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Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration Paperback – Illustrated, March 3, 2014

by David Roberts (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,816 ratings
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"Gripping and superb. This book will steal the night from you." ―Laurence Gonzales, author of Deep Survival

On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Douglas 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. It is illustrated by a trove of Frank Hurley’s famous Antarctic photographs, many never before published in the United States.

24 pages of illustrations
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  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    March 3, 2014
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393347788
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393347784
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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."
― Chuck Leddy, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Impressively seamless and straightforward."
― Christina Thompson, Boston Globe

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

"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."
― Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post

"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."
― Ed Viesturs, author of K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain

"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."
― Gordon Wiltsie, author of To the Ends of the Earth

"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."
― Greg Child, author of Over the Edge

"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."
― Conrad Anker, coauthor of The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mt. Everest

About the Author

David Roberts (1943–2021) is the author of thirty books on mountaineering, exploration, and anthropology. His books have won the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature and the Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Book Competition.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (March 3, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393347788
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393347784
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,816 ratings

About the author

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David Roberts

David Roberts

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David Roberts (born 1943) is a climber, mountaineer, and author of books and articles about climbing. He is particularly noted for his books The Mountain of My Fear and Deborah: A Wilderness Narrative, chronicling major ascents in Alaska in the 1960s, which had a major impact on the form of mountaineering literature. In thirteen seasons spent in the Alaskan wilderness, Roberts is well known for many first ascents, including the Wickersham Wall on Mount McKinley, the West rib of Mount Huntington, climbing in the Western Brooks Range and the Kichatna Spires, and on the East Face of Mount Dickey.

Roberts is the son of Walter Orr Roberts and mentor to Jon Krakauer.

David Roberts attended Harvard University, where he received a mathematics degree in 1965. He was a member of and former president of the Harvard Mountaineering Club. He also received a Ph.D. in English from the University of Denver in 1970.

From 1970 to 1979 Roberts was a professor of literature at Hampshire College, in Amherst, Massachusetts, as well as designing the college's Outdoors Program.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,816 global ratings
What a Story! What an Adventure!
5 Stars
What a Story! What an Adventure!
Not sure where I came across this title, but I bought it used on Amazon for a few dollars. Unbelievable story. Are people as tough now as they were then?Makes me want to dig out Endurance (Shackleton). Reading this book inspired planning for our next Stamp and Coin Club topic: The Heroic Age on Antarctic Exploration. Doublas Mawson, a very handsome young man, is pictured on the Aussie $100 note and is a hero of Australia.
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Top reviews from the United States

Bill Gallagher
5.0 out of 5 stars Roberts Gives Mawson the Recognition He Deserves and the Reader a Great Adventure Story
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2013
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After whipping through a couple great polar exploration books, I got a copy of Alone on the Ice. (Btw, I highly recommend both of these:  Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage , which is the well known account of Shackleton's ill-fated, but miraculous survival in Antarctic and  Arctic Adventure: My Life in the Frozen North , which though hugely popular in its day, is something of a lost classic that is a great read filled with lots of well told dramatic adventure while [unlike Endurance] giving insight into native Eskimo culture, which is fascinating.)

In "Alone on the Ice," David Roberts tells the true story of what Sir Edmund Hillary called "the greatest survival story in the history of exploration." Hillary was referring to the 1912 expedition of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson and his fellow members of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE). Mawson and cohorts set out to explore Antarctica with the intention of gathering specimens and to make scientific observations of the continent. What has left Mawson's considerable accomplishments and amazing survival story obscured by the layers of newsprint and time is--unlike Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott--he wasn't a pole bagger. Mawson, never grabbed headlines by "summiting" the south pole. Mawson and the AAE's expedition went virtually unnoticed by the public.

Now, at the 100th year anniversary of the expedition, Roberts tells the story of Mawson, alone after his companions had died during the expedition, an expedition that saw them trek over 600 miles round trip while being face with 100 miles per hour winds, and left with little of their original provisions. Left as a lone explorer, Mawson was forced to make a ninety-five mile trek across the Antarctic Ice while battling extreme hunger, madness, and the deadly terrain of the continent.

During his trek Mawson often had to crawl as a result of losing the flesh from the soles of his feet. And at one point, he fell into a deadly crevice that would have likely killed almost anyone else. However, Mawson, inspired by a poem by Robert. W. Service, was able to extricate himself out of the crevice with what could only be considered superhuman strength, determination, and extraordinary will. Roberts tells Mawson's story well and has seemingly done his research thorough, including some great, rarely-seen photos (one of an iced-over face is bizarre, as is the shot of an explorer's contortions to stay upright in a 100-mile an hour wind). The photos are by Frank Hurley, who is famous from his Endurance photos.

