Amundsen first for UK Polar Museum

The snowshoes, knife and boots belonging to Roald Amundsen – the man who beat Captain Scott to the South Pole – are to go on public display for the first time.

They are among objects being exhibited in the UK’s first full-scale exhibition on the life of the Norwegian explorer at the Polar Museum in Cambridge.

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

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

Heather Lane, librarian and keeper of collections at the museum, said: “A hundred years after the expeditions made by Scott and Amundsen, co-operation 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.” Other items in the exhibition include the South Pole sledging flag and ice axe belong to Amundsen’s team-mate Oscar Wisting, a film camera taken on the same expedition and a waterproof container for matches. His own personal knife, certified as being the one taken to the Pole, is also among the items which have never before been on display in Britain.

Although best remembered as the man who got to the South Pole before Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s British team, the exhibition will show how his meticulous attention to detail and long years of learning from the Inuit of northern Canada established his reputation as one of the greatest polar explorers.