Cold Oceans: Adventures in Kayak, Rowboat, and Dogsled

Some of the most forbidding areas of the planet, from the Antarctic seas to Canada's Baffin Island, form the backdrop to this lumbering, highly personal memoir of dangerous treks and voyages across inhospitable terrain and water. Despite little experience and, it would seem, not a lot of common sense, Turk, a chemist and adventurer who works on promotion and product development for the outdoor apparel company the North Face, consistently embarks on grand journeys in ""some of the coldest, wettest, most remote regions of the world,"" then bites off more than he can chew. Ill-planned efforts to kayak around Cape Horn and dogsled across Baffin fall short of their goals. There are poignant moments along the way--Turk's account of a sled dog's death and images of snowmobile-riding Inuits who reverentially refer to ""the old days"" are memorable. But Turk's belief that he can tackle any endeavor without training or wisdom extends at times to his writing. His many wilderness descriptions and epiphanies sometimes lead to prose as rough-hewn--and nearly as compelling--as the landscape itself: ""When you climb a mountain, the way back is always downhill."" Though readers will likely find tough sledding even when on familiar territory, most will find it hard to be too put off by an adventurer who lost an opportunity to paddle through the Northwest Passage because, in planning, ""I had ignored distance, ice, and wind."" Five maps. (Sept.) FYI: The North Face is sponsoring Turk's six-city book tour in September.