Customer Reviews

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

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This book is not bad, it's actually quite interesting and very informative. If you're into learning new things, I definitely recommend it. There are lots of snippets on customs and traditions of the people of "The Far North," info on how to safeguard from frostbite, tips on how to go #2 at below zero temps, cool stuff about Arctic wildlife, etc., etc. Plus, the story is beautifully written, and Horn himself sounds like a decent guy to know, even if he does seem a little taken with himself ("If there was one reason I had made it this far, I think it was first and foremost because I believed in myself, and also because I had never let disappointments diminish my sense of hope. The other ingredients of the magic potion were a blend of experience and wisdom." p.191), and his idea of the Leave No Trace ethic is a little skewed ("I am one of those people who believe in a 'Leave No Trace' ethic, meaning... the only alteration we dare make to the scene is leaving footprints in the snow." Next paragraph, "I put the plastic bag containing the letters for my daughters on top of the trap, and then placed the stones on top of them." p.173).

Just don't pin your expectations by title alone, it is a bit deceiving. A better one would have been "Conquering The Impossible Is Possible With A Lot Of Help." I'm not saying just anyone can do what Horn did, be it alone or with help. But to call his trek a "solo expedition" when he had a veritable staff of sorts on stand by, jumping to attention, flying in to meet him with luggage and all kinds of replacement supplies and equipment whenever he ran into trouble, well that's stretching it just a wee bit.

Far North adventurer Mike Horn has written a testament to the physical and mental strength of the human spirit when tested with impossible challenges. For 27 months, Horn circumnavigated the Arctic Circle in a 12,000-mile solo journey. Without the aid of motorized transportation, Horn traipsed through Greenland, Canada, and Siberia. He faced challenges both natural and political, from fire and frostbite to a polar bear encounter to challenges with the Russian government. The very terrain under his feet consisted of dynamic, shifting ice sheets, which throughout the course of the journey required several detours and cost the explorer days and weeks of time.

Horn may have been on the journey alone, and he no doubt demonstrated awe-inspiring physical and mental endurance, but he had an army of support, from a gourmet chef who packed his meals to medical and athletic experts who could fly to meet him at a moment's notice. Throughout the book, the reader can not forget that money was not an object on Mike Horn's journey, and a rescue by the cavalry could have been staged if needed.

I thoroughly enjoyed Horn's adventure tale, which was educational as well as adrenaline-pumping. The reader will learn a great deal about the chemical behavior of different substances in extreme cold (Horn was in temperature down to -70°C!). Mucus, in fact, can be put to use under extreme conditions as a valuable moisturizer. I was also inspired by the skill and kindness demonstrated by the Inuit, Canadian, and Russian citizens Mike Horn encountered.

Fourteen months after Mike Horn conquered the impossible, he made a two-month journey to the North Pole in absolute winter darkness without the aid of any motorized transportation. I'll stay tuned for the volume on that adventure.

This was my first time here on amazon, but definitly not the last. Easy, low-priced, and fast. Not much more to say! And the book, I loved it.

I'm not about to subject myself to sub-zero to -80 degree weather probably ever. But if I did, I would want the very best gear not even invented yet for that situation; gourmet meals; satellite phones; multiple people at my disposal to arrive from the heavens with more food, replacement gear, tools, and a boat; and infinite funding. It is an impressive journey, no doubt, but the modern feel to the multiple attempts just felt a little canned. This book felt like one of the freeze-dried gourmet meals Mike Horn was eating out there...the flavor was just a little stale.

I put this book down when he called his crew in to repair his boat and restock his supplies. I had to put the book down for good when he called his buddy in for a new tent, a re-stocking of food, and more gear. I'm not entirely sure of the aim of this book. He certainly makes it crystal-clear: he's going to be the first to circle the Arctic in some unique fashion. But it just doesn't feel extremely difficult. Stir in a little starvation, maybe a couple cans of spam, I don't know. I guess the adventure makes itself impossible, not the press conferences leading up to it.

The exhilarating catch that got me entangled in "Conquering the Impossible" was the element that has captivated me all my life, and that is adventure. Most of us are trapped like animals in the human zoo, caged up in society looking for more... looking for adventure, but "Mike has escaped".

The harsh environment that Mike endures is amazing! True, you may wrestle with the amount of support that Mike Horn had as being a safety net, but I beg to argue. His skill and determination evoke the likeness of Lance Armstrong, yet his very life was in jeopardy many times over. Mike Horn isn't a scientist, or an explorer that is charting the unknown. Mike Horn is an athlete who is pushing himself beyond his own boundaries and living the life that most of us would like to live; a life without fear of the impossible.

This is a great book with tons of adventure and excitement. Makes you feel like your right there with Mike Horn on every step of his journey.