Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was the spiritual mentor to Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton and single-handedly made polar expeditions as popular as they are now. Drawn to extremes, obstinate and a restless Faustian character, he was a gifted writer, scientist and diplomat who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.

• Map of Greenland 12Introduction 131. The Equipment 262. Skis and Skiing 463. Voyage to Iceland 544. Cruising the Ice 605. Point of No Return 706. Danger 767. Adrift 878. Land in Sight, at Last 1019. Cape Bille 11610 An Icy Greenland Idyll 13411. Rapid Progress 14812. Glaciers and “Nunataks” 16313. The Conquest of the Inland Ice 17414. 7930 Feet above Sea Level 19015. Snowstorms of the Interior 20516. Shipwreck on the Icy Plains 21617. Water, but no Land 22618. Rocks and Land 23619. Splitting Up 24720. A Change in Fortune 25321. Ny Herrnhut 26122. Civilisation 27023. Winter Quarters 27524. The Hvidbjörnen 282

'Nansen was the last of the Nordic gods... Tall, blond, and ridiculously handsome... The First Crossing Of Greenland is a... thrilling account of his earliest adventure... It was a hideous journey... Hair froze fast to headgear, beards solidified so that the lips could not be opened to speak... Polar exploration tends to attract more testosterone than talent... One man towers over the other ice-encrusted sledgers: Fridtjof Nansen, colossus of the glaciers... Of all the frozen beards... only Nansen communicated a sense of the true subjugation of the ego that endeavour can bring. Failure, he acknowledged, would mean "only disappointed human hopes, nothing more".' Sara Wheeler, Guardian; 'Seminal... demythologised the polar environment and revolutionised modern polar travel with the introduction of skis.' Roland Huntford, The Times; 'Nansen defied that conventional wisdom, which dictated explorers proceed from the known to the unknown to maintain a line of retreat, by sailing first to the largely uncharted eastern coast of Greenland.' Times Higher Education; 'The visionary Norse explorer.' Jon Krakauer

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was the spiritual mentor to Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton and single-handedly made polar expeditions as popular as they are now. Drawn to extremes, obstinate and a restless Faustian character, he was a gifted writer, scientist and diplomat who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.

• Map of Greenland 12Introduction 131. The Equipment 262. Skis and Skiing 463. Voyage to Iceland 544. Cruising the Ice 605. Point of No Return 706. Danger 767. Adrift 878. Land in Sight, at Last 1019. Cape Bille 11610 An Icy Greenland Idyll 13411. Rapid Progress 14812. Glaciers and “Nunataks” 16313. The Conquest of the Inland Ice 17414. 7930 Feet above Sea Level 19015. Snowstorms of the Interior 20516. Shipwreck on the Icy Plains 21617. Water, but no Land 22618. Rocks and Land 23619. Splitting Up 24720. A Change in Fortune 25321. Ny Herrnhut 26122. Civilisation 27023. Winter Quarters 27524. The Hvidbjörnen 282

'Nansen was the last of the Nordic gods... Tall, blond, and ridiculously handsome... The First Crossing Of Greenland is a... thrilling account of his earliest adventure... It was a hideous journey... Hair froze fast to headgear, beards solidified so that the lips could not be opened to speak... Polar exploration tends to attract more testosterone than talent... One man towers over the other ice-encrusted sledgers: Fridtjof Nansen, colossus of the glaciers... Of all the frozen beards... only Nansen communicated a sense of the true subjugation of the ego that endeavour can bring. Failure, he acknowledged, would mean "only disappointed human hopes, nothing more".' Sara Wheeler, Guardian; 'Seminal... demythologised the polar environment and revolutionised modern polar travel with the introduction of skis.' Roland Huntford, The Times; 'Nansen defied that conventional wisdom, which dictated explorers proceed from the known to the unknown to maintain a line of retreat, by sailing first to the largely uncharted eastern coast of Greenland.' Times Higher Education; 'The visionary Norse explorer.' Jon Krakauer

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was the spiritual mentor to Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton and single-handedly made polar expeditions as popular as they are now. Drawn to extremes, obstinate and a restless Faustian character, he was a gifted writer, scientist and diplomat who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.

• Map of Greenland 12Introduction 131. The Equipment 262. Skis and Skiing 463. Voyage to Iceland 544. Cruising the Ice 605. Point of No Return 706. Danger 767. Adrift 878. Land in Sight, at Last 1019. Cape Bille 11610 An Icy Greenland Idyll 13411. Rapid Progress 14812. Glaciers and “Nunataks” 16313. The Conquest of the Inland Ice 17414. 7930 Feet above Sea Level 19015. Snowstorms of the Interior 20516. Shipwreck on the Icy Plains 21617. Water, but no Land 22618. Rocks and Land 23619. Splitting Up 24720. A Change in Fortune 25321. Ny Herrnhut 26122. Civilisation 27023. Winter Quarters 27524. The Hvidbjörnen 282

'Nansen was the last of the Nordic gods... Tall, blond, and ridiculously handsome... The First Crossing Of Greenland is a... thrilling account of his earliest adventure... It was a hideous journey... Hair froze fast to headgear, beards solidified so that the lips could not be opened to speak... Polar exploration tends to attract more testosterone than talent... One man towers over the other ice-encrusted sledgers: Fridtjof Nansen, colossus of the glaciers... Of all the frozen beards... only Nansen communicated a sense of the true subjugation of the ego that endeavour can bring. Failure, he acknowledged, would mean "only disappointed human hopes, nothing more".' Sara Wheeler, Guardian; 'Seminal... demythologised the polar environment and revolutionised modern polar travel with the introduction of skis.' Roland Huntford, The Times; 'Nansen defied that conventional wisdom, which dictated explorers proceed from the known to the unknown to maintain a line of retreat, by sailing first to the largely uncharted eastern coast of Greenland.' Times Higher Education; 'The visionary Norse explorer.' Jon Krakauer