Conquering the Impossible: My 12,000-Mile Journey Around the Arctic Circle [Paperback]

Mike Horn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2008

In August 2002, Mike Horn set out on a mission that bordered on the impossible: to travel 12,000 miles around the globe at the Arctic Circle - alone, against all prevailing winds and currents, and without motorized transportation.

 

Conquering the Impossible is the gripping account of Horn's gruelling 27-month expedition by sail and foot through extreme Arctic conditions that nearly cost him his life.  Enduring temperatures as low as -95 degrees Fahrenheit, Horn battled hazards including trekking on tunstable ice that plunged him into frigid waters, encounters with polar bears so close that he felt their breath on his face, and a fire that destroyed all of his equipment and nearly burned him alive.

 

From the hair-raising dangers that Horn faces alone to his amusing and inspiring encounters with the hardy inhabitants of the remotest corners of the earth, this adrenaline-filled tale chronicle's one man’s unrelenting desire to push the boundaries of what is humanly possible.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Circumnavigating the globe at the equator wasn't enough for South African extreme adventurer Horn, so he promptly set out on a solo expedition to the North Pole. As he recounts in the opening chapters of his memoir, an attempt to tie a loose shoelace when the temperature was 76 below zero resulted in his thumb splitting open, the skin translucent all the way to the bone. And yet, just a few months after being treated for frostbite, Horn set out again, this time preparing to travel the entire perimeter of the Arctic Circle. This voyage has its own share of death-defying episodes, from multiple encounters with bears to a kayak ride through a maze of icebergs, not to mention the oppressive Russian bureaucracy. But it's also filled with charming interludes, like Horn's arrival at a Canadian mining town just days before it closes for good, or his tightrope walk along the top of a Russian oil pipeline. Through all these adventures, Horn reflects on why he feels compelled to push himself to such limits, comparing his trek to a rite of passage: It was inside myself that I took a long, long walk, he says. Readers will be grateful to share his experiences vicariously. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“This voyage has its share of death-defying episodes, from encounters with bears to a kayak ride through a maze of icebergs, not to mention the oppressive Russian bureaucracy . . .but it’s also filled with charming interludes. Through all of these adventures, Horn reflects on why he feels compelled to push himself to such limits. ‘It was inside myself that I took a long, long walk,’ he says. Readers will be grateful to share his experiences vicariously.”

--Publisher’s Weekly

 

“Horn’s raw, unfettered prose will hold readers in an apprehensive embrace as he describes risking life and limb to scale deadly frozen terrain. Adventure extremists everywhere will be grateful for this vivid description of a one-of-a-kind quest.”

--Kirkus

 

“Compared to Mike Horn’s adventures, the exploits of Indian Jones or Crocodile Dundee look like the harmless play of cub scouts.”

--Le Nouvel Observateur

 

“As a personality he is exceptional, and so are the encyclopedic extremities into which he adventures. . .He recounts all with great vividness, tenderness and passion.”

--Ouest France

 

“More than a purely physical exploit, this is also a wonderful human adventure. An absolute must-read.”

-Gala (France)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312382049
• ISBN-13: 978-0312382049
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #730,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A timeless journey, June 12, 2007

By 

Spinozist (Georgia, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conquering the Impossible: My 12,000-Mile Journey Around the Arctic Circle (Hardcover)

This book details explorer Mike Horn's 2 year journey, all 12,000 miles of it, along the Arctic circle, in incredibly harsh conditions. I found it enthralling, fascinating and inspiring.
How do you travel solo in temperatures often 50 degrees below where perhaps noone has ever been before? For weeks on end? In case you're interested, you'll find a few tips here. Not least of his accomplishments is dealing with Russian bureaucacy as he travelled through northern Siberia, encountering deserted gulags and a town with only a single inhabitant. Brushes with polar bears, wolves, it's all here.
If you like adventure books, this is one that grabbed me and which I could not put down. Foremost, you'll feel the spirit of this man coming through. This is not someone else describing this mindblowing odyssey, it's the person who actually lived it. It was a privilege for me, an outdoors lover and Appalachian Trail hiker, to be able to share his journey. A possibly life-altering book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest, Most Unbelievable Story, September 5, 2007

By 

Eli Anthony - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conquering the Impossible: My 12,000-Mile Journey Around the Arctic Circle (Hardcover)

First off, this book caught my interest because I recognized Mike's name from a National Geographic article about Mike Horn & Borge Ousland's un-supported trip to the North Pole, on foot. This book is absolutely INCREDIBLE!
You get the man who experienced these things telling you about his own daily adventures around the top of the world. This book reads like the most epic, survival adventure you'd find in any fiction or movie. Except it really happened.
Mike Horn's journey takes you across Greenland, Canada, and of course northern Siberia. He faces nightmare situations repeatedly. More than 100 degrees below zero, he's done it. More than 70 mph winds, done that too. Tent catches on fire, in the Arctic, yeah, done that too. Sleeping on a frozen lake, with wolves clawing at the thin wooden door that's the only thing separating your guts from being dinner, check. Playing a game of "chicken" with a bear. Playing a game of chicken with Russian border guards. Yep!(I think he preffered the bear.)
You really get to know this man through his journey, as he gets to know himself better. His conflict with not wanting to leave his family, especially his daughters, for 2 whole years, versus his need to go and push his own limits. He plays out a conflict that I know burns within each of us. Some more so than others. It's something that I know I feel as well. I have gotten to know man better as well, as a result of reading this book... mankind that is.
I also learned interesting things about the cold and what it does to things like whiskey, and various materials that are used to make products for cold weather, and why so many of them are inadequate for such cold traveling as Mike did. Also, why do you want loose clothing for such a journey instead of tight, something Roald Amundsen knew as well. Oh, and a vital use for snot in such extreme conditions.
Once you start, you can't put this book down until Mike reaches his next stop, the next town, the nexr Radar shack, whatever that next bastion of safety from the cold is. Then you can relent, as does he. Then you can continue the next time, as he will the next morning. It's as though you're there with him, needing him to make it, so you can too.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars In the end, what did this accomplish?, December 8, 2007

By 

Todd Gack "sizzzzlerz" (Milpitas, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conquering the Impossible: My 12,000-Mile Journey Around the Arctic Circle (Hardcover)

Over the course of about 2 years, Swiss adventure/publicity seeker Mike Horn circled the earth staying above the Arctic Circle the entire time. Using boats, kayaks, skis, kites, and his own feet, he endured harsh temperatures down to -100 degrees F, polar bears, wolves, mosquitos, and the Russians.

Did he do this alone? What, are you kidding me? He seemingly had a army of support people who would and could fly in just about anywhere to resupply Mike as required including restaurantuers bringing him gourmet meals. I had to laugh at one point where he was complaining about being bilked by some Russian handyman who wanted to charge him $100/hours to fix his boat when he had just mentioned he had bought a boat (his second of the trip) to carry him from Norway to his finish point. Money, it seems, was not really a problem on this trip.

In the end, what was really accomplished? From his perspective, he completed his journey alive and well but without providing any new scientific or cultural information. While the book read like one of those hairy chested men's adventure stories of the 50's and 60's, my impressions of it were more it was a vanity novel of yet another rich man with time on his hands.

Is it worth your investment in time to read this. Yes, I guess it is but there are many other adventure story books out there that provide a much heartier meal.