In August 2002, Mike Horn set out on a mission that bordered on the impossible: to travel 12,000 miles around the globe at the Arctic Circle - alone, against all prevailing winds and currents, and without motorized transportation. This is the gripping account of Horn's gruelling 27-month expedition by sail and by foot through extreme Arctic conditions that nearly cost him his life on numerous occasions. Enduring temperatures that ranged to as low as -95 degrees Fahrenheit, Horn battled hazards including shifting and unstable ice that gave way and plunged him into frigid waters, encounters with polar bears so close that he felt their breath on his face, severe frostbite in his fingers, and a fire that destroyed all of his equipment and nearly burned him alive. Complementing the sheer adrenaline of Horn's narrative are the isolated but touching human encounters the adventurer has with the hardy individuals who inhabit one of the remotest corners of the earth. From an Inuit who teaches him how to build an igloo to an elderly Russian left behind when the Soviets evacuated his remote Arctic town, Horn finds comaraderie, kindness, and assistance to help him survive the most unforgiving conditions. This awe-inspiring account is a page-turner in the vein of Jon Krakauer and a Arctic survival tale rivaling Jack London. Most of all, it's a testament to one man’s unrelenting desire to push the boundaries of human endurance. “This voyage has its share of death-defying episodes, from encounters with bears to a kayak ride through a maze of icebergs, not to mention the oppressive Russian bureaucracy . . .but it’s also filled with charming interludes. Through all of these adventures, Horn reflects on why he feels compelled to push himself to such limits. ‘It was inside myself that I took a long, long walk,’ he says. Readers will be grateful to share his experiences vicariously.” -- Publisher’s Weekly “Horn’s raw, unfettered prose will hold readers in an apprehensive embrace as he describes risking life and limb to scale deadly frozen terrain. Adventure extremists everywhere will be grateful for this vivid description of a one-of-a-kind quest.” -- Kirkus “Compared to Mike Horn’s adventures, the exploits of Indian Jones or Crocodile Dundee look like the harmless play of cub scouts.” -- Le Nouvel Observateur “As a personality he is exceptional, and so are the encyclopedic extremities into which he adventures. . .He recounts all with great vividness, tenderness and passion.” -- Ouest France “More than a purely physical exploit, this is also a wonderful human adventure. An absolute must-read.” - Gala (France) MIKE HORN is a modern-day adventurer whose previous expeditions included traversing the Amazon river from source to sea, as well as circumnavigating the globe at the equator. Last winter, he and Borge Ousland, his expedition partner, became the first two people ever to complete a solo journey to the North Pole entirely in winter. Mike is currently planning an expedition called "Seven Wonders," in which he will traverse each continent on foot and climb its highest peak. Born in South Africa, he is 39 years old and lives with his family in Switzerland. Chapter 1 Three Frozen Fingers In 2000 after my trip around the world following the equator, I began to look around for my next challenge with three conditions in mind: it had to be something new for me; it had to be at least as difficult as the last challenge; and, most important, it had to be something that no one had ever done before. A physical or athletic exploit is just not enough to motivate me. I need to blaze a new trail, to find my way into new territory. Otherwise, for me, the word adventure loses its meaning. I quickly settled on the idea of traveling around the earth at the Arctic Circle. In terms of sheer number of miles, the distance is certainly much shorter than along the equator, but the level of difficulty more than outweighed this “handicap.” The extreme cold, the icy waters, the vast