Shadows on the Wasteland: Crossing Antarctica With Ranulph Fiennes - Hardcover

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Imagine walking 1350 miles; imagine doing so in Antarctica's hostile terrain and climate; and imagine doing so with no assistance from animals or machines and no dependence on food caches or resupply efforts. This is exactly what Stroud and Fiennes undertook when they attempted the first unsupported traverse of the Antartic continent. Veterans of previous Arctic expeditions, they began their journey in November 1992, each pulling a sled loaded with 500 pounds of food, fuel, and supplies. They ended 95 days later, frostbitten and near starvation, but having accomplished what no other human had done before. This account by Stroud, a physician and survival consultant to the British Ministry of Defense, recalls the grueling adventure, replete with broken equipment, broken bones, and not infrequently broken spirits. Their will to survive and succeed prevailed, however. Stroud candidly details not only the extreme physical difficulties but also the psychological and interpersonal strains associated with such a trip. This book will appeal to readers interested in challenges of both the land and the mind.
Pamela Bellows, Northwestern Connecticut Community Technical Coll. Lib., Winsted, Ct.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Stroud, physician and nutritionist, was no stranger to polar travel or to Ranulph Fiennes; they previously tried unsuccessfully to reach the North Pole from Siberia. When Fiennes launched plans for an unsupported Antarctic crossing, he asked Stroud to join him. Flying from Punta Arenas, Chile, they began their epic journey in November 1992. Stroud gives a riveting account of their ordeal. Each man pulled a sleigh that weighed nearly 500 pounds and carried skis and wind sails. Personality clashes that developed in daytime evaporated at night. One bone of contention was the pace--Fiennes liked his "polar plod," while Stroud wanted to move faster. They had planned to cross the floating Ross Ice Shelf to open water, having crossed the continent in 90 days--the first such crossing without the help of animals, machines or other humans. But by Day 95 they were too weak to continue, frostbitten and near starvation. In retrospect, writes Stroud, he would like to repeat the journey and finish what was left undone. A fine story of derring-do. Illustrations.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The story of an unsupported, near-lunatic, two-man trek across the Antarctic wastes becomes an occasion for Stroud (doctor and explorer) to pound his chest as he details the truly revolting putrefaction of his body and mind. Stroud is drawn to extreme environments, lands so awesome and treacherous and relentless in their cruelty, they make the hair stand up on your neck. The North Pole qualifies as such a place, and Stroud, with his companion, the respected explorer Ranulph Fiennes (see Ranulph Fiennes, Mind Over Matter, above), had made three hellacious--not to mention unsuccessful--forays into those parts. Then the South Pole beckoned. Why not a slog across the breadth of the continent with his friend Ran, he thought, pulling all he needed behind him in a sled? This would require a 100-day journey over 1,350 miles, with 500 pounds of provisions in tow, at the mercy of elements that made windchill days of 100 degrees below zero seem balmy. Stroud doesn't waste much breath on his motivations or, once they set down on the edge of the ice shelf, on much other than what happens to a body put under such stress. At the start things weren't too bad: the usual frozen toes and fingers, some minor bickering with his mate. They plodded on. Slowly the picture became less pretty: savage bouts with diarrhea, major weight loss, confusion, bitter fights with Ran. Despite dementia, blindness, and toes described as black bags of pus, they made it. They also paid the tax man: ``We had been crushed by the vastness of our journey, our muscles poisoned by the ice, the stench of rotting flesh added to our already evil body odors.'' More a horror story than an adventure epic. A little more delineation of landscape, or a closer look at previous Antarctic expeditions, would have been a welcome relief from this nonstop tale of woe. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.