Fridtjof Nansen : Polar explorer, scientist, and polymath

On a recent trip to Oslo and while Standing on the massive deck of THE FRAM, the famous wooden ship that sailed to the north pole and Antarctica I decided to write about one of the greatest polar explorers that ever lived: Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. As someone who has stood on the Greenland ice cap and traveled past the 80th parallel twice and to Antarctica and sub-Antarctic islands twice I believe I can convey to my readers the dangers and thrills of polar travel, especially in the early twentieth century.
Polar exploration in the early nineteenth century captivated the world with exploits of new regions that the world has known before. However, reaching the Poles has always been a challenge for humankind. Adventurers, and scientists wanted to conquer these territories preserved from all human activities. They embarked towards the unknown to conquer frozen lands, sometimes without preparation for the extreme conditions that awaited them. Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, Robert Scott, and Robert Peary, to name a few comes to our mind when we think of polar explorers. But Nansen, a Nobel laureate, is cut of a different cloth. He was an arctic explorer, a scientist, and a humanitarian who saved upwards of seven million people. The biography of Fridtjof Nansen almost defies belief. He was the first to traverse Greenland, ventured further into the Arctic than any man yet before him, and was an 11-time cross-country skiing national champion. When he was not completing a feat of human endurance, he wrote scientific accounts of his adventures and became deeply involved in the global humanitarian crises in Russia and Armenia winning him the Nobel Peace prize in 1922.
The blogs that I write are extracts from the writings of others and edited with my own travels and insights. Here I am trying to portray his achievements in five sections. 1) Nansen’s early years and preparation as an explorer 2) The Greenland expedition where he traversed across the massive island by skis. 3) The building of the first ever polar research ship, The Fram. 4) The Arctic expedition to the North pole. 5) His achievement as a diplomat and humanitarian winning him the Nobel peace prize in 1922.
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1) Early years:
Nansen was born in Aker, Norway, on October 10, 1861, to Baldur and Adelaide Nansen.
Though Fridtjof’s parents were strict, they were caring, and they worked hard to instill self-reliance and a sense of duty in their son. These would prove to be important qualities for his later adventures and allowed him to persevere where others had failed. Fridtjof Nansen shared his mother’s love of the outdoors, and the Norwegian countryside offered plenty of opportunities for him to develop his physical prowess. Nansen would often force himself into situations that would evaluate his endurance and wander into the wilderness where he would “live like Robinson Crusoe.”
Eventually, he reached the point where he could ski fifty miles in a single day, and at 18 he broke the world one-mile skating record. The next year, he won the national cross-country skiing championship and did so eleven more times.
His athletic skill would become indispensable during his Arctic explorations. Nansen trained himself to endure physical hardships from an early age.
Nansen enrolled in the University of Oslo in 1881 and decided to study zoology. A friend of his father's needed a zoology student for a whale and seal hunting expedition in the Arctic Ocean near Greenland. The ship had a crew of 62 -and the student Nansen became its only passenger. On this voyage Nansen made his first acquaintance with the Arctic. He soon became so fascinated by this hostile, savage part of the world that he knew he must return. The young scientist found inspiration in the study of animal life, of temperature conditions, sea currents, ice formations, northern lights - many kinds of natural phenomena every single day. At the same time, the arctic en¬vironment appealed to his artistic sense, as he experienced the play of color and light, extraordinary ice formations, the ani¬mal life and its human inhabitants. Even though the scientific results of this expedition were not immediately significant, it was during this voyage that Nansen made the first observations of the sea currents which run from Eastern Siberia over the Polar Sea towards Greenland. He found drifting timber which he originally believed to be American pine, but which he later realized must have drifted with the ice from Siberia. He found grey, organic spillage on the ice, and after his return home it was proved that this came from the land near the Bering Straits. This and other finds would be amongst the evidence which indicated that the ice constantly drifted over the Polar Sea from the sea north of Siberia. On this voyage the seed of an idea began growing in him that a vessel would be able to withstand lying frozen in the ice if it were suitably con¬structed.

