Olav Olavson Bjaaland - Biographical notes

Amundsen/Fram - first successful expedition to reach the South Pole - 1910-11 Fram

One of the first party of men to reach the South Pole

Olav Bjaaland, was probably the world's greatest living skier at the time. He came from the Telemark region of Norway where skiing was developed from a method of transportation into a sport.

Bjaaland had no great desire in particular to journey to the pole, he simply wanted adventure and to see the world. He was also a skilled carpenter.

Landmarks named after Olav Bjaaland

Feature Name: Mount Bjaaland
Type: summit
Elevation: 2675
Latitude: 86°33´S
Longitude: 164°14´W
Description: A rock peak (2,675 m), the south-eastern most summit of the massif at the head of Amundsen Glacier, in the Queen Maud Mountains. In November 1911, a number of mountain peaks in this general vicinity were observed and rudely positioned by the South Pole Party under Roald Amundsen. Amundsen named one of them for Olaf Bjaaland, a member of the party. The peak described was mapped by USGS from surveys and U.S. Navy aerial photography, 1960-64. For the sake of historical continuity and to commemorate the Norwegian exploration in this area, the US-ACAN has selected this feature to be designated Mount Bjaaland. Other peaks in the massif have been named for members of Amundsen's South Pole Party.

Variant Name(s) - Mount Olaf Bjaaland

Roald Amundsen Books and Film
Scott and Amundsen: Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford UK	Roald Amundsenc by Tor Bomann-Larsen UK	The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram, 1910-1912 UK	Last Place on Earth (1994) DVD VHS DVD
Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen: Ambition and Tragedy in the Antarctic UK	The Amundsen Photographs discovered in 1986, pictures from three of Amundsen's voyages UK	Let Heroes Speak: Antarctic Explorers, 1772-1922 UK	Roald Amundsen - The Quest for the South Pole. Ages 9-12 UK

Roald Amundsen Prints
Roald Amundsen Norwegian Polar Explorer Giclee Print	Roald Amundsen on being the First to Reach the South Pole Photographic Print	Roald Amundsen on being the First to Reach the South Pole Photographic Print	Amundsen and Others in Their Winter Quarters in Antarctica Photographic Print
Amundsen and His Team at Hobart Photographic Print	Roald Amundsen in the Cabin of His Ship Gjoa Photographic Print	Roald Amundsen Norwegian Polar Explorer Giclee Print	Roald Amundsen the First to Reach the South Pole Giclee Print
The Fram - Ship of Roald Amundsen, First to Reach the South Pole Photographic Print	Roald Amundsen, The First to Reach the South Pole Photographic Print	Roald Amundsen the First to Reach the South Pole Giclee Print

Biographical information - This is a particularly difficult area to research and I am concentrating on the Antarctic (and Arctic) experiences of the men involved. Any further information or pictures visitors may have is gratefully received. Likewise links to other websites, details of family trees or any other form of information of the people mentioned here and involved in early Antarctic exploration, or of any corrections to the details published. Please email - Paul, webmaster.