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Alone on the Ice

The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration

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Alone on the Ice

By: David Roberts
Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
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About this listen

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 Adventure Travel Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Travel Writing & Commentary

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)
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I didn’t real know a lot about Mawson so it was gripping and intense I loved it

Story line

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I loved this book. It's one of those one's where you're sad when it's finished and you have to find something else, which is rare for me to find.
Now all I want to do is read/watch/listen to stories about Antarctica.

Enthralling

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Though the pace lagged at times, with perhaps slightly superfluous information, the last half is impossible to stop listening to. Such an amazing group of people. The rare true explorers.

Incredible tale

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I loved the way the story was told both in the activities of the men and the clear narration

Story told in a captivating progressive way.

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Brilliant story of adventure and survival. Narrator has fantastic voice but pronunciation ofvsome words was a bit off (eg Macquarie sounding like McWorry). All in all a very worthwhile listen.

Great Story of Australian Antarctic Adventuring

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Amazing story of survival and interesting insight into the topic. The book does go on some tangents and gets bogged down in places but overall worth a listen

Interesting insight into early Antarctic missions

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Where does Alone on the Ice rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 2 for sure, along with "On the trail of Genghis Kahn".

Who was your favorite character and why?

Douglas Mawson.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh at times but mostly just listen in awe.

Any additional comments?

I wish more people knew the storey of the man who at one stage was on Australia's $100 note.

Really good

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Written with I'm assuming facts and dates. More documentary than story although still interesting, I feel for the animals (dogs, ponies and wildlife) and for the men who felt the call of adventure even though it was isolating and deadly to some of them.

Documentary

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Great story and well researched. Well balanced and some great insights into modern nay-sayers.

Well worth a listen, well told and fascinating

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Listening to the different versions of the same story as recounted on the members of the expedition's travel journals, helps the reader better understand the magnitude of their leader's achievement.

Truly the greatest survival story in polar exploration

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.