Customer Reviews

Yukon Alone: The World's Toughest Adventure Race

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

John Balzar is first and foremost a reporter, with a reporter's unerring nose for news. So it should come as no surprise that word of the Yukon Quest, a 1,023-mile dog sled race through some of the coldest and most challenging terrain in the world, would capture his attention and get him started on the trail of a good story. What was a surprise, as much to Balzar as to his readers I suspect, was the degree to which the race and its participants came to matter. Quirky, devoted to a sport that doesn't translate well to television, and immersed in a way of life that 90% of the population can't begin to fathom, the people Balzar meets when he first heads north have "the power to fascinate."

Following the advice of George "Skip" Brink, a construction worker who volunteers at the race, Balzar stops taking notes, sets aside his writing tools, and asks what he can do to help out with the race. Thus begins his stint as a pooper-scooper and veterinary assistant at the race, in which he slowly comes to realize that he is there to learn as much about himself as about the race.

Yukon Alone is full of Balzar's characteristically insightful and amusing observations on life as he sees it, but it is not as polished or self-assured as some of his other work. In fact, the reader gets the distinct impression that Balzar is flying by the seat of his pants, figuring things out as the story progresses, which lends an immediacy and intensity to the writing. We are there, for instance, when he loses control of his dogsled team and ends up in a heap on the side of a trail with a nasty gash in his head. We stand by and watch with embarrassment as he asks a friend to fly him to see a woman friend, even though he knows he is risking both their lives. Here is a story that has much to say about what motivates and sustains us, and the importance of meaningful relationships with other creatures and the land. No doubt you will be amused and disgusted, shocked and dismayed, thrilled and touched by this book. The one thing you will not be is bored, which is one of the highest compliments I can pay Balzar.

This is a good and compelling, but not a great, book. The author needs a little bit more polish in his writing style. As another reviewer points out, he swears a bit too much. The parts of the book about drug abuse among dog sled racers, the insensitivity of reporters to native Americans, and the coming end of frontier life in Alaska were also a little disheartening (although these are not the author's fault). Nevertheless, the author does a great job of taking us into this amazing race. His description of the absolute dedication that dog sled racing takes was excellent. He does more than just talk about the race and the racers; he really uses the race to show what life is like in rural Alaska and Yukon. The author does a particularly good job of describing what cold temperatures do to the body (his "walk down the thermometer") and the sleep deprivation that sled racers experience. His analysis of animal rights and dog sled racing was also quite good, walking the fine line between the opinions of animal rights activists and the dog sled racers. I'll also never forget that one of the main goals of dog sled racing is carrying as little as possible on your sled (the author uses a curse word to describe this, by the way). I also appreciated this book because it describes the sub-arctic experience, as opposed to the many books on arctic and antarctic expeditions; you really come away from this book thinking of those two different climates as being distinct from one another.

I really enjoyed the book. The emotions this book brings out make it well worth the read. My puppy "Rugby" may soon have some siblings on the way, siblings that pull sleds.

A must read for anyone who likes dogs and/or travel/adventure.

Balzar takes the reader behind the scenes and behind the sled, without getting mired in "technical speak" and superfelous jargon. A good blend of analysis and attitude. Having lived in Alaska for 10 years, I can say his take on social cliques, animal rights/dog mushers and the PFD are right on the money. While self-absorbed at times, the book nonetheless captures the "essence" of a lifestyle and a race. Having covered the race on three occassions for a radio station, I can say Balzar is never off-target, and even manages to hit a few bullseyes.

I give it one star for the topic and his interest in it. I give him another star for actually being able to write decent prose. However, I can't muster any more sympathy from there. Two incidents come to mind:

1. He decries the race sponsor's press squad from Europe about not being interested in a native village in the Yukon. Later he's singing various things to a dog team, and spells out a military "morale chant" that is so profaine towards Eskimo women that I can't even repeat it here.

2. He ditches his volunteer responsibilities, then talks a bush pilot (who has already declaired conditions unsafe) into taking him to town from a remote cabin. The officials had counted on the plane to get a trail crew mechanic and 2 dogs out. The author has the gall to approach the incident as funny, and is bemused when a race official is aggrivated because the dogs don't show up. Reason for the trip: he had a girlfriend driving out to meet him.

And he can't figure out why some people wouldn't talk to him any more, including the race official mentioned in #2. Wow.

Save your money, get "Tracks Across Alaska"- the writing is better, the history presented is richer, and the author ends up making more friends than he looses.

