ski-boots

Updated: May 26, 2025

Ski-boots had long ago been tried on, time after time, sometimes with one, sometimes with two pairs of stockings. Of course it turned out that the ski-boots were on the small side. To get a bootmaker to make roomy boots is, I believe, an absolute impossibility. However, with two pairs of stockings we could always get along in the neighbourhood of the ship.

Roald Amundsen - The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian antarctic expedition in the "Fram," 1910-1912 — Volume 1

Of our whole outfit nothing caused me more worry or gave us all more work in the course of the expedition than the stiff outer covering which we had to have; but we solved the problem at last. I applied to one of the leading makers of ski-boots in Christiania, and explained the difficulty to him; fortunately I had found a man who was evidently interested in the question.

Roald Amundsen - The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian antarctic expedition in the "Fram," 1910-1912 — Volume 1

What required most alteration was our heavy outfit. The sledges were constructed with a view to the most difficult conditions of ground. The surface here was of the easiest kind, and consequently permitted the use of the lightest outfit. We ought to be able to reduce the weight of the sledges by at least half possibly more. Our big canvas ski-boots were found to need thorough alteration.

Roald Amundsen - The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian antarctic expedition in the "Fram," 1910-1912 — Volume 1

We agreed that he should make a sample pair after the pattern of ski-boots. The sole was to be thick and stiff for we had to be prepared to use crampons but the uppers as soft as possible. In order to avoid leather, which usually becomes stiff and easily cracked in the cold, he was to use a combination of leather and thin canvas for the uppers leather nearest the sole, and canvas above it.

Roald Amundsen - The South Pole; an account of the Norwegian antarctic expedition in the "Fram," 1910-1912 — Volume 1