Ice: Stories of Survival from Polar Exploration

by Clint Willis

Book Overview

Ice is a riveting collection of writing about polar exploration -- stories of self-sacrifice, beauty, and heroism by eminent adventurers who have endured 50-below-zero temperatures, gale winds, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560252189
• ISBN13: 9781560252184
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

From The Poles

Ice stories of survival from polar expedition By, Clint Willis is 370 pages and was published in 1999. Is a Collection of short stories about extraordinary people who traveled to the ends of the earth where they faced the most inhospitable conditions. The conditions they faced ranged form raging gales to -78 F to endless crevasses. This book is about adventure and determination. Some of the stories include Sr. Edmond Scot's last expedition, The story of the crew of the Endurance as they made their trip for land after their ship got crushed by the floating ice pack, A story about 24 men and there attempt for survival in the Arctic. Some of the authors of the stories include an interview by Charles Neider of Charles Wright one of the people that turned back on Scots last expedition, Michel McRae, and Marie Herbert. This book was written to inform people about the hardships involved in the people that risked everything for the sake of science. This book is for adventures people who like the cold and ice and exploration. The story "The Worst Journey in the World" Is about Cherry-Garrard, Henry Bowers and William Wilson and their Journey in the long Antarctic winter for the elusive egg of the emperor penguin. The Emperor penguin is the larges penguin standing about 4 feet high. lay their eggs during the Long winters of Antarctica so that their chicks hatch in the spring and can get a large coat of fur by the following winter. The eggs are balanced on the penguins feet to keep them warm as temperatures are as low as -78 F. When the penguin leaves to fetch food the childless penguins all run to nourish it and in the process many of the eggs are squished. Scientists believed at the time that the Emperor penguin's egg may hold the key between birds and reptiles. Cherry and his men set out to Cape Crozier where ships and expeditions have confirmed that the cape is an Emperor penguins hatching ground but they have only found chicks. The trip to the cape is very difficult in daylight and they went in the winter where there is little daylight if any. They some how survived the -70 F temperatures and wind but they did bring back a few eggs which were then examined. This book is about Antarctic and Arctic expeditions. Not all of the Stories end happily but the risks are known and if the risks weren't taken We may not have all the things we have today. They also were very caring people and would sacrifice them selves for the greater good as Otis said "I am going outside and I may be some time." There was a raging blizzard going outside and he was very weak and knew the end was near. He did not want to be carried at the expense of the others. These people also care about the environment for they would hate to see the last truly wild places on the planet being ruined. Edward said "we practice no trace camping to preserve this last part of the united states, Alaska. I have learned a lot about this subject one thing that I

Ice from a teen agers point of view.

Ice: Stories of Survival From Polar ExplorationBy Clint Willis I thought this book was extremly enlightening about the trials and troubles of polar exploration. It is amazing how the human body and spirit can overcome such incredible odds and endure such hardships like hunger, severe cold, isolation and fear. This book is about 15 different polar explorations. The stories include adventures from the South to the North Poles, focusing on trying to get there, trying to survive, and trying to escape the extremes. All of these stories are real having actually happened. One can be warm in bed or on the couch reading this book and one's mind gets cold. In the actual polar areas, winter is ten times more painfully cold than even my imagination and I live in Wisconsin. This book is a must read on anyone's list. It is a true piece of history that keeps you entertained and fascinated at the same time.

ICE from a teen agers point of view.

ICEStories of Survival from Polar Exploration Ice: Stories of Survival from Polar Exploration was written by Clint Willis. The book was published by Thunder's Mouth Press/ Balliett & Fitzgerald Inc. It was published in New York and copyrighted in 1999. Ice is about survival from polar exploration, although not all end up surviving. This book is meant for people that have an interest is survival and the polar regions. Its basic pupose is to tell stories otherwise publicly forgotten, that depict the hardships of polar exploration as well as how a few explorers survived them. A number of the stories presented in this book have an ecological context. In many of these stories, the expedition's purpose is to record the climate and biological ecosystem in the area. Mr. Willis portrays in this book a relationship of the explorers, extremely violent conditions of the area, and the local ecosystem. "October 22d, Saturday. - One hundred and thirty-second day. Too weak to carry the bodies of Lee and Kaack out on the ice. The doctor, Collins, and I carried them around the corner out of sight. Then my eye closed up." This is an excerpt form The Voyage of the Jeannette. It depicts the great fellowship between the explorers. The men who carried out their dead friends were starved, weak, and frost bitten. Yet, out of respect and fellowship, they took their friends outside around the corner out of sight."The pounding of the steely ice jarred his knees, and he felt the skin split; snow crammed his gloves and crept into his clothing. He kept crawling, lugging the weight across the snow, his whole concentration focused on making the distance." This is a passage from Mawson's Will. It exposes the harsh conditions he was forced to struggle through."...so they were able to see the birds, about a hundred of them, mournfully huddled together, trying to shuffle away from the intruders without losing the eggs from their feet and trumpeting with curious metallic voices." this is a section from A Bad Time. It is describing the penguins as they try to protect their precious eggs balanced on their feet.This book was written is of the highest quality in reality and in entertainment. I feel it is scientifically sound because these are factual stories, first hand notes of experiences in a hostile environment. The people this book writes about were real scientists and explorers that were trained and educated to embark on these journeys.The book Ice is a window into the world of the polar regions and gives first hand experiences of its unforgiving nature. It has spellbinding chapters from 15 other manuscripts. It is a must read for all.

Outstanding collection

Clint Willis has created a fascinating series of books with Epic, Climb, High, Wild, Ice, Rough Water, and The War. Each of these volumes presents the best literature about their respective subjects in a powerful cohesive manner. These books are a quick read, but intricate and spellbinding. I have given many of them to friends and family as gifts.

Clint Willis comes through again!

From the far reaches of Antarctica to the glaciers of the North, these stories of bravery (and frostbite) will make you glad you're at home in an armchair. I believe this is Willis' best anthology yet.