Icemen: 200 Years in Antarctica

Rhys Muldoon

Icemen: 200 Years in Antarctica takes us on a physically hard and emotionally gripping adventure across the ice; exploring the crevasses of an explorer's mind as much as the creases and cracks of the ice itself. It draws on the wisdom of some of the greatest living adventurers as well as sharing with us the setting of world records of speed and endurance.Antarctica is the coldest, windiest and most isolated place on planet earth and 2019 marked two hundred years since we first started exploring the vast and inhospitable ice continent.It is the place where the wind is born; where the cold calls home; and it is so isolated that there are times when modern explorers will find themselves closer to astronauts on the International Space Station than they will to anyone else on Earth.In Icemen: 200 Years in Antarctica we find ourselves on a tour-de-force with the daring Aussie Polar Explorer (and Veterinary surgeon!) Geoff Wilson. Geoff is making his second expedition across Antarctica, this time to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility (literally the middle of nowhere), Dome Argus (the mysterious ice structure at the center of Antarctica) and the South Pole. In the process, Geoff will break records of distance, time and geographic place. But while Geoff is one of the fastest and toughest Antarctic explorers alive today, he stands on the shoulders of modern explorers and historic giants.Icemen weaves its way between Geoff's journey and the tales of the old masters; illuminating the parallel and the not so parallel experiences of life on the ice. As we share with Geoff in his struggles, we are better able to understand the victories of Amundsen, the tragedy of Scott, the determination of Mawson, and how Shackleton snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.Featuring some of the most recent scholarly research on the subject by Professor Chris Turney -who explains how Scott may not have died from a series of blunders and miscalculations but perhaps through the mischievous actions of one of his crew - the accepted story of 'Scott of The Antarctic' is thrown into questionIcemen draws not just on Geoff's experiences but also those of modern adventurers Bøurge Ousland, Ben Saunders, Eric Phillips and Hannah McKean; along with intimate insights of the emotional toll these journeys take on families - provided by Geoff's wife Sarah Wilson.Icemen: 200 Years in Antarctica, is a true celebration of polar exploration that investigates the motivation, the psychology, the science and the physical endurance that characterized the historic heroes as much those who follow in their footsteps.