A review by alykat_reads
Alone on the Ice by David Roberts

slow-paced

4.0

This seemed like an interesting choice to read after reading about survival on Everest (and Edmund Hillary made an appearance in this one too). And just.. HOW, how in the world did Mawson survive that?! After going 5 miles downhill in comfortable hiking shoes my feet were hurting and I couldn't wait to yank my shoes off and get off my feet; yet Mawson goes tens of miles with the flesh detached from his feet in the Antarctic?! OMG. Not a guy that would be bedridden with just a minor cold, that's for sure. And not only did he make it back, he then had to winter over until the next ship could come back. This is only 100 years ago, but it's absolutely wild to me because there were people who were taken out by a papercut level of injury in the best of circumstances, and then there's people like Mawson who went through all this in the worst of circumstances and lived. 

It was interesting to get a background on some of the explorers, but it did make the story a little confusing because you weren't always sure which expedition the author was referring to. This may have been more clear in print format vs audiobook, but idk. It does start out talking about this particular expedition, then bounces back in time after we are told Ninnis (and their tent and most of their supplies) fell in a crevasse and died; and it was a while before I realized he was talking about the current expedition again with Mawson and Mertz.