2) The Greenland Expedition
In an article he wrote for a geographical periodical he recounted his observations of the ice formations along the East coast of Greenland and mentioned that it should be possible to reach land by walking over the ice, pulling the equipment on sledges. Inhospitable Greenland fascinated Nansen and so in 1887, after he submitted his doctoral thesis, Nansen began a daring adventure into the island’s interior. The knowledge available to the Victorians about much of the island had changed little since the days of the Vikings centuries earlier — and Nansen was determined to change that.
The implication of going in an east-westerly direction was that retreat would be impossible. Even though conditions might indicate that retur¬ning to the East coast was the only alternative, this would be precluded by the fact that it would be impossible to make con¬tact with the outside world, and no ship would be able to come to their aid. The attitude of burning one's bridges, leaving only one course available, the way forward. Fridtjof Nansen and the five members of his expedition were faced with great difficulties and troublesome delays, caused by adverse weather and ice conditions on the sea and land around the East coast, and the ascent of the glacier could not begin until the 15th of August 1888. By this time, the Arctic summer was already on the wane. It was an extremely strenu¬ous expedition, ascending to over 2 700 meters between peri¬lous crevasses, with temperatures sinking to minus 45 °C and with no other equipment or provisions than what was possible to continue the ski sledges. They also suffered from an acute fat deficiency caused by an error in the pemmican compound which proved to be fat free. Nansen’s gamble paid off, though, and by October of the same year, he and his team safely arrived at an Eskimo village on the west coast. They survived temperatures as low as -49 degrees Fahrenheit and traversed 2,500 miles on sleds and skis. They were the first explorers to traverse Greenland.
At the end of September, they arrived at the West coast, and at the beginning of October they reached the inhabited area of Godthab, where they received the dis¬appointing news that the boat from Godthab had left two months earlier which was before they had even begun the expedition across the ice.
The expedition had to spend the winter in Greenland and Nansen used this time to study the life of the Eskimo. He sketched, photographed, and went hunting thereby experiencing the full primitive life which he loved. Fridtjof Nansen wrote the book «Eskimo Life» (1891) after his return, in which he described vividly his love for Greenland and its people. The material he published played its part in increasing the knowledge of Eskimo life and culture, and established beyond doubt his ability to conduct systematic studies in the field of ethnography.
The six-man expedition crossing the Greenland inland ice will always be regarded as a heroic achievement. To endure and accomplish such a feat in one of the world's most inaccessible areas, using only the primitive equipment avail¬able at that time, required a high personal level of self-disci¬pline and an iron will. Assistance from others was out of the question, there was no possibility for retreat, and no means of communication with the rest of the world; always dependent on their own strength, capabilities and judge¬ment. The men who conducted this remarkable feat were com¬pletely aware of the fact that the effort could cost them their lives. The expedition was of vital importance to our knowledge of inland Greenland, which several experts had thought was ice free, and it also provided overwhelming publicity all over the world for the sport of skiing. Nansen and his men received an enthusiastic welcome in Denmark and Norway when they arrived with the first boat in the spring of 1889, and their safe return was celebrated widely in many other countries.

3) The building of the Fram
After the Norwegian parliament had made a grant of NOK 280 000 available for the venture, and various enthusiastic private citizens had added their contributions, the work of building a polar exploration vessel to Nansen´s specifications commenced.
Nansen´s closest adviser on the project was Otto Sverdrup, while the building work was entrusted to Colin Archer. It was a formidable task. Nansen wanted a ship which, though small and light, would be strong enough to withstand the tremendous pressure of the pack ice, a ship with a hull designed to ensure that it would be lifted by the ice and not forced under and churned to pieces. The principle can be illustrated by squeezing a round nut between the fingers and seeing how it pops up.
Moreover, it had to provide a comfortable home for the crew, who would have to be prepared to spend several years on board. In the event, the ship proved bigger than Nansen had envisaged. It had a displacement of eight hundred tons loaded, measured 39 m from stem to stern, was 11 m in the beam, and had a draught of 5 m. The proportion of wide beam compared with the length gave better strength in the ice, but also made the Fram roll most uncomfortable in the open sea.
Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, and Colin Archer had close consultations throughout the building process. Archer made three models and four drawings before the construction started, and adjustments and changes were made constantly during the construction. The materials were hand-picked: oak and iron in the main, with pitch pine, Norwegian pine, and greenheart in addition.
The separate pieces were either laid double or were strengthened in many ways. The ribs were of naturally formed oak bolted two together for double strength and laid only 5 cm apart. The space between was filled with a mixture of pitch, tar, and sawdust. The keelson was of pitch pine, which has a naturally high resin content which protects it from decay. This was laid double, apart from under the engine room where there was not enough space.
The ice sheathing on the outside of the hull was of greenheart and was fastened so that it could be torn off by the ice without seriously damaging the hull. Greenheart is hard and durable and is the densest wood that is traded.
The ribs were covered on the inside with planks of pitch pine, while on the outside there were two layers of oak under the ice sheathing. In the living quarters the pitch pine was covered with a layer of tarred felt followed by three layers of paneling with insulation between.
In addition to the choice of materials and the extra strengthening of the hull, there were other adaptations that would make the Fram resistant to damage from the ice. The rudder was strengthened with three heavy U-shaped iron frames and both the rudder, and the propeller could be lifted. The stern had a special construction that gave a double end with a well in between. This was divided into two parts where the rudder and the propeller could be hoisted away from the ice. The rudder was sited low to avoid most of the inevitable collisions with ice.
The Fram was designed as a three-masted schooner, with the standing rigging of steel wire and the running rigging of hemp. A windmill was included on board, which ran a generator to provide electric power for lighting by electric arc lamps. A triple expansion steam engine of 220 hp gave a speed of 6-7 nm/hour in calm seas.
On 26 October 1892, the Fram was christened by Nansen’s wife Eva and launched at Colin Archer’s shipyard in Larvik, Norway.

