Summary of David Roberts's Alone on the Ice

By IRB Media

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#1 The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was led by Douglas Mawson in 1912. Mawson’s tentmates were Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz, who were both well-liked by the crew. Mertz was nicknamed X by his teammates, who teased him on account of his uncertain English.

#2 Mawson was a leader who hated idleness, and he demanded the most from his teammates. He was also very aloof, but his personal charm made up for it. He had no women in his life before the age of 27, when he met Paquita Delprat.

#3 The AAE was focused on the stretch of Antarctica that lay directly south of Australia. After wintering over at Cape Denison, Mawson divided his team into three-man sledging parties, and sent them out to explore and map a huge tract of land no one had ever seen before.

#4 The men tent-bound on November 12, as a 35 mph wind kept them inside. The next day, despite the wind blowing, the trio pushed on to a camp 18½ miles away. The men were constantly fed reindeer meat, but the dogs would not eat Gadget, their pregnant dog, even when they were starving.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822533707

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Insights on David Roberts's Alone on the Ice

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was led by Douglas Mawson in 1912. Mawson’s tentmates were Belgrave Ninnis and Xavier Mertz, who were both well-liked by the crew. Mertz was nicknamed X by his teammates, who teased him on account of his uncertain English.

#2

Mawson was a leader who hated idleness, and he demanded the most from his teammates. He was also very aloof, but his personal charm made up for it. He had no women in his life before the age of 27, when he met Paquita Delprat.

#3

The AAE was focused on the stretch of Antarctica that lay directly south of Australia. After wintering over at Cape Denison, Mawson divided his team into three-man sledging parties, and sent them out to explore and map a huge tract of land no one had ever seen before.

#4

The men tent-bound on November 12, as a 35 mph wind kept them inside. The next day, despite the wind blowing, the trio pushed on to a camp 18½ miles away. The men were constantly fed reindeer meat, but the dogs would not eat Gadget, their pregnant dog, even when they were starving.

#5

The men had to deal with the endless sastrugi, which were windblown ridges of hard, snow-covered snow. The dogs’ impetuosity caused many an overturned sledge. Mawson lost his temper and yelled at the dogs.

#6

The men had a system in place by November 20, which they would use throughout the journey. Mertz usually took the role of pilot, skiing ahead of the team to find the best route. Two sledges were tied together in tandem, with a dog team pulling from the front. The third sledge, which was always overloaded, carried the other half of the weight.

#7

The explorers were afraid of the crevasses in Antarctica, as they could be hidden and deadly. They could develop anywhere where there is snow, which is more than 99 percent of the continent.

#8

The men had averaged about seven miles per day