Farthest North, Vol. II: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship 'Fram' 1893-1896

In Short

Fridtjof Nansen’s Farthest North, Vol. II is the primary record of the heroic climax and aftermath of the Norwegian Fram expedition (1893–1896). Leaving their icebound ship frozen fast in the polar drift, Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen strike out on foot and sledge across the frozen Arctic Sea toward the Pole, reaching an unprecedented northern latitude before turning south to fight for survival across the Franz Josef Land archipelago. Meanwhile, Captain Otto Sverdrup maintains the ice-locked Fram as a floating scientific laboratory. The volume endures because it balances meticulous polar logistics with dramatic narrative tension, capturing human willpower against an unyielding, frozen frontier.

The Story

The narrative opens amidst rigorous preparations aboard the Fram as the new year of 1895 begins. Frozen securely in the drifting polar pack ice, the ship serves as a safe base, but Fridtjof Nansen realizes that the vessel’s natural drift will not carry them over the North Pole itself. He resolves on a daring plan: leave the safety of the ship and strike out north across the shifting ice on foot with a single companion, Hjalmar Johansen, relying on dogs, sledges, and kayaks.

In March 1895, Nansen and Johansen bid farewell to Captain Otto Sverdrup and the crew. Driving four heavily loaded sledges packed with pemmican, flour, instruments, and equipment, they push into the swirling drift-snow. Almost immediately, the harsh reality of polar foot travel hits them. The ice is far from a smooth highway; it is a chaotic maze of pressure-ridges, mountain-like hummocks, and sudden open lanes of water. Progress requires backbreaking physical labor, with both men lifting, hauling, and guiding the sledges over jagged rubble. To make matters worse, Nansen soon realizes that the pack ice under their feet is drifting steadily southward, undoing their agonizing daily marches.

By early April, having reached 86° 13.6' N—farther north than any human had ever recorded—impassable ice conditions and dwindling dog food force them to turn back toward the unknown islands of Franz Josef Land. What follows is a brutal struggle for survival. As spring turns to summer, the ice thaws into treacherous slush and water channels. One by one, the exhausted dogs are sacrificed to feed the remaining pack. The men splash knee-deep through freezing slush, their clothes stiffening into "chain mail of ice," and navigate unpredictable water lanes in lightweight kayaks loaded with supplies.

In August 1895, after months of uncertainty, they finally set foot on bare ground—the granite blocks and arctic moss of Franz Josef Land. With autumn approaching and no prospect of reaching home before winter, they build a rudimentary stone hut, shooting walruses and polar bears for meat, fat, and fuel. They spend a dark, solitary winter huddled in their tiny den, burning blubber for light and warmth, living like castaways while dreaming of home.

With the arrival of spring 1896, Nansen and Johansen resume their journey south by kayak and foot. In June, a chance encounter with the British explorer Frederick Jackson brings their long trial to an end, and they are welcomed aboard Jackson's base before returning to Norway in triumph. Parallel to their trek, Captain Sverdrup appends his detailed journal tracking the Fram as it safely breaks free from the ice in August 1896, proving Nansen’s theory of polar drift and reuniting the entire crew without a single loss of life.

How It Unfolds

The departure from safety Nansen and Johansen prepare their sledges with precise rations of pemmican, fish flour, and equipment before taking leave of the Fram in March 1895, venturing into a uncharted icy wilderness accompanied by twenty-eight dogs.

The push north and hard realization Navigating over chaotic pressure-ridges and falling into freezing water lanes, the duo pushes past the 86th parallel, but Nansen soon calculates that the southward drift of the ice is canceling out their hardest marches.

Turning south across the thaw Forced to abandon the Pole, the men turn toward Franz Josef Land; as summer arrives, they wade through deep slush, shoot walruses for food, and link their kayaks together to cross treacherous open water lanes.

Landfall and the winter hut Reaching bare granite islands in August 1895, they build a primitive stone-and-moss hut to endure the dark polar winter, surviving entirely on bear meat and blubber lamps.