4) The Arctic Expedition to the North pole
In the summer of 1891 Nansen commenced the preparations for a courageous expedition by ship over the Polar Sea. The plan was based on the theory that strong ocean currents from the areas north of Siberia flowed in the direction towards Greenland and Alaska. Wreckage from the American Jeannette expedition which had floundered in the ice north of Siberia in 1879-80, was found on the south-west coast of Greenland years later. This proved that the theory of the ocean currents was correct. For those interested in the Jeannette, I would strongly recommend the book by Hampton Sides “Kingdom of the Ice” which ranks high among my travel adventure books.
On the 24th of June 1893, the expedition departed and after one month left Norwegian waters turning eastwards from Vardø. After having sailed along the whole of the Northern Siberian coast, they reached the area around the New Siberian Islands at the end of September. It was here that the Fram froze fast in the ice. The construction proved itself to be correct, the vessel was pressed up onto the ice and in this way the lethal grip of the ice which had crushed so many vessels previously, was averted. The slow passage across the Polar Sea now began.
Sometimes they drifted southwards and at other times they advanced quickly towards the north, only to drift back again. The current was not particularly strong, and it was a mental strain for the small crew of thirteen men to endure the pas¬sivity on board. At Christmas time they had passed 79° N and the speed was so slow that Nansen calculated that it could take 6-7 years to drift over the entire Polar Sea. In his most pessimistic periods prior to the commencement of the expedition he had estimated that it could, perhaps, be a voyage of about 4-5 years' duration. On the 2nd of February they passed 80° N, and the temperature was down to under -50 °C. On the 28th of May, the Fram reached 81° 34' N. Just to make a point, the research ship Sergei Vavilov reached 81 degrees in my first trip to the high arctic. At this position Nansen began to realize that they would not drift as far north as he had originally hoped, nor would they drift over the actual pole point.
Finally, he made the courageous decision to attempt to reach the pole by skiing. He knew he could entrust the ship in Captain Otto Sverdrup's safekeeping and the crew had enough provi¬sions of every kind to last them for years. He took with him one man, Hjalmar Johansen, and left the Fram on the 26th of February 1895. They lashed their equipment to six dog sledges and would, of course, be completely self-reliant during the whole expedition. No communication with the outside world or retreat was possible, and they would have no chance of finding the Fram again. They were left completely to their own devices on the path into the unknown. After they had reached the North Pole, they would have to try and return southwards in the direction of Spitsbergen or Franz Josef Land. To succeed, ice and weather conditions would have to be favorable; delays would mean that by the spring the ice would be impassable and then they would have little chance of survival, even though they had their self-made kayaks lashed to the sledges.


The first attempt failed. The sledges were too heavy and the ice conditions too difficult, so they turned back to reduce the equipment load. The sledges were improved, and a new attempt was made but this also failed. Finally on the 14th of March they left the Fram at 84° 4' N in a temperature of -32 °C and turned their course northwards. It was an inhuman struggle through the ice masses. The many dogs which for so long had been bound and confined on board the Fram, behaved in a way which caused delays. They fought each other, and continually bit through the traces which had to be knotted again - this was not easy when the tempera¬ture was at around -40 °C.
At the beginning of April Nansen realized that in all proba¬bility, it would be impossible to continue right to the point of the pole. The ice conditions were too difficult; because of open water they were forced to make long detours, and the incidence of screw-ice meant that they had to lift the sledges. Sometimes they struggled for 20 hours without stopping. On the 7th of April they were forced to admit that it was not possible to advance any further towards the north. They were then 86° 14' N, the farthest north any person had reached until then. Their own calculations lead them to believe that they were at position 86° 13.6' N.
We can only imagine what these two men felt when they were forced to abandon the direction of their journey, so near to the very point of the North Pole
The return journey was, if possible, even more dramatic than the expedition northwards. During the first days they pressed themselves hard to advance as far as possible before the ice began to give way to more open water. Once they travelled 36 hours without resting. By the 14th of May they were managing with just two sledges and twelve dogs of the orig¬inal twenty-eight with which they had set out. Each of the two remaining sledges weighed over 250 kilos.

