The Impossible First

The Impossible First

Author: Colin O'Brady

Publisher: Scribner

Published: 2021-01-19

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1982133120

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Colin O’Brady’s awe-inspiring, New York Times bestselling memoir recounting his recovery from a tragic accident and his record-setting 932-mile solo crossing of Antarctica is a “jaw-dropping tale of passion and perseverance” (Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit). Prior to December 2018, no individual had ever crossed the landmass of Antarctica alone, without support and completely human powered. Yet, Colin O’Brady was determined to do just that, even if, ten years earlier, there was doubt that he’d ever walk again normally. From the depths of a tragic accident, he fought his way back. In a quest to unlock his potential and discover what was possible, he went on to set three mountaineering world records before turning to this historic Antarctic challenge. O’Brady’s pursuit of a goal that had eluded many others was made even more intense by a head-to-head battle that emerged with British polar explorer Captain Louis Rudd—also striving to be “the first.” Enduring Antarctica’s sub-zero temperatures and pulling a sled that initially weighed 375 pounds—in complete isolation and through a succession of whiteouts, storms, and a series of near disasters—O’Brady persevered. Alone with his thoughts for nearly two months in the vastness of the frozen continent—gripped by fear and doubt—he reflected on his past, seeking courage and inspiration in the relationships and experiences that had shaped his life. “Incredibly engaging and well-written” (The Wall Street Journal)—and set against the backdrop of some of the most extreme environments on earth, from Mt. Everest to Antarctica—this is “an unforgettable memoir of perseverance, survival, daring to dream big, and showing the world how to make the impossible possible” (Booklist, starred review).


Crossing Arizona

Crossing Arizona

Author: Chris Townsend

Publisher:

Published: 2002-01-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780881505078

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"Crossing Arizona" details an extraordinary journey through some of the harshest, most remote, and most beautiful natural terrain in the Lower 48. In March 2000, long-distance hiker Chris Townsend, inspired by the writings of Edward Abbey and Colin Fletcher, set out on a solo trek to explore the desert landscape that enthralled them. One of the first people to complete an end-to-end hike of the Arizona Trail, Townsend followed the rough, still-evolving route for 800 miles across the desert floor, through grasslands and mountain forests, and over rocky, snowy passes-all the way from the Mexican border, across the Sonoran Desert and through the Grand Canyon, to Utah. Hiking alone over the course of two months, Townsend rarely encountered another hiker; heat, discomfort, and the quest for water were constant concerns. But he also experienced moments of profound solitude and extraordinary beauty - gazing across the endless vistas of the Grand Canyon, making camp under the stars each night, or reflecting on the stark beauty of this vast, wild, uniquely American place. Illustrated with maps and photographs of his trip, Crossing Arizona is both an account of Townsend's adventure, and a vicarious journey through a spectacular landscape.


Alone in Antarctica

Alone in Antarctica

Author: Felicity Aston

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2013-08-05

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0857659790

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At the age of 34, Felicity Aston became the first woman to cross Antarctica alone. Frozen into her facemask, she battled desperate weather and raced to reach the coast before the last flight out. This gripping and inspirational account shows what you can achieve when you grit your teeth and decide just to get through today in one piece.


The Crossings

The Crossings

Author: Craig Alexander

Publisher: Bublish, Inc.

Published: 2021-12-01

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1647044502

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The Crossings is a story based upon a clandestine group of radical Jesuit priests who help undocumented immigrants to survive in East Los Angeles after crossing into the US. When a tragedy on the Rio Grande unfolds before their eyes, they find themselves the accidental guardians of four orphaned children. The three boys and one girl grow to adults while facing the uncertainty and danger of their world as undocumented immigrants. The lives of the four are gradually carved out as they each endure tragedy, violence, and the inherent evil which surrounds them. Eventually, three of the four orphans are captured and sent back to Mexico. While trying to survive in Mexico, Roberto, the oldest brother is brutally executed when he refuses to do his part and take a fall in a high stakes boxing match fixed by the Mexican Zeta-Cartel. The cartel’s thirst for revenge spins them off on a maniacal hunt to kill the remaining Elena, and her two children. Now Mielo the youngest of the four, must now find a way to help his brother’s wife and two young children to cross back into the US to escape eminent torture and death. Together, the family takes on the hostile desert and the rugged mountain ranges of northern Mexico. Suffering from the heat and scarce water, they struggle to stay alive and just ahead of the relentless pursuit of the angry cartel gang.


