Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration

by David Roberts Narrated by Matthew Brenher

Overview

His two companions were dead, his food and supplies had vanished in a crevasse, and Douglas Mawson was still one hundred miles from camp.

On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp. The dogs were gone. Now Mawson himself plunged through a snow bridge, dangling over an abyss by the sledge harness. A line of poetry gave him the will to haul himself back to the surface.

Mawson was sometimes reduced to crawling, and one night he discovered that the soles of his feet had completely detached from the flesh beneath. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizably skeletal, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, “Which one are you?”

This thrilling and almost unbelievable account establishes Mawson in his rightful place as one of the greatest polar explorers and expedition leaders.

Editorial Reviews

The Washington Post - Dennis Drabelle

In Alone on the Ice, Roberts, a veteran mountain climber and chronicler of adventures, admirably succeeds in restoring the luster that the [Australian Antarctic Expedition] and its leader deserve.

Booklist

Douglas Mawson is not as well-known as Amundsen, Scott, or Shackleton, but as this intense and thrilling epic shows, he deserves a place on the pedestal next to these other great explorers of the Antarctic…This fast-moving account earns for Mawson and his team a well-deserved place of honor in the so-called heroic age of Antarctic exploration.”

Boston Globe - Christina Thompson

"Impressively seamless and straightforward."

Gordon Wiltsie

"Others have written the loose outlines of Douglas Mawson's astonishing survival against the worst conditions that Antarctica can deliver a lesser-known but equally compelling epic as that of Ernest Shackleton but Roberts's telling trumps them all."

Denver Post - Sandra Dallas

"A chilling story…You feel the freezing temperatures, the fear, the desperation, along with the loyalty of the other Australasian Antarctic Expedition members."

Greg Child

"This is Roberts at his best, telling a little-known tale of adventure, tragedy, and endurance. Mawson may be the most famous Australian explorer, and Alone on the Ice is an admirable introduction of him to American readers."

Dennis Drabelle

"In Alone on the Ice, Roberts, a veteran mountain climber and chronicler of adventures, admirably succeeds in restoring the luster that the Australian Antarctic Expedition and its leader deserve."

Minneapolis Star Tribune - Chuck Leddy

"Wonderfully told, impressively researched…For fans of outdoor adventure, Alone on the Ice brings you as close to trekking in a blizzard on icy, dangerous terrain as you’ll likely want to get."

Conrad Anker

"An accurate and enthralling account of the greatest story of polar exploration and survival. Roberts takes the reader back to a time of hardship, collective friendship, and a level of determination unknown in todays culture. This book will make you cherish every meal and the joys of a warm bed."

Ed Viesturs

"A fresh and thoroughly researched account of Doulas Mawson's epic journey of self-rescue across one of the most inhospitable regions known to man. Roberts takes the reader alongside the men of the 1912 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, and the desperation of Mawson s sledge journey can be well imagined step by frigid step."

Laurence Gonzales

An important missing story from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, this book will steal the night from you. Gripping and superb.

Kirkus Reviews

Mountaineer and prolific author Roberts (Finding Everett Ruess: The Life and Unsolved Disappearance of a Legendary Wilderness Explorer, 2011, etc.) returns with a vivid history of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson (1882–1958) and his 1912 exploration of Antarctica. The author covers the entirety of the expedition, skillfully blending his research of Mawson and his life with details from firsthand diaries and records of the crew. "A scientist in his very bones," Mawson kept meticulous records of the expedition, despite the trip's hardships. While the entire voyage is engaging, the most engrossing part of the tale begins about halfway through the book when Mawson and two colleagues, Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz, set out from their base camp to a point 300 miles southeast. Without warning, Ninnis and a half dozen of the team's best dogs plunged to their deaths through a crevasse, taking Ninnis' sledge and its food rations down as well. With only a week's food (and no food for the remaining dogs), the surviving men stretched their rations by eating any sled dogs too weak to continue to pull the sled. That decision may have led to the painful demise of Mertz, as he may have poisoned himself with an overdose of vitamin A from eating the dogs' livers. His human and canine companions dead, the starving Mawson trekked another 100 miles back to his base camp. When he finally returned to camp, the first man to reach Mawson "beheld the ravaged countenance of the man limping down the slope above him, [and] Mawson knew exactly what [he] was thinking: Which one are you?" Roberts creates a full portrait of Mawson and does justice to what famed mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary would later call "[t]he greatest survival story in the history of exploration."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169603538
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	01/28/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged

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