At the beginning of June, they were forced to take longer rests. They were despondent, because they had long expected to see land lying to the south. There were also only six dogs left. In front of them lay long stretches with open water or slushy ice. There was little food left and for several days they had only eaten some gulls which they had been lucky enough to shoot. On the 20th of June they had to use the kayaks, and they lashed the sledges across them. On top of this load sat the two remaining dogs.
It was a hard struggle as each time they had negotiated a stretch of open sea, they had to pull the kayaks up onto the ice, hitch themselves to the sledges and continue skiing or on foot through the slushy ice to the next stretch of open water. Their lives were in peril several times. On the 5th of August Johansen was attacked by a polar bear in an area which was so full of ice hummocks that there was not even enough space for the small tent. They were about to launch the kayaks onto the water, and Nansen stood holding onto his sledge to prevent it from sliding in, when he heard Johansen shout behind him: «Get the gun!» Nansen turned and saw the bear throw itself over Johan¬sen, who fell backwards. Nansen failed to reach the gun at once, as it was lying in the front of the kayak which by now had slipped into the water. He heard Johansen's calm voice politely saying: «You had better hurry, otherwise it will be too late»! Johansen had received a blow on the head from the bear, and even though he had been knocked over he did not faint but lay right between the bear's legs. With both hands he had grabbed the bear's throat and was hanging on fast. The bear that had been momentarily distracted by the dogs strode over Johansen and struck out against the dogs with his huge paw, sending them rolling and howling across the ice. Nansen then shot at close range and killed the bear. Johansen was unhurt, but the bear's claws had grazed his face and white stripes appeared in the layers of grime and grease on his cheeks.
Not until the 15th of August did, they have land beneath their feet. They had reached Franz Josef Land, on the northern tip of the island. It had become late in the year, and they realized it was becoming urgently necessary to prepare to spend the winter here. First, they had to build a shelter for their winter quarters. They hacked away at the surface to make a hollow and then surround¬ed this area with stone walls which they filled as best they could with moss. A long pine-log which had been washed ashore served as the ridge-piece, and over this they laid walrus skin. There were many walruses near the hut, and they shot several to make use of the skins, blubber, and meat. They were also able to shoot several polar bears and seals, which would provide a food reserve during the long polar darkness. They used the skins to make warm clothing and covered the floor of the hut with polar bear skins. To preserve warmth, they refashioned the woolen sleeping bag, so that both could creep into it. Here they remained for most of the day and night while the storm raged in the darkness outside. Water was scarce, and soot from the primitive oil lamps gradually blackened their faces. But the friendship between them was good, and they even had enough strength to make plans for a new expedition after their return to civilization.
It was a long winter in the «den», as they called the stone-hut. There was little to do, they missed having reading matter but amused themselves as best they could with their almanac.
Not until the middle of May was it light enough or spring-like enough for them to leave the hut to make their way towards Spitsbergen. In the beginning it was difficult for them to cover long distances each day. During the long winter there had been little opportunity for exercise and their physical condition was not at its best. Most of the journey southwards was made by kayak. They experienced several dangerous incidents on their way - on one occasion their kayaks floated a long way off while they were on an ice floe, but Nansen succeeded in swimming after them in the cold arctic waters. Without these flimsy vessels they were doomed.


