In 1893 Fridtjof Nansen set out on an expedition to reach the north pole. His plan was unique; after studying arctic currents, he decided to intentionally get a boat icebound where it would then get carried by the ocean currents to the pole. He had a boat, the Fram, specially built to withstand the pressures of the ice and the cold.
They spent a long time in the ice pack but eventually determined that they would not drift to the pole. In 1895, after reaching as far north as they thought the ship would, Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen decided they would try to reach the pole on skis. They fell short (by about 170 miles), but at the time it was the farthest north reached to date.
Because the ship was drifting and would be hard to locate, the two proceeded to Franz Josef Land. It was a long trek south, and they had to build a cabin to winter in. Eventually they encountered another polar expedition and were taken the others' base camp.
Meanwhile the Fram continued to drift for months, eventually clearing the ice pack and making it to Spitsbergen where they encountered yet another polar explorer -- this one trying to reach the north pole via balloon.
Remarkably there were no casualties during the years long expedition. It was judged a success, even though it fell short of the pole. The Fram is now a museum ship.
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