Jan-Gunnar and Stein P. flown to the South PoleTo make it in time for the centenary celebration, the two were flown in the last 80 km to the Pole tonight.
“Fine weather all morning. Clouded over after we had taken the altitude, and snow showers arrived from the SE. ”– Amundsen on this day 100 years ago (Read more …) 
– We did what we could to make it in time to the Pole for the centenary celebration. Tonight, after several days with just a couple of hours' rest, we realised that it was not possible. In theory it could work, but not physically. This makes the theory irrelevant, says Jan-Gunnar Winther. The Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Jan-Gunnar Winther will communicate directly via satellite with H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon on 14 December. The Crown Prince attends the national centenary celebration in Tromsø. Did you know that when the American Richard E. Byrd flew over the South Pole in 1929, a Norwegian was at the controls?
It was the 30-year-old pilot Bernt Balchen from Kristiansand who flew the plane safely from the Ross Ice Shelf to the South Pole and back to the Ross Ice Shelf. |
South Pole 1911–2011 is an informational outreach project run by the Norwegian Polar Institute
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