In sum, this is a very engaging read. Robert's detailed description of Mawson's determination, perseverance, and courage gives Mawson the heroic recognition while provided classic adventure story entertainment.
131 people found this helpful
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Karen S.
4.0 out of 5 stars The Polar Expedition You Probably Don't Know About—But Should
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
A captivating true tale about one of the last of the "heroic" polar explorations: the Australasian Antarctic Expedition from 1911 through 1914. The expedition was led by Douglas Mawson, a geologist by trade, who was himself a tireless worker who expected the same level of effort and commitment from his men. Many of his men thought he was wonderful and a great leader, but some chafed at his discipline and expectations. Like all of these polar expeditions, this one was beset by horrible weather, some bad decisions, a great deal of heroism, and some tragedies, both avoidable and unavoidable. The importance of this expedition and its scientific discoveries was eclipsed by what happened to the Scott and Shackleton expeditions that were contemporaneous, and, of course, the first World War, which began the same year as the AAE concluded.

Mawson himself had a most horrific experience as he and two companions were trying to return to their winter quarters from one of their research trips. One of the three (Ninnis by name) was manning a dog-pulled sledge that had most of their critical gear on it: food, tents, stoves, etc. The sledge, man, and dogs all fell into a huge crevasse and were killed. That left Mawson and the other man Mertz to continue on their way with only 1.5 weeks worth of food for a month-long journey. Soon Mertz got sick and finally died. Mawson stayed with Mertz for 8 days while he was too weak to travel, thus endangering Mawson's own survival by continued exposure to the cold. After Mertz's death, Mawson had to get back on his own across the frozen waste, through bad weather, and with no-one to help rescue him should he fall into a crevasse. He finally staggered back into winter quarters a month later ... and the ship that was to have taken the men (Mawson and others left at the winter quarters) back to Australia had left FIVE HOURS earlier, thus necessitating they stay at winter quarters another year until the ship could get back to them. Talk about endurance and fortitude!

And yet, they endured. If you like polar and exploration sagas, this one is a must-read. Mawson was knighted upon his return to Australia, and was celebrity-famous for decades in his home country.
6 people found this helpful
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Randall K Hayes
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024
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Excellent!
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Top reviews from other countries

M. Louise Ripley
5.0 out of 5 stars An Incredible Experience of Endurance and Strength, physical and mental
Reviewed in Canada on December 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
I could not put this book down. I love reading about the Antarctic and hope one day to visit. But with a lot more comfort and safe methods. What these men did almost was beyond belief. Written from the men’s actual journals and records. It will make any other winter seem like a Caribbean island!
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Grey Nomad 15
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring Narrative
Reviewed in Australia on November 22, 2023
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A well written description of an epic chapter in the exploration of Antarctica at a time before modern means of communication and transport. Well researched and gives a real sense of what these men experienced and endured. Thoroughly recommended.
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RMCT
5.0 out of 5 stars What a man
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2013
Verified Purchase
This boook tells the tale of the most extensive and successful, in terms of scientific achievement, polar expedition of that age. The expedition is most remembered for the tragic deaths of Ninnis and Mertz on the Eastern sledging party led by Mawson, who had to endure extraordinary feats of super-human endurance to survive the ordeal and make it back to the hut. This must sit alongside the survival of the 'Endurance' expedition led by Shackleton in terms of polar extremes. However, the tale is not as famous or renown as one might expect it should be. This is owing to the death of Scott and his south polar party as well as the outbreak of the first world war.

David Roberts has done a wonderful job of bringing to life an important story in polar history and placing Mawson into the pantheon of polar greats. The book is well constructed and an enjoyable read. I would thoroughly recommmend it.
8 people found this helpful
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Robin Frost
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history and outdoor adventure
Reviewed in Canada on December 22, 2022
Verified Purchase
Very interesting read (even tho I am only halfway thru so far) and am enjoying every page.
One person found this helpful
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Jules
4.0 out of 5 stars this book really captures the heroism of a bygone era and raises the spectre of one of the great adventurers of all time
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
A vivid recreation of life in the Antarctic at the turn of the last century.

Chillingly told, with unbelievable, against-the-odds survival and scientific discovery, this book really captures the heroism of a bygone era and raises the spectre of one of the great adventurers of all time.

Douglas Mawson deserves to better remembered and this book certainly shows the reader exactly why.

A humbling read.
3 people found this helpful
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