Bought the book for Father's day for my husband who loves outdoors, hunting, etc. He was visibly pleased as he read and I knew it was a serious read when the TV didn't come on as usual. He got a whole new idea of what the dogs were like. Don't think he is going riding on a sled!

I can't imagine a book that could describe the Yukon Quest any better. Balzar captures the race, the mushers, and the country just perfect. There are times when he puts you on the trail with your own team as you feel the thrills and spills! A must read for anyone interested in dog mushing and the north country.

This writer is so self-absorbed and busy patting himself on the back that he doesn't even come close to giving an accurate report on this race. Having a LOT of experience with this race, I can truly say, this is the worst account of this race I have ever read. If you want to learn about what it takes to run this race, or what it's like to go through the training, the work, the effort, what the dogs are like, what the north is like.. then read Running North by Ann Mariah Cook. Now THAT is a good book. I have also met John and found him to be arrogant and self-serving while writing this book. He defeats the entire purpose of this book by spending more time trying to sound like an expert, or a "local", trying to sound like he fit in here, but no matter how hard one tries, sometimes they can NOT succeed... and he wondered why people wouldn't talk to him. This is the worst book on this topic I have ever read. It was tough for me to get through it but I did it because I was there during the race that year. I wanted to see what he was going to write next that wasn't accurate... seems he was more infatuated with Aliy Zirkle than the race itself, or getting to see his girlfriend, or pretending that he was one of the mushers himself. Just his account of his "mushing" experience (disaster) was so unbelievable, it made me laugh. I am an experienced musher and I can tell you, that was the most ridiculous thing I have ever read.... the entire book is just a bunch of garbage... but then again, he didn't do his homework, his research, and it shows... horribly!!! Don't bother with it. If this is the only exposure you have to mushing or the dog world, then you will be most misinformed... best to spend your time and money on a different book. DeeDee Jonrowe's book Iditarod Dreams is excellent. Tracks Across Alaska is also excellent, but this... a sad waste!!!

Enjoyed the book and the intimate views of the people and lifestyle that create the dog sled culture. Set on the background of the Alaska/ Yukon north filled with excitement and scenes of the northern lights. This book is heart pounding and heart filling.

Absorbing book, probably a good recommendation for anyone interested in the far north and outdoor adventure. John Balzar writes an interesting account of the Yukon Quest, the second-best-known dog-sled race in Alaska after the Iditarod, and the result is an entertaining story covering both the `mushers', their dogs, and the environment surrounding the competition.

Having said that, with a book like this, I found it difficult not to compare John Balzar (perhaps unfairly) with other `Adventure' writers, and this is where the Yukon Alone fell a little short for me. Admittedly, I was hoping for something a little more `deep', a la Sebastian Junger or John Krakauer, both of whom do a much better job of bringing in related historical material to place current events in context, and both of whom also seem a little more willing to go the extra mile in regards to research. Not that I found fault with the details of Balzar's book, but I would have liked to hear more about how the far north was settled, for example, or more stories and anecdotes dealing with the inherent dangers of the extreme cold in that part of the world. The `Bigger Picture" material seems to consist of skimpy, slightly politically correct inserts on commercial sponsorship, animal abuse (a valid issue but not fleshed-out too well here) and some thoughts on topics like whether or not it's ok to call the natives `Eskimos'. These points don't make Yukon Alone a bad book, but they, for me at least, kept it from being great.

What I did find directly annoying was Balzar's self-absorbed tangents into his own private life, and his obvious desire to be seen as an Insider; everyone seems to be his best friend, or described as "the best musher" or "best bush-pilot". After a while I couldn't help but wonder whether he had the knowledge to make these claims or if he was just trying to buddy-up to the people who were actually participating as opposed to just watching, as he essentially was. Too many times Balzar can't decide whether he wants to view the events as a neutral journalist or a rough-and-tough `local' (a label it becomes glaringly obvious he doesn't merit), and ends up looking a little pretentious. I guess this is what they call `a writer getting in the way of the material': If, as a writer, your own contributions to the narrative include describing, for example, your not-very-interesting love-life, you should probably consider leaving it out.

All in all a good read, but could have benefited from a tougher editor.


(I'm not sure why the `cursing' has become such an issue in these reviews; there isn't much of it, probably a lot less than there actually could have been considering the setting, and if you can't deal with the F-word quoted once in a while in what is a journalistic piece, then stick to Reader's Digest or some other inoffensive publication. Strange what some people focus on...)