Cold weather expedition books?

[hikingfish]

Hi All,
Does anyone know of any good books that cover cold weather expeditions? I've been reading and re-re-reading freedom of the hills and I find there's (obviously) a lot of great information in there, but I find there's a bit too much climbing related information. I'd rather focus more on ski touring, snowshoeing, winter camping, extreme environments (cold/wind), cold weather equipement, all in a harsher than usual environment. I've been reading (online) a lot about going to Baffin Island in the last couple of weeks and it'd be awesome to read more about how to prepare and survive in such extreme environments. A guy's gotta keep busy while waiting for the snow to get here ;-)

Fish

 

[JohnL]

Minus 148 Degrees tells the story of the first winter ascent of Mt McKinley (Denali). That's about as cold as you're gonna get.

JohnL

 

[hikingfish]

Minus 148 Degrees tells the story of the first winter ascent of Mt McKinley (Denali). That's about as cold as you're gonna get.

JohnL

I don't think I'll ever go anywhere near any place that's -148 degrees (F or C, if it even matters)! Hehe, I'm sure it's a fun book to read, but I'm looking more for something kind of like Freedom of the Hills, without any of the climbing information and with bigger chapters on the above topics I listed. I'm also a big fan of personal annecdotes or examples from the author that "prove" the theory put forth in the book. So, I guess the perfect book would be from someone that has been in the polar circles.

Fish

 

[Chip]

While you're waiting for the Spork to thaw, you can re-read this classic.

I think once you're past the basics (LOTS of books out there) and "Freedom..." the choices get more specialized; traditional/ancient methods, Polar travel/survival, modern equipment, etc.

I just ordered this one, but it's more about survival than travel;
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Col...ref=pd_sim_b_shvl_title_4/104-6484849-1587933

 

[Oldsmores]

Try this site first
Will Steger
I've read a couple of his books and he's certainly got "street cred"

 

[giggy]

The AMC has a winter backcountry/camping book, which doesn't focus on climbing. It is pretty good. I have the version prior to the 1999 one. so the 1999 one is probably better and more up to date.

http://www.mountainwanderer.com/winter_sports.html

 

[AOC-1]

Here's an Adirondack Mountain Club publication that has what you're looking for. A bit dated on clothing options, but a good resource nonetheless:

Winterwise: A Backpacker's Guide (Paperback)
by John M. Dunn (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Winterwise-Ba...7293715?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191431815&sr=8-1

 

[carole]

Polar Dream

If you're interested in reading from a woman's point of view. By Helen Thayer. "The Heroic Saga of the first solo journey by a woman and her dog to the pole." I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[dug]

Here's a few of my favorites:

*"Everest - Alone at the Summit" by Stephen Venables (Spent the night at 28,000 after summiting via the Kangshung Face in 1988).

*"The Heart of the Antarctic" by Ernest Shackleton (1907-1909 Antartic Expedition...not the famous 'Shackleton Expedition').

*"In the Zone" by Peter Potterfield (various exploits in high-altitude mountaineering)

*"Close to the Wind" by Pete Goss (solo survival and rescue on the high seas in the 1996 Vende`e Globe sailing race).

*"Over the Edge" by Greg Child (four climbers kidnap and escape in Central Asia in 2000).

*"Magnetic North" by David Halsey (four-person trek across Canada from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1977-1978).

*"The Ice Master" by Jennifer Niven (doomed 1913 voyage of the Karluk, an arctic expedition that was encased in ice and spent almost two years north of Siberia. An amazing tale of survival).

*"North to the Night" by Alvah Simon (just for the hell of it, he spent a winter encased in a sailboat encased in ice and lived to tell about it).

 

[cushetunk]

I highly recommend A Snow Walker's Companion by Garret and Alexandra Conover.

It is geared toward traditional camping skills in the sub-arctic north. Not all of their advice will be useful, but I think it can greatly inform any winter camping just the same.

