Today, I read an interesting but also very sad story about adventurers and their expedition more than 100 years ago.
Solomon Andree was an experienced hot-ballooon flyer. He had been flying hot-balloon for 10 years before he decided to start a new adventure with his friends Strindberg and Fraenkel. They wanted to fly their hot-balloon across the North Pole.
Their journey began at Dane Island on July 11, 1897. Sadly their trip turned into a nightmare soon after their beginning. They could not control the balloon as they wished. The strong wind and frozen weather made their flight very hard. Ice started accumulating on the balloon. On July 14th, they gave up flying and had to land on the ice.
They were not well-prepared for the cold weather on the ice. After pulling, pushing, dragging their heavy equipment on the ice on the ice and floating in the boat for couple of months, they reached the White Island on Oct 5, 1897. They pitched their tent and prepared to spend the winter there, but all three men were very sick and weak. Soon, they died one after another.
Thirty three years later, their bodies were found. Before their death, Solomon and his friends had written lots of notes about their adventure and also made some films. All the films and notes were well protected, so people got to know what had happened to them.
Their tragedy makes me sad, but their spirit inspires me.
More detailed story about their adventure can be found on Wikipedia:
S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897
