by Douglas Mawson.
In the period known as the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration (1897-1917), Australians were involved in several expeditions. However, the Mawson-led 1911-14 AAE was the first wholly Australian undertaking. The AAE, together with the 1929-1931 British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) (also led by Mawson), was important for establishing Australia's claim for Antarctic territory. The expedition is also celebrated for its important contribution to science, with many examples of the findings and information gathered still being used today.
Last bot not least : let's not forget that somewhere in Pérou for one, and somewhere in Nicaragua for the other, there are two adventurers who are in the process of linking the two poles by land, air and see. Pat Farmer, the ultra marathon australian runner is runing all the way down. He raises funds for the Red Cross. Johan Ernst Wilson is byking with a fellow Aussie. On the way, he meets everywhere all the relief agencies that accept his visit.
