New polar evening at the Ishavsmuseet: Who was actually first at the North Pole?
Friday, January 30th at 19 p.m., the first polar evening of the year at the Ishavsmuseet will be held. First up in this new season is Olav Orheim. Orheim is a glaciologist and has led many expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctic. He earned a doctorate in glaciology at Ohio State University, and is today considered one of the world's leading glaciologists. Orheim first started at the Norwegian Polar Institute in 1965 as a scientific assistant. He later served as director of the Norwegian Polar Institute for 12 years.
He also played a central role in the development of the Troll research station in Dronning Maud Land. He is also known as the initiator of the Norwegian Glacier Museum in Fjærland and the Polaria experience center at the Polar Environment Center in Tromsø. Orheim has held positions as chairman of the board of Polaria, the Norwegian Glacier Museum in Sogn, and has been chairman of the board of the Fram Museum for a number of years.
Orheim has been to Antarctica 17 times, 10 of which as leader of Norwegian and international expeditions. Orheim has left a strong mark as an initiator and promoter of polar research, especially in Antarctica. He has also spent eight summers as a researcher in Svalbard and Jan Mayen.
As director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, Orheim was responsible for the grand opening of the new Ishavsmuseet in Brandal in 1999, and in 2007 he was appointed Knight of the 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav.
He will come to the Ishavsmuseet with the lecture "Who was actually first at the North Pole?"
It now seems clear that neither Cook, Peary, or Byrd made it all the way to the North Pole. Many people probably think that Wally Herbert took that record, but that is wrong, he arrived a year too late. So who got there over the drift ice in 1968?
With parachute jumps and submarines, military personnel from the Soviet Union and the United States arrived there much earlier, usually without media attention, unlike those who planted the flag on the seabed!
In recent years there have been a number of very impressive physical achievements over the Pole, also without support, and in the winter night. The establishment of tourist accommodation at the North Pole from 1993 has also led to a whole new set of original records.
At the Ishavsmuseet on Friday we will get the answer to who was actually the first to reach the North Pole. After the lecture, dinner will be served in the usual style, and this time it is clipfish with all the goodies on the menu. Registration at the museum at noon.
