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The First Crossing of Greenland |  | Author: Fridtjof Nansen
Creator: Hubert Majendie Gepp
Publisher: University Press of the Pacific
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $19.24
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Seller: bookrackrh
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 595321
Media: Paperback
Pages: 468
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0898753775
Dewey Decimal Number: 948
EAN: 9780898753776
ASIN: 0898753775
Publication Date: June 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Across Greenland on Skis - an intriguing account of the first successful crossing of Greenland. Though it's been noted that Peary wanted to be the first to cross Greenland, Nansen beat him to it. As early as 1882, Nansen began to consider plans for a journey across Greenland, the world's largest island. The interior of this barren land had remained completely unexplored, and in scientific circles of the time the most diversified and remarkable theories were held on conditions there. Nansen was keen to ascertain for himself what the country was like and felt that skis were the most suitable means of progression in these inhospitable regions - the aeroplane was, of course, still many years in the future. He had made a public announcement of his intentions in 1887, and in 1888, together with five companions, he put his plan to the test - and triumphed.
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| Customer Reviews:
Skiing Across Greenland December 28, 2007
E. S Winskill (Tacoma, WA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Fridthof Nansen in this book did more to bring skiing to the larger world than any other individual. Until his Greenland crossing on skis, few outside of Norway, or Scandinavia at the most, had heard of skiing, although of course it had existed there for centuries. The early chapter of the book on skis and "skilobing" (skiing) is a marvelous account of the sport, and particularly of Sondre Norheim and the Telemarkers who revolutionized it as recreation.
Nansen writes the book in what can only be called a charming tone. He makes the crossing of the icecap seem easy, and indeed, most of the harrowing detail of the expedition relates to the efforts of the party after being dropped off at sea on the east coast of Greenland, through the ice floes with great difficulty, to an eventual landing and a hard climb up to the central ice plateau. There is also considerable detail given about the way of life of the Eskimo and Danish inhabitants of the Greenland west coast, where Nansen and his party overwintered after the crossing.
A classic of "cold exploration" and a lively style and good read after more than a century.
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