REFLEKTOR / SPOTLIGHT
Polarni istraživački brod Fritjofa Nansena „Fram” zarobljen u ledu / Fridtjof Nansen’s polar exploration ship Fram trapped in the ice
first man in history to successfully navi- gate the infamous Northwest Passage (the deadly maze of ice connecting the Atlan- tic and Pacific oceans). Later, in 1926, he managed to fly over the North Pole itself in the Norge airship. Amundsen’s story is also the most touching – he departed Tromsø in a seaplane in 1928, embarking on a rescue mission to pull Italian explor- er Umberto Nobile out of the ice. Amund- sen’s plane went down in the Barents Sea and was never found. The man who had
conquered the ice ultimately merged with it. A bronze statue of him today stands in Tromsø harbour, facing north. Learning from the North However, here we come to the most interesting historical turning point. Why did the Norwegians succeed in conquer- ing the ice, while massively financed and
proud British expeditions (like the famous Franklin expedition) ended in disaster? The British took to the ice in woollen navy uniforms, pulling heavy sledges by human power and eating tinned food. In contrast, Amundsen and Nansen realised something crucial: in order to survive the Arctic, you must become part of it. They sought and found their wisdom in the indigenous peo-
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