On the 17th of June 1896, quite by coincidence, they came upon members of a British expedition which was on Franz Josef Land. It was a dramatic meeting, which can best be compared to the meeting between Dr. David Livingstone and the Ameri¬can Henry Stanley at Lake Tanganyika in 1871. Nansen and Johansen were received warmly by Frederick G. Jackson, the leader of the British expedition. It was agreed that the two Norwegians should accompany the British expedi¬tion ship to Norway.
Although he did not reach the North Pole, Nansen had traveled further North than anyone on record by that time.
Such a long time had elapsed since the Fram expedition started, that many had begun to believe that the whole expedi¬tion had perished in the ice. There had, of course, been no pos¬sibilities for any form of communication with the outside world since they became locked in the ice.
Just after Nansen and Johansen arrived in Norway in August 1896, the news was received that the Fram too was safe. She had drifted across the Polar Sea towards Spitsbergen, and as soon as the ship had cleared the ice, she set course for Norway. The Fram and her entire crew arrived in Norway only five days after Nansen and Johansen - an utterly amazing coincidence. The members of the Fram expedition were given a hero's welcome in Norway and Fridtjof Nansen became world famous. Letters and telegrams arrived from every corner of the globe. People worshipped this new hero from the icy wastes. Institutions and Societies from many countries had to wait their turn for him to come and give lectures about his experiences.
Fridtjof Nansen published his account of his Arctic adventures across six books. His explorations had resulted in a tremendous wealth of new research and the explorer was considered the leading expert on the polar regions. Over the next 15 years, he would make several other research voyages that produced important current information about the oceans.

5) Nansen the Diplomat and Humanitarian
The experience awakened Nansen's interest in oceanography. In 1908, he founded and led the University of Oslo's Institute of Oceanography and participated in several Arctic expeditions. His scientific contributions were instrumental in establishing the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
By this time, Nansen had achieved international acclaim. During the negotiations for Norway's separation from Sweden in 1905, Nansen lobbied in London for Norway's independence. After Norway's peaceful secession, he served as its first ambassador to Great Britain (1906-1908).
Simultaneously, Nansen addressed the housing of 1.5 million Russian refugees who had fled the Bolsheviks. Many lacked identification and wandered from country to country, often dying from starvation and typhus in squalid camps. Nansen devised international agreements for refugee documentation, eventually establishing the "Nansen Passports" recognized by fifty-two nations. Through Nansen's tireless efforts, refugees gradually found shelter.
In the summer of 1921, a devastating famine hit Soviet Russia. Appointed the League's High Commissioner for Refugees in June, Nansen appealed to governments to provide aid, setting aside political differences. While the League denied his request for a loan, countries like the United States provided $20 million. Funds raised by governments and aid organizations saved an estimated ten million lives. Nansen also facilitated refugee exchanges during the 1922 Greco-Turkish War.
In recognition of his tireless efforts to assist the vulnerable, Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922. "The Nobel Prize has been given to many different men," wrote a Danish journalist, "but never before to one who in so short a space of time has achieved such outstanding success in the practice of peace." According to Fredrik Stang, the Norwegian Nobel Committee's spokesperson, "What strikes us most about him is his ability to dedicate his entire life to an idea, a thought, and to carry others away with him."
In his Nobel lecture, Nansen outlined the desperate conditions caused by the Great War and hailed the League of Nations as the means to prevent future tragedies. "It is the blind fanaticism on both sides that makes every dispute a matter of conflict and destruction, whereas discussion, understanding and indulgence may lead to a far more fruitful result," he argued. He donated his Nobel funds to refugee aid.
Nansen died in Oslo in 1930 from exhaustion after a ski trip, his funeral taking place on Norway's Independence Day, May 17th. His pioneering spirit, unwavering compassion, and unwavering belief in peace left an enduring legacy in the world.
I strongly recommend reading his book “Farthest North: The incredible 3-year journey to the frozen latitudes of the north (1897). With his amazing writing skills, he takes you on an adventure not experienced by many. “Northwest Passage” written by Roald Amundsen is an interesting study of how polar explorers navigated to frozen lands and spent winters with the indigenous Inuit of northern Canada. We are set to sail the Northwest passage in September 2025 following the path of the failed Franklin expedition from New Found land to the Canadian High arctic near Alaska.
The Fram was the first ship specially built in Norway for polar research. She was used on three important expeditions: with Fridtjof Nansen on a drift over the Arctic Ocean 1893-96, with Otto Sverdrup to the Arctic Archipelago west of Greenland - now the Nunavut region of Canada - 1898-1902, and with Roald Amundsen to Antarctica for his South Pole expedition 1910-12. The Fram is now housed and exhibited in the Fram Museum at Bygdøynes, Oslo.
In March of 2025, my wife and I will board the hybrid ship “Fridtjof Nansen” on my third journey to Antarctica and the sub Antarctic Falklands.
I cannot imagine a world without ice.

Ramdas Iyer( [email protected])
How to protect oneself from travel calamities(CLICK HERE)

Sources: The Fram Museum, All that’s interesting ( editor John Kuroski) and writer Gina Dimuro.