Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.4. At the front of the photo, detached from its talon, the hooked claw of Mount Betty,
Amundsen's only landfall in Antarctica, connects through a gnarly eastern limb back to the mas-
sive body of Mount Fridtjof Nansen. Flanked to the south (left) by Axel Heiberg Glacier and to the
west (right) by Liv Glacier, the central massif rises abruptly to an elevation of 13,350 feet along its
shadowy, northeastern wall. Mount Don Pedro Christophersen is the dark, dome-shaped massif on
the far side of Axel Heiberg Glacier. The pair of stepped icefalls between Mount Don Pedro Chris-
tophersen and Mount Fridtjof Nansen was the crux of Amundsen's crossing of the Transantarctic
Mountains. The route taken the first day in reconnaissance by Amundsen and Bjaaland is illus-
trated in blue. Amundsen's route south, shown in magenta, links to the route on Fig. 5.5. Gould's
route up Strom Glacier to the base of Mount Fridtjof Nansen appears in yellow. The orange lines
trace his two ascents of the lower reaches of the massif. Camps are also indicated. The steadily
rising track of Byrd's flight to the South Pole is shown in green in the upper reaches of Liv Glacier
at the upper right of the image.
