There are many reasons why people travel: curiosity about faraway lands, the urge to experience an exotic culture, or the chance to start a new life, unhindered by the narrow definitions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ held by one's Parole Officer. However, none of these reasons fit the travellers who populate Angie Butler's intriguing book, Ice tracks. That's because these are travellers who seek ‘adventure’ and a personal challenge in the wildest parts of the planet. Not for them a package tour or even a brief excusion to some untouched natural wonder. Instead, these hardcore adventurers will journey to uncomfortable places to test their endurance, mental toughness, and survival skills. This is achievement tourism, and there is no place better suited to its practice than the polar regions. In Ice tracks, we get a peek inside the frosty world of 19 polar adventurers, at their similarities, their differences, and the personalities that drive them.
The author explores this world by speaking to many of its most prominent practioners. The adventurers interviewed for this book include some of the most accomplished and best-known (not always the same thing), as well as some novices that flesh out the examination. This type of tourism has a long enough history that there are now professional guides to lead the less-experienced, and their inclusion here makes for fascinating reading. Described are journeys to the South and North Poles (with variations in starting points), traverses of Antarctica, and crossings of the Arctic Ocean. But it is not just that one makes the journey, it is also important how one does so. Hence, there are a number of style categories such as First, Assisted, Solo, Unsupported, or ‘First from My Country’ in any of these categories. ‘First’ is the most important epithet of the lot, and most polar adventurers limit themselves to trips that can claim primacy in some way. This has important repercussions for bragging rights, of course, but also in attracting funding. Polar adventures are extremely expensive, and although the book gives only a little insight into the actual costs, the frequent mention of sponsors makes it clear that self-financed expeditions are extremely rare. Only one of the adventurers included here (John Wilton-Davies) has described a journey without sponsorship.
The value and success of achievement-tourism is rooted in the doing of something that has not yet been done. Or, if it has been done, doing it in a new way that is more difficult. Ice tracks reveals some of the argument and discussion that divides the field, while demonstrating the great importance of bragging rights to many adventurers. As the polar regions become increasingly accessible, we are likely to see adventurers go to increasingly outlandish lengths to score a ‘first.’ And yet, until things get really silly, non-adventurers will be enthralled by the formidable nature of these journeys. These are holidays in need of an audience, and the audience for books recounting these expeditions is far from sated.
Ice tracks seems targeted as a primer to the genre of polar adventuring, and as such it generally succeeds. Each chapter takes on a different adventurer and gives a brief summary of his or her accomplishments, interspersed with quotes from first-hand interviews. With space limited, the journeys are described fairly broadly, and the reader who is not already familiar with the expeditions will sometimes struggle for context. Repeated references that ‘much has been recorded’ about such and such, serve to inform the reader that he or she needs to do some homework elsewhere. The lists of published books and websites at the end of each chapter are good starting points for further reading, but be persistent when going to the web, as I found several of the web addresses to be incorrect. Readers will also need to come to this book with a good understanding of the geography of the polar regions – or keep some maps handy. Maps are included of the Arctic and Antarctic, but they are coarsely drawn and devoid of many of the place-names that repeatedly feature in the expeditions. One important place that is included is Ward Hunt Island, a Canadian outpost that is a common starting point for North Pole expeditions. Sadly, its location on the map is wildly incorrect.
Where Ice tracks really shines is in illuminating the different personalities of the adventurers. Butler's interviews shed a lot of light on the motivations and styles of individuals who would probably be considered colleagues if the tiny field in which they are all specialists were not so competitive. Not surprisingly for a pursuit that requires enormous self-confidence, there are some huge egos involved. And, while Butler never comes right out and asks one adventurer what he thinks of another, many of them let slip their opinions on the personality or style of their competitors. The book is richer for this. Because most of what is published about polar adventuring is autobiographical and confined to a single journey, frank comparisons of different practicioners is very rare. If you read their websites, most adventurers will tell you how wonderful they are. Ice tracks is therefore a rare source that provides a more collective perspective, and one where competitors/colleagues comment about one another. It was interesting to note that, more than anyone else, Norwegian Børge Ousland was mentioned with great respect by his peers.
Threaded throughout the individual revelations of hardship and difficulty are little snippets about the world these travellers inhabit. For example, guide Paul Landry points out that the difficulty of an Arctic trip varies depending on the motivation of the person telling the story. A guide like Richard Weber, he says, who is seeking clients, might downplay the drama and talk about the chances of success, while someone like Ranulph Fiennes, who makes his living writing books and presenting lectures, might emphasise the drama and danger to best deliver what his audience wants. And, as an aside in one of Conrad Dickinson's anecdotes, we learn just how accessible the North Pole has become when he relates that upon reaching the Pole and phoning for a pick up, they only had to wait 10 hours before a helicopter arrived. We also get several informed opinions about whether Robert Peary could really have made it to the North Pole in 1909, as he claimed (some are deeply sceptical, while others point to a modern re-enactment as proof that Peary could have done it).
Butler interweaves the escapades of these modern adventurers, with those of explorers from a century ago. She deliberately, and correctly, avoids using the term ‘explorer’ for these present-day polar visitors. (However, many of them refer to themselves as such on their websites.) Sprinkled throughout the book are boxes of text describing the exploits of polar explorers such as Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen. While I appreciated the attempt to connect these two different eras, I found the historic text was sometimes oddly placed and often derailed my enjoyment of the story it interrupted. Given how vastly different today's expeditions are from those of Edwardian times, there is no need to try and link the two.
Readers familiar with polar adventure travel may question the inclusion or omission of some names from this book, but for a novice reader there is a wonderfully broad sample of characters here. The really big names are present, and while a few relative beginners are included at the expense of some accomplished performers, the book brings a wider range of experiences and personalities together because of it. For example, you would expect a novice like John Wilton-Davies to have a different perspective than veteran professionals like Viktor Boyarsky or Rune Gjeldnes. And so he does. Leave it to the only person not beholden to sponsors to say that it's ‘more about the doing, than the reaching.’
Overall, Butler has compiled an entertaining and informative first stop for anyone interested in delving into the world of polar-adventure literature. By combining in one volume the exploits of so many different personalities, she has made it possible for readers to better understand the people involved in this small, but fascinating form of tourism.