The unexpected rescue and return Resuming their kayak voyage in spring 1896, Nansen hears the barking of dogs and stumbles upon the British explorer Frederick Jackson, paving the way for their triumphant return to Norway just as the Fram breaks free from the ice.

The People

Fridtjof Nansen The leader of the expedition wants to prove his scientific theories of polar drift and reach the farthest northern point possible. Driven, analytical, and stubborn, his meticulous calculating nature is balanced by deep emotional longings for home during the long winter nights. Through the grueling trek, he evolves from a commander leading an expedition to a pragmatic survivor relying on raw grit.

Hjalmar Johansen Selected as Nansen's sole companion for the sledge journey, Johansen wants only to fulfill his duty and see the expedition through. Unflappable and cheerful under dreadful conditions, his endurance is put to the test as he repeatedly falls through thin ice, hauls heavy sledges over rubble, and helps skin walruses. He remains fiercely loyal and steady throughout the grueling ordeal.

Otto Sverdrup The captain of the Fram wants to preserve his ship and keep his remaining crew safe, healthy, and occupied while drifting through the ice. Constantly adapting to ice-pressures that threaten to crush the hull, Sverdrup maintains morale through routine, scientific work, and humor, proving that Nansen’s vessel was brilliantly engineered to survive the Arctic pack.

In Its Own Voice

"These baths are not an unmixed pleasure, now that there is no possibility of drying or changing one's clothes, and one must wear a chain mail of ice until they thaw and dry on the body, which takes some time in this temperature."

Nansen describes the miserable aftermath of Johansen falling through thin sea ice into freezing water during their sledge march.

"There are moments when it seems impossible that any creature not possessed of wings can get farther, and one longingly follows the flight of a passing gull, and thinks how far away one would soon be could one borrow its wings."

Reflecting on the psychological weight of facing an impenetrable maze of broken ice-mounds and slush.

"WE WERE FREE! Behind us lay three years of work and hardships, with their burden of sad thought during the long nights, before us life and reunion with all those who were dear to us."

Captain Sverdrup records the moment the Fram finally breaks out of the ice pack into the open sea.

What It's Really About

Beneath the thrilling narrative of Arctic adventure, Farthest North, Vol. II is fundamentally a study in human adaptability and scientific faith. Nansen’s journey tests whether human intellect, foresight, and raw willpower can overcome an environment explicitly hostile to biological life.

The book grapples with the tension between scientific rationality and existential isolation. Nansen continually measures, calculates, and logs data—recording magnetic variation, latitude, and temperature—even while wearing frozen clothes in a dark stone hut. The journal entries highlight the psychological toll of prolonged isolation, where home, family, and domestic warmth become vivid phantoms contrasting against the silent, howling wind of the polar night. Ultimately, the work asserts that survival depends not on conquering nature, but on understanding its forces and enduring its absolute indifference.

Why Read It Today

Farthest North, Vol. II remains one of the premier classics of polar literature. Readers who enjoy true stories of wilderness endurance, historical exploration, and human resilience will find themselves absorbed in Nansen’s day-to-day accounts. The book offers a remarkably intimate look at what it felt like to step beyond the boundary of known maps before the era of modern radio communication or air support.

Modern readers must, however, navigate certain period realities. The prose includes extensive inventory lists—down to exact pounds of dried whortleberries and petroleum tins—alongside detailed geographic coordinates and weather reports that can slow the narrative momentum. Furthermore, modern sensibilities may be jarred by the frequent, necessary slaughter of their working dogs and the hunting of polar bears and walruses for basic survival.

Yet, these details are precisely what give the book its unvarnished authenticity. What stays with the reader is not merely the grand achievement of reaching 86° 13.6' N, but the quiet, everyday moments: two men sharing a cup of hot soup inside a frozen tent, carving their names into a piece of driftwood, or celebrating Christmas in a stone hut lit by a blubber lamp.

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