Greenland Expedition: Where Ice Is Born

A 15-month-long attempt to circle Greenland by canoe, backpack, sea kayak and dogsled may not be the average person's idea of a vacation, but for Dupre it was the culmination of a lifelong fascination with the Arctic. Having ventured through northern Canada, Lapland and the Russian Far East, Dupre and his Australian copilot, John Hoelscher, planned the ""mind-numbing logistics of attempting a contiguous 4,700 mile clockwise circumnavigation of the island."" Leaving friends and family behind, the pair experienced the best and worst that a hard-core endurance test like this can present: exhilarating highs through the rarely seen, surreal ice world of Greenland's shores and the immense challenges of logistical problems, fatigue, sudden storms and the ever-present threat of being buried alive in a sudden avalanche. Dupre's day-to-day journal is a taut, carefully worded narrative that honestly presents both the joys and pains of the trip and his partnership with Hoelscher (""It's hard to be patient at 50 below""). The oversize book is amply illustrated with Dupre's wonderful photographs from all parts of the adventure, and the narrative is cleverly broken up by one-page background essays on subjects ranging from kayaks, dog teams, icebergs and polar bear hunters; these allow Dupre to give the reader a greater sense of Arctic exploration and Greenland's culture without slowing down the survival narrative. The book reveals Dupre and his partner to be extraordinary individuals; their desire to explore Greenland has produced not only a testament to human endurance but also a remarkable view of a part of the planet most people will never see, much less visit. (May)