Chris Turney

7 years ago in Dec 2013, an Australian Science team, with volunteers from all over the world, headed south to the Antarctica to do some research. Not so much for global warming but to find out what was causing the weather systems to change. in 2009 a huge iceberg had lodged itself next to the coast at Cape Denison and the ecosystem in and around that area was drastically changed. This was the same area that the Australian explorer Douglas Mawson had attempted to explore in 1913. He and his team had built a hut and it was preserved for the future. This new team were more or less following the footsteps of Douglas Mawson.

The science teams Russian ship became stuck in ice and the easterly winds prevented the ice from moving elsewhere (it was pushed up hard against the coast) so after several days, the decision had to be made to issue a distress call.

2 other ships had come to rescue this team. One was chinese and the other was an australian ice breaker. The chinese ship also became stuck in the same ice, thanks to the same prevailing easterly winds. The Australian ice breaker tried, but the pack ice and those winds meant that it could not venture any closer or it too would get stuck.

The chinese ship had a helicopter. The plan was made for the helicopter to rescue the passengers from the russian ship and ferry them to the Australian ice breaker. In the spirit of coordination. This was successfully completed with 4 trips being made on 2nd January 2014. The crew of both the russian and chinese ships stayed on board their respective ships.

The Australian icebreaker then sailed back to Tasmania in Australia.

5 days after the rescue, the winds finally changed and both the russian and chinese ships were finally able to break through the ice and get to open water.

There were concerns that the science team had been careless in even going down to the Antarctica, but the team leader said that nature is not under human control. And the Antarctica weather is unpredictable. There was no way to see or know what would happen. And it could have happened to anyone.

This was an enjoyable book to read, BUT there was also a LOT of comparison between the 2013 science team and Ernest Shackletons trip to the Antarctica 100 years earlier. He had planned to trek to the south pole, but the changing weather ruined that idea. He was lucky that everyone in his team survived, especially after they had to be split up.

I found the parts about the 2013 team interesting, but the parts about Shackleton may be a little boring. I would give this 4 stars.

You only need to read the entire book if you really admire Ernest Shackleton or you can skip the Shackleton parts altogether.… (mere)

The author, Chris Turney, gathered together many people in 2013/2014, mostly scientists, to travel to Antarctica to do some research. Antarctica is a dangerous place, as the weather and ice conditions can change in a heartbeat. This group was lucky enough to start off with a number of good weather and ice days, but things quickly changed on Christmas Eve and they ended up locked in by ice.

This was really good. Turney also recounts Ernest Shakleton’s story of being trapped 100 years earlier, so he goes back and forth between his crew and Shakleton’s. As the leader of the expedition, and impressed by how Shakleton had handled things in his time, Turney made decisions based on “what would Shakleton do?”. It’s a different world now, though, as compared to during Shakleton’s time when no one knew what had become of Shakleton and his crew. With Turney’s group, they kept in connection via radio, satellite phone, social media, and were able to call in for help. Even still, there were times where things were dicey, and they really weren’t sure when or if they’d be able to get everyone out safely.… (mere)

On a scientific voyage to Antarctica, Chris, his family, and his team, were iced in by a sudden weather change. With ice all around, the ship's hull was breached, rescue ships were also stuck, and disaster seemed inevitable. Beginning with his idea for the trip, Chris paints a vivid picture of both the science and adventure behind his story. Throughout his story, Chris also shares the story of Ernest Shackleton, a previous Antarctic explorer whose team was frozen in. Well written and engaging, this is a fascinating story. Highly recommended.… (mere)