Alone on the Ice

The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration

By: David Roberts

Narrated by: Matthew Brenher

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

His two companions were dead, his food and supplies had vanished in a crevasse, and Douglas Mawson was still 100 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.

©2013 David Roberts (P)2013 Blackstone

Critic reviews

"Painting a realistic portrait of Aussie explorer Douglas Mawson and his arduous trek through some of the most treacherous icy Antarctic terrain, Roberts gives the reader a very close look at the huge risks and preparations of the nearly impossible feat…Harrowing, exciting and brutally real, Roberts provides a chilling backstory to polar explorer Mawson’s bold solitary survival tale." (Publishers Weekly)

"Mountaineer and prolific author Roberts returns with a vivid history of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson and his 1912 exploration of Antarctica…. Roberts creates a full portrait of Mawson and does justice to what famed mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary would later call 'the greatest survival story in the history of exploration.'" (Kirkus Reviews)

"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." (Booklist)

Historical account worth listening to

Exciting account, but narrator is reason Brits are called "stuffy". Terrible pronunciation of names and things not English. Sounded like he was born in 1800's himself.

2 thumbs up!

loved this book. couldn't stop listening. do yr selves a favour and get it now!

The Hunger of a Sound

Alone on the Ice recounts the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) that set sail for the unexplored area of Antarctica below Australia in 1911, during the ‘Heroic age of Antarctic Exploration.’  While the Brit Robert Scott (BAE or Terra Nova Expedition) and the Norwegian Roald Amundsen (ASP Expedition) were racing to the South Pole,   Douglas Mawson passed up a chance to participate in Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole, because he had this personal desire to explore the unknown area below his home country and make it more of a scientific survey. It turns out that section is far windier year round than earlier explored areas, because of the lack of mountains to shield from the gales. 

Mawson had been a part of Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition from 1907-1909, where he, Alistair Mackay, and Edgeworth David were the first to climb to the rim of Mount Erebus, Antarctica’s (and Earth’s) southern-most volcano. David, Mackay, and Mawson had also been the first to trek to the magnetic South Pole (which is different from the Geographic South Pole) on that earlier expedition. But, being a geologist, he seemed pretty invested in the idea of exploring the mineral composition of Antarctica, as well as the surface features and mapping. Because of this, his expedition brought back a wealth of scientific information, more than any previous expedition. He also discovered the first meteorite found on the continent, a major find. 

But, the highlight of the story was how as the group was subdivided into five sledging parties heading out from the main base, with Douglas Mawson taking Xavier Mertz and Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis on his  “Far Eastern Party.” On this trek across the ice, the very young Ninnis, age 24, plunged into a hidden crevasse, where his partners could not even find him. Some of the dogs, and a sled carrying most of their provisions, some of Mertz’ heavy clothing, and their tent went over with Ninnis. After this tragedy, Mertz became sick, due to their continuing trek on starving rations, eating dog liver & brains, and freezing with not enough clothes, etc. When he died also, Mawson had to continue trekking to base alone. His ordeal left him a ghost of his former self to the point that when he reappeared at base, they asked him which one was he. 

Mawson was a self-motivated man, and seemed to have a penchant for driving the men who followed him, just as he drove himself. He seemed to remain positive and refrained from criticism or negativity most of the time, but he insisted on hard work. Men were often inspired by his drive and ability to reach his goals. His AAE has been described as “A well-coordinated frenzy of discovery... pursued in every possible direction.” They underwent extreme hardships, and one man even went mad from the wintering conditions. But, the beauty and vastness of it all seemed to inspire the men to persevere. 

Mertz described the beauty of what would be named the Ninnis Glacier simply, 
<blockquote>Everything in White!</blockquote>

About the vast sheets of ice as far as the eye could see, Mawson remarked in his diary, 
<blockquote>This area seems to have been forgotten by God.</blockquote> 

Sleeping in his tent at night he felt,
<blockquote>… loathe to sleep for the hunger of a sound. </blockquote>


I was amazed to see the wide ranging participation of countries in Antarctic exploration. I knew it belonged to the international science community, but the achievements in exploration going all the way back have gone to many countries. Russia, for example, was the first to reach the Southern Pole of inaccessibility. That’s definitely a remarkable feat! I also found it striking that Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis’ unit was later killed in WWI. As his Mother remarked, it seemed more fitting for a young man to die doing something he loved, than by being slaughtered in Flanders. 

The book was well researched and written, and the Audible narration was great. I’ve already bought the Audible version of Mawson’s diary, “The Home of the Blizzard” to read next. This book is certainly top-quality reading material. I recommend it to anyone interested in accounts of exploration and/ or survival.

what a story

excellent and fascinating story loved it probably the best survival story I've ever read very good

Unreal

What's an incredible story! And what a great storyteller to give it to us. I'm speechless.

Alone in the Ice is good summer listening

The amazing story of the Antarctic exploration helped keep me cool during my summer basement project. In the evenings I would Google the photos that were taken during the expedition, and it was like I was there in the snow with them. The perseverance of these men is incredible, and the mental problems toward the end are understandable.

Inspiring story, man against mother nature

If you could sum up Alone on the Ice in three words, what would they be?

Incredible human spirit

What did you like best about this story?

Detailed descriptions of life a century past, men performing feats that we would struggle to accomplish with current technology, and excelling at it.

What about Matthew Brenher’s performance did you like?

Very appropriate accent for the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, very interesting listen.

Any additional comments?

Makes me want to learn more of Shackleton, Scott and Amundson

Check it out.

It was a great listen, and worth the purchase. To note, at several points, especially in the first several chapters, I found it difficult to follow who the characters were, where they were going, and which expeditions were being referenced. I found it helpful to search online for a map and some basic information to straighten out the details in my mind. Careful not to read through resou4ces ahead of my place in the book, it was helpful. A dramatic story.

not what I expected

an incredible story that occasionally gets lost in the overwhelming amount of expeditionary details. this story is more about the AAE as a while than Molson's ordeal.

Gets good at the end...

Overall good- It was a little difficult to get into the story for maybe the first third of the way through because I felt it kind of jumped around and was a little disjointed, but once I gained enough traction on the characters and storyline I began to enjoy it much more. It's a kind of old-fashioned style of writing/language (undoubtedly due to all of the excerpts from journals over 100 years old at this point) but overall it was a great book which I enjoyed. I learned so much about Antarctic exploration and discovery!