Life on the Ice

The author offers an intimate view of life in Antarctica. He distils facts where necessary, but offers far more than a history, geography or geology lesson, capturing the pristine beauty of a blue-white landscape, and the warmth and camaraderie of the folk who populate Antarctica's global village.

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People dream of going to Antarctica - the edge of the world, the end of reality, the last continent - for all sorts of reasons but only a small percentage realise their dream. Roff Smith has made it happen, visiting first in 1993, and then again in 2000 and 2001. By getting to know people who live and work down there and developing an understanding of the bureaucracies which have sprung up where freedom used to reign, Smith gives us an intimate view of life on ice. He distils facts where necessary, but offers far more than a history, geography or geology lesson. He captures equally the pristine beauty of a blue-white landscape, and the warmth and camaraderie of the folk who populate Antarctica's truly global village. From Jerome who has chartered Antarctic waters for more than 30 years in his yacht, to the vulcanologist who used to cook his Christmas turkey in the hot earth around Mount Erebus's summit, Smith's humanity shines through as he introduces us to people and procedure, all the while exploring his own motives for seeking his own White South.