Near Death in the Arctic True Stories of Disaster and Survival

"The fine snow choked his eyes, ears, and throat, and he did not hear his own smothered death cry. Down in cold blackness, 150 feet down, his falling body smashed into a projecting ledge of ironclad ice. With the shattered remains of his sledge, with the doomed dogs, Belgrave Ninnis plunged deeper and deeper into the abyss." Lennard Bickel'sMawson's Will. InNear Death in the Arctic, editor Cecil Kuhne gathers astonishing tales of man versus nature, all set against the bleakly beautiful backdrop of the poles of the earth. On foot, by ship, or by dog-powered sledge, these adventurers brave the most savage and desolate environment on earth, their instinct for self-preservation and survival exceeded only by their desire for excitement and discovery. Also featuring: Captain Roald Amundsen'sThe South PoleThe heart-pounding story of Amundsen's race to be the first man to reach both Poles despite driving snow, exhausted dogs, and towering glaciers. Ernest Shackleton'sSouthA riveting memoir of the doomedEndurance, which became trapped in dangerous pack ice that eventually tore the ship apart. Mike Stroud'sShadows on the WastelandThe unbelievable account of a two-man, ninety-day trek across the Antarctic continent through temperatures as low as minus eighty-five degrees Celsius.

Cecil Kuhne is the editor of two previous anthologies on adventure travel, On the Edge and The Armchair Paddler. A former whitewater rafting guide, he has also written nine books about rafting, kayaking, and canoeing. He lives in Dallas.

Preface

Foreword From Polar Dream
Helen Thayer

In the Land of White Death
An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic
Valerian Albanov

The South Pole
An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the “Fram,” 1910–1912
Captain Roald Amundsen

Mawson’s Will
The Greatest Survival Story Ever Written
Lennard Bickel

Alone
Richard E. Byrd

The Worst Journey In The World
Antarctic 1910–13
Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Ice Bird
The First Single-Handed Voyage To Antarctica
David Lewis

Farthest North
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen

The North Pole
Its Discovery In 1909 Under The Auspices of the Peary Arctic Club
Robert E. Peary

Scott’s Last Expedition
The Personal Journals of Captain R. F. Scott, C.V.O., R.N., on His Journey to the South Pole
Robert Falcon Scott

South
A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage
Ernest Shackleton

Shadows on the Wasteland
Mike Stroud

Shackleton’s Boat Journey
The Narrative from the Captain of the Endurance
Frank Arthur Worsley

Notes on the Contributors
Permissions Acknowledgments