Sled Dogs & Polar Exploration
From Nansen and Amundsen to Scott, Shackleton, Fuchs, Herbert and Fiennes - the central role sled dogs played in the exploration and science of the Poles.
Early attempts to use dogs in exploration generally failed, as explorers rarely had experience handling them. Parry, Lyon, Ross and Kane all reverted to man-hauling. John Rae of the Hudson's Bay Company took a pragmatic land-based approach with fewer than 10 people, dog sleds and techniques learned from the Inuit. Dogs first arrived in Antarctica on 17th February 1899 and left for good on 22nd February 1994, once the Antarctic Treaty required non-native species to be removed.
- Dogs in Antarctica: 17 Feb 1899 to 22 Feb 1994 (banned by the Antarctic Treaty)
- Amundsen reached the South Pole first (1911), 35 days ahead of Scott
- Amundsen set off with 52 dogs and returned with 11
- Optimal BAS sledge dog: ~23in at shoulder, ~90 lb; useful working life ~7-8 years
- Wally Herbert's 1968-69 Arctic crossing: 3,800 miles, 16 months, 40 dogs
- Boyarsky's 1989-90 crossing: 6,500 km in 7 months
Nansen and Amundsen
Nansen used Greenland dogs on his famous Fram voyage across the Arctic Ocean, and Amundsen built on all he taught.
- Northwest Passage: Amundsen opened it first (1903-06), learning dog sledding and Arctic survival from the Netsilik people
- South Pole plan: built around 97 Greenland dogs, skis and Eskimo-style clothing
- The prize: in 1911 his team of five reached the South Pole first, 35 days ahead of Scott, and all returned in good condition, having even gained weight
- The dogs: of 52 he returned with 11, the rest deliberately used as food for men and dogs alike, with Helge the dog killed at the Pole itself
Mawson
The eleven dogs that returned from the Pole went to Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-14). Disaster struck when Ninnis fell through a crevasse with six dogs and most of the rations. On the return, Mertz died, unwittingly poisoned by vitamin A from the dog livers, and the remaining dogs were killed one by one to keep Mawson alive. He continued alone, cutting his sled in half and dragging it 160km back to Cape Denison, arriving to the words: 'My God, which one are you?'
Peary, Scott and Shackleton
Three more giants of the age relied on dogs to very different degrees.
- Peary: like Amundsen, he learned from Native Peoples and used sled dogs and Eskimo guides on his contested 1908-09 North Pole attempt (133 dogs, 19 sleds, 23 men)
- Scott: took just 33 SE-Siberian dogs alongside ponies and tractors, planning to revert to man-hauling, and his party of five perished returning from the Pole
- Shackleton: his Imperial Trans-Antarctic (Endurance) Expedition of 1914-17 became an epic of survival after his ship was crushed
- The Endurance dogs: hauled men, lifeboats and stores across the Weddell Sea ice but were shot when they could not be taken in the lifeboats, Frank Wild recording 'I have known many men who I would rather have shot, than these dogs.'
The Scientific Age
In the Scientific Age, dog handling was studied carefully. A Cambridge dog physiologist at the British Antarctic Survey found a smaller, sturdier dog could out-pull a heavier one.
- Optimal sledge dog: about 23in at the shoulder and 90lb
- Teams: around nine dogs, often led by a bitch, might average 16 miles a day on the Peninsula
- Food: ~2,500 kcal a day when idle and 5,000+ kcal when hauling, with seal meat and blubber the best diet
- Working life: occupational osteoarthritis limited a sledge dog's working life to about 7-8 years
Fuchs, Herbert, Fiennes and Boyarsky
The great journeys carried on into the mechanical age, with dogs still at the heart of many of them.
- Vivian Fuchs: led the first crossing of Antarctica via the South Pole (1955-58) by Sno-Cat, having earlier made major journeys with his lead dog Darkie
- Wally Herbert: made the first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean in 1968-69, a 3,800-mile, 16-month trek with three companions and forty dogs, hailed as 'the last great journey on Earth'
- Ranulph Fiennes: circumnavigated the globe on its polar axis with the Transglobe Expedition (1979-82), accompanied by his Jack Russell Bothie
- Victor Boyarsky: crossed the entire continent (6,500km in 7 months) on the 1989-90 International Trans-Antarctica dogsled expedition, one of the last great projects with dogs on that landmass
Ready when you are
Real wilderness, 200+ huskies, eighteen winters in.