The Horizontal Everest: A Memoir of an Obsession with Ellesmere Island - Hardcover

Kobalenko, Jerry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1569472661 ISBN 13: 9781569472668

Publisher: Soho Pr Inc, 2002

Synopsis

A photojournalist chronicles his fascinating journeys to Ellesmere Island in the high Arctic, re-creating some of the historical expeditions to the locale, reflecting on the meaning of extreme adventure, and capturing some of Ellesmere's remarkable landscape and wildlife.

About this title

About the Author

Jerry Kobalenko's work has appeared in Geo, Outside, Islands, Conde Nast Traveler, and National Geographic World, among others. He has won awards for both his journalism and for his arctic photography. When he is not on an extreme journey he lives in Banff, Canada.

Reviews

Ellesmere Island is desolate and inhospitable even by Arctic standards. The site of horrific suffering by many a shipwrecked polar explorer, Ellesmere seems to capture victims more than it attracts voluntary visitors. Kobalenko goes there for fun. Walking endless miles a day, dragging a sled loaded with equipment behind him, he finds purity and beauty in extreme trials that have cracked the resolve of more than one former partner. Trekking around the island and hopping to others nearby, he pays tribute to those who came before him, recounting stories and details from disastrous polar exploration efforts, which began over 150 years ago. A photographer as well as an athlete, Kobalenko shares his knowledge (and photos) of the native wildlife, providing humorous anecdotes of tricks he has used to get close enough to the animals for a good shot. The pages are filled with history, adventure, and an almost spiritual reverence of the Arctic. This is an exciting read and a vicarious thrill. Gavin Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Part of the Canadian Northwest Territories, Ellesmere is the tenth largest island in the world and lies west of northern Greenland. Canadian journalist-photographer Kobalenko has extensively explored the Arctic island on foot pulling a sledge filled with provisions, and he here documents his findings. After describing why he was drawn to such a desolate place, he examines the motives of historical and contemporary explorers, from those seeking the fame of discovering new lands to those extreme adventurers seeking a challenge for the record books. As he journeys from place to place, he discovers evidence of earlier journeys, which he describes and documents, including the failed attempt of Adolphus Greely to find the lost Franklin expedition, Frederick Cook's false North Pole claim, and Robert Peary's success. In a touching passage, Kobalenko describes a long wait in the snow for the first-ever picture of arctic hares nursing their young. Also included is a modern discussion of scurvy and a contemporary observation of the typical Victorian British explorer as the "ultimate gentlemen amateurs... No dogs, no Inuit helpers, no skis or snowshoes, only ponies, manpower, thousand-pound sleds, and naval issue clothing." Good insights from a writer who has a gift for storytelling. For public libraries. John Kenny, San Francisco P.L.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Soho Pr Inc
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1569472661
• ISBN 13: 9781569472668
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352