3 June 2008

Fritz Koerner's death

Just got an email that is about the obituary of Fritz Koerner

from the staff in department. He said the news from Telegraph

was very suprised him and that was the reason why he shared the

news with all people in geography.



After reading the email from him and the news, it is also suprised

me. It is ot only because Fritz Koerner was the first man to walk

to North Pole by foot, but also was a graduate from Sheffield

Geography.



There is the full text I would like to share with you, or you can

also get the more detail from the pages supplied by Telegraph.



(Some paragraphes from Talegraph 29/05/2008)

Fritz Koerner, who died on May 26 aged 75, was a greatly respected

glaciologist and polar explorer and one of only a handful of people

to be awarded the Polar Medal with both Arctic and Antarctic clasps.



On May 29 1969 Koerner and a companion made a touch-and-go landing

on Vesle Tavleøya, a small rocky island off the north coast of

Svalbard. This marked the climax of the successful bid by Wally

Herbert's Trans-Arctic Expedition to make the first surface crossing

of the Arctic Ocean.



The four-man expedition had left Point Barrow, Alaska, on February 21

1968 with four dog teams, and by the end of the journey had covered 3,

620 route miles over the sea ice. They had spent periods of encampment

on the ice during mid-summer and mid-winter, when Koerner had made

detailed studies of ice structure and topography, in conjunction with

meteorological observations.

(to be continued...)



You guys can find more details from the original website below.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2050482/Fritz-Koerner.html

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