Blizzard Race to the Pole

by Rees, Jasper; Fiennes, Sir Ranulph; Parry, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780563493266
• ISBN10: 0563493267
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-07-01
• Publisher: BBC Physical Audio

Summary

"In late 1911, the final year of the Edwardian age, a British naval captain and a Norwegian conqueror of the North-West Passage embarked on the most gruelling race ever run. Their aim was not only to lead the first expedition to the South Pole, but also to live to tell the tale. Six months later, Robert Falcon Scott and four of his party were dead, while Roald Amundsen's victory had been wired around the world." "A century on, the debate still rages. Was Scott unfortunate or incompetent? Was Amundsen a genius or lucky? In a unique television experiment, two teams led by the Norwegian explorer Rune Gjeldnes and the television anthropologist Bruce Parry, set out to recreate the famous race. Wearing the same type of clothing as their predecessors, surviving on the same diet, using the same equipment and travelling over the same distance, they seek to answer some of these burning questions." "Blizzard is a chronicle of both the original epic, and its reconstruction. Jasper Rees's narrative intertwines past and present as he brings to life an extraordinary cast of characters. They may be separated from their predecessors by nearly a hundred years, but the modern race teams soon discover that, in polar travel, nothing changes. Among the hardships they face are uncontrollable dogs, inedible food, invisible crevasses and unimaginable cold, all in an unending prairie of snow." "Incorporating the gripping diaries of Parry and Gjeldnes, Blizzard paints a picture of comradeship in the face of physical danger and psychological torment in the most life-threatening habitat on earth."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Foreword	7	(3)
The Modern Race	10	(3)
The Scott/Amunsden Race Timeline	13	(4)
Introduction: Flag	17	(11)
Chapter One: Selection	28	(17)
Chapter Two: Preparation	45	(18)
Chapter Three: Departure	63	(19)
Chapter Four: Hound and Horse	82	(23)
Chapter Five: Navigation	105	(17)
Chapter Six: Glacier	122	(18)
Chapter Seven: Attrition	140	(16)
Chapter Eight: Strength	156	(23)
Chapter Nine: The Inner Life	179	(15)
Chapter Ten: Efficiency	194	(16)
Chapter Eleven: Deficiency	210	(20)
Chapter Twelve: Pole	230	(22)
Chapter Thirteen: Return	252	(20)
Chapter Fourteen: End	272	(10)
Acknowledgements	282	(4)
Picture Credits	286	(1)
Index	287