The Pacific Alone

The Pacific Alone

Author: Dave Shively

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-10-01

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1493026828

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Winner of the 2019 National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Literature! In the summer of 1987 Ed Gillet achieved what no person has accomplished before or since, a solo crossing from California to Hawaii by kayak. Gillet, at the age of 36 an accomplished sailor and paddler, navigated by sextant and always knew his position within a few miles. Still, Gillet underestimated the abuse his body would take from the relentless, pounding, swells of the Pacific, and early into his voyage he was covered with salt water sores and found that he could find no comfortable position for sitting or sleeping. Along the way he endured a broken rudder, among other calamities, but at last reached Maui on his 63rd day at sea, four days after his food had run out. Dave Shively brings Gillet’s remarkable story to life in this gripping narrative, based on exclusive access to Gillet’s logs as well as interviews with the legendary paddler himself.


Exploring Polar Frontiers [2 volumes]

Exploring Polar Frontiers [2 volumes]

Author: William James Mills

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2003-12-11

Total Pages: 844

ISBN-13: 1576074234

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Covers the entire history of Arctic and Antarctic exploration, from the voyage of Pytheas ca. 325 B.C. to the present, in one convenient, comprehensive reference resource. Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia is the only reference work that provides a comprehensive history of polar exploration from the ancient period through the present day. The author is a noted polar scholar and offers dramatic accounts of all major explorers and their expeditions, together with separate exploration histories for specific islands, regions, and uncharted waters. He presents a wealth of fascinating information under a variety of subject entries including methods of transport, myths, achievements, and record-breaking activities. By approaching polar exploration biographically, geographically, and topically, Mills reveals a number of intriguing connections between the various explorers, their patrons and times, and the process of discovery in all areas of the polar regions. Furthermore, he provides the reader with a clear understanding of the intellectual climate as well as the dominant social, economic, and political forces surrounding each expedition. Readers will learn why the journeys were undertaken, not just where, when, and how.


Pacific Lady

Pacific Lady

Author: Sharon Sites Adams

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0803218648

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It was an age without GPS and the Internet, without high-tech monitoring and instantaneous reporting. And it was a time when women simply didn t do such things. None of this deterred Sharon Sites Adams. In June 1965 Adams made history as the first woman to sail solo from the mainland United States to Hawaii. Four years later, just as Neil Armstrong very publicly stepped onto the moon, the diminutive Adams, alone and unobserved, finally sighted Point Arguello, California, after seventy-four days sailing a thirty-one-foot ketch from Japan, across the violent and unpredictable Pacific. She was the first woman to do so, setting another world record. Inspiring and exciting, Adams s memoir recounts the personal path leading to her historic achievements: a tomboy childhood in the Oregon high desert, an early marriage and painful divorce, and a second marriage that ended when her husband died of cancer. In the wake of his death and almost by accident, Adams discovered sailing. Six weeks after her first sailing lesson she bought a boat, and within eight months she set out to achieve her first world record. Pacific Lady recounts the inward journey that paralleled her sailing feats, as Adams drew on every scrap of courage and navigational skill she could muster to overcome the seasickness, exhaustion, and loneliness that marked her harrowing crossings.


The RCC Pilotage Foundation Atlantic Crossing Guide

The RCC Pilotage Foundation Atlantic Crossing Guide

Author: Jane Russell

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-02-15

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1408194457

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The Atlantic Crossing Guide is a complete reference for anyone planning an Atlantic passage in their own boat. It is described by Yachting World magazine as 'An invaluable mixture of planning manual and pilot book, and an essential investment if you're planning to cross the Pond.' From ideal timing, suitable boats, routes, methods of communication and provisioning to sources of regional weather information, hurricane tracks, currents and tides, departure and arrival ports, facilities on arrival and documentation required, the comprehensiveness of this new edition will both inspire dreamers and instill confidence in those about to depart. This is the definitive reference on the subject, relied upon by many thousands of cruisers crossing the Atlantic in both directions and packed with all the information they need. 'I cannot imagine setting sail without it' - SAIL magazine (US)