 

[sardog1]

None of what follows is very "modern," because the lessons were all learned a long, long time ago. These lessons are still ignored sometimes, to the everlasting unhappiness of the willfully ignorant and their survivors and heirs.

First: The Last Kings of Thule, by Jean Malaurie. French guy meets Inuit on Greenland, just as the Americans are building out the DEW Line in the neighborhood. Malaurie has the effrontery to think that he might actually learn something from people who have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years. He spends some time with them and does.

Next: Nansen, by Roland Huntford. Huntford is the finest chronicler of polar exploration, bar none. Fridtjof Nansen is a Norwegian guy who skis across Greenland in the first successful traverse and spends time with the Inuit and learns useful stuff. Then he heads north on another trip. Gets very far north, spends a winter with one other guy in a hole in the ground that even The Dick would consider inhumane treatment, and they come out in kayaks. Teaches by example, lecture, and writing what he learned from the Inuit, plus stuff he knows about skiing and polar travel, to those who will listen. Some will, some won't.

Next: Huntford's "Shackleton." Brit makes it very far south, turns back, has many (mis)adventures, and eventually gets his guys all back safe and sound. An object lesson in leadership in extremis.

Next: South, by Ernest Shackleton. The Brit's story, in his own words.

Next: Huntford's The Last Place On Earth. (Previously published as Scott and Amundsen.) Norwegians under Roald Amundsen and Brits under Robert F. Scott take separate trips to the South Pole, arriving "almost" simultaneously. Norwegians listen to the Inuit example and to Nansen, get there first and come back gaining weight on the return trip. Brits do none of the above and I mean none. The preeminent lesson in cold weather expedition planning. (And no, I'm personally unimpressed by the recent attempts to explain why it was so much colder for the Brits.)

Cook and Peary: The Polar Controversy Resolved, by Robert M. Bryce. (Boy, this one is gonna make me unpopular in the Pine Tree State.) Two guys travel a lot in the north, each claiming eventually to reach the north pole first. They're both liars. One of them goes to prison. The other becomes the darling of the National Geographic Society.

 

[DougPaul]

If you are interested in Inuit techniques for survival in Arctic, read some of the works by Vilhjalmur Stefansson. (Stefansson was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist who lived with the Inuit for a while.)

There is a bibliography and list of some of his publications at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhjalmur_Stefansson.

A search on his name also brings up a bunch of references: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=vilhjalmur+stefansson&btnG=Search

Doug

 

[hikingfish]

Thanks for all the replies. I just remembered that I had bought a book for my girlfriend about Mike Horn and his trip to the pole (north I believe it was). I think I'm going to starting reading that and I'll see what I feel like afterwards. Perhaps a little trip to the MEC will be in order at that point!

Fish

 

[TomD]

For something a bit more lighthearted than Shackleton and the other excellent recommendations, try Allen and Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book. All the basics of winter camping, plus cartoons.

 

[swamp]

Ninety Degrees North by Fergus Fleming
In the Land of the White Death by Valerian Albanov
Hell on Ice by Cdr. Edward Ellsberg (uncle of Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame)
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski (just to see if you're paying attention).

 

[carole]

"Walking the Gobi..."

When you're done reading about the cold this may be an interesting read by the same author I mentioned earlier of "Polar Dream".

 

[DougPaul]

Try "The Worst Journey in the World", by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Journey-World-Apsley-Cherry-Garrard/dp/product-description/0786704373

Doug

 

[SABERG]

"Conquest of Mckinley" by Belomore Brown.
Early expidition to refute the Dr. Cook claims of summiting. Wild stories and well writen.

 

[hikingfish]

When you're done reading about the cold this may be an interesting read by the same author I mentioned earlier of "Polar Dream".

Ewww, above freezing temperature...gross!

I'm really trying into it for winter though, so only cold expeditions! I'll check back on this post in April

Fish

 

[jbreen]

Try "The Worst Journey in the World", by Apsley Cherry-Garrard.

My favorite book about polar exploration -- full us stereotypical English understatement.