Mountains of Madness

Presents an account of the author's two unforgettable "summers" on the southern continent. This is the story of his three-month long fossil hunt. It presents the highs of scientific discovery as well as the routines that must be practiced every day just to stay alive in one of the harshest environments on our planet.

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This extraordinary book is the first-person account of John Long's two unforgettable "summers" on the southern continent. Told in a highly accessible and entertaining style, Mountains of Madness is the account of his three-month long fossil hunt. As the story unfolds, we learn of both the highs of scientific discovery as well as the grueling yet essential routines that must be practiced every day just to stay alive in one of the harshest environments on our planet. Alternating with the author's wonder at the intense beauty of his surroundings are his immense frustration and boredom that stem from being completely at the mercy of the elements.



Throughout the course of the expedition, danger is never far off in this inhospitable land. Despite having been trained in the art of building snow caves and practiced in the skill of traversing glaciers, Long tells of two brushes with death in just one afternoon. The hair-raising escape from a deep crevasse is fraught with tension-only to be followed by yet another encounter with sudden disaster when the crash of an avalanche buries Long deep in the snow.
Table of Contents


Front Matter
A Strange and Hostile Land
Of Heroes, Rocks, and Fossils
Survival Training: Tekapo, New Zealand
Arrival in Antarctica
Antics on Ice
A Very Good Christmas
Dry Valleys, Sand Dunes, and Rivers
Back to the Great White South
Cape Evans and Cape Royds
A Flight of Discovery
On Mr. Darwin's Glacier
The First Worst Day of My Life
Dancing on the Gorgon's Head
Up the McCleary Glacier
A Room at the Fish Hotel
The Skua
The Ascent of Mt. Gudmundson
Over the Mulock Glacier
Mt. Ritchie and Deception Glacier
Onwards to Escalade Peak
'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas'
On the Snout of the Alligator
Long Day's Journey into Night
Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Year
Working on the Portal
At the Crucible of Shark Evolution
Pick-Up Day Problems
Base Blues and Arrival Home in Australia
So Much for the Afterglow
Reflections from the Ice
Epilogue
Appendices
References and Source Material
Acknowledgments
Index
Color Plates