#there are so much more things that made it obvoius this was so badly planned

[norsesuggestions]

On the topic of 19th century polar expedition were everyone are greatly unprepared for what they were actually doing

Well the original reason i started to look up different polar expeditions was because i stumbled over the swedish engeeiner Andrée attempt to reach the north pole in:

A hydrogen balloon!

When the technology was new! And he knew very little about actually using the balloon. But he knew even less about the north pole.

They went in summer because:

1.

"The north pole got great weather in the summer for a balloon. Always sunny and and calm above the still ocean and smooth ice sheet"

(In reality summer means non stop fog and shifting winds. The ice sheet is melting and then freezing when the temp hovers around zero degress. This means it melts, moved and crashes into itself non stop.

The ice at the north pole is not you know. Anchored in land. Except at the edges were it sometimes reaches land. But in the summer it does not always reach land. So, no calm ice sheet, it is stormy broken landscape of arctic ocean with gigantic ice sheets crashing into eachother, breaking eachother, building up fun ice walls etc while the wind and oceans moves them around)

But! Andrée was gonna go with two lads across the north pole in a balloon.

2. Start in Svalbard and then just go were the wind takes them. Then he would land in "alaska, russia or canada" and just "walk to the nearest town and then take the train back to sweden idk"

(seriously his plan for post north pole flight was. Well i will be somewere in the arctic, i guess i will find humans and then go home?

At least, to his credit he knew and admitted that humans lived nearby the north pole, and he would be able to. Talk to them about how to get home. On the other hand, he was swedish so.... sweden has 30% of its surface within the polar circle. He started his travel from Norways Svalbard. So honestly, living in total ignorance of the people in northen sweden and norway would be absurd. And that it logically should be lots of people in equally northen places who knew in which direction the nearest train station/harbour were.

But! Some southern 19th century swedes would not have realised this so??? The bar is so low it have sunken to the south pole, but!)

But problem here is of course not that he gets that there are people to talk to when you have crossed the north pole. It is, that he do not grasp he might need to walk 1 week to reach these people. And what would our three stockholm dwelling southern swedes wear for their north pole expedition?

3. Normal southern swedish winter clothes! For you know around -10 to about -0 C. And living in a city were one can walk inside at any time.

Anyway their balloon crashed two days into the expedition on the that summer arctic ocean ice. And they needed to walk back to Svalbard archipelago.

It took 3 MONTHS. Because somehow Andrée had lived in denial that he might you know. Just crash into the arctic ocean. So all that. "I will just go the city and buy some coffee" planning did so not work out.

It took 3 months because Andrée and his two other expedition lads had no planning to actually needing to trek across the previously mentioned moving ocean ice. Also, the ice was as i mentioned MOVING.

Something they did realise. They did have all the academic skills in have to measure there movement across earth via stars, but not the.. pracitcal skills to solve how to get were they wanted to go.

Tbh i impressed that these 3 stockholm lads, all academic types, made it 3 months. What i mean is that, i would except most current day stockholmers to die much earlier tbh.

They also hunted polar bears like it is no big deal??? I mean they had guns so it was not difficult as such. But once again, tbh would expected my fellow stockholmers to be eaten earlier.

In general they appear to be good at hunting, which tbh finds interesting in contrast to other failed polar expedition were they run out of food. Perhaps swedens population having a hunting tradition were it was a important part for both getting food and the get money for ones household helped?

What i mean is that hunting was not just a upper class hobby as in some european countries at the time. It was just a normal way people got food.

Anyway, ones again the bar is low it sunk to the south pole haha. The 3 lads of Andrée expedition knew how to hunt and prepare wild animals. As the majority of people living within and near the polar circle

ANYWAY

In the end they did reached the Svalbard archipelago again. Finally not on moving ice anymore! But it was a remote island few ever visited... Shortly afterwards they all three die.

Exact cause of death is unknown, but personally i am surprised these 3 stockholmers even lived 3 months on sea ice?? 3 unprepared stockholmers? Like i am just like, obvoiusly they would not survive, there are so many things that can kill when you are just 3 indoor lads out in the arctic so....

We know all these details btw because in the 1930s the found the expedition and all there papers. And photos! Lots still able to be looked so

Anyway this was a rambling info dump of what i learned about the Andrée expedition these lasts days

#blogkeeping #andrées polar expedition #there are so much more things that made it obvoius this was so badly planned #and a unrealstic plan #doomed from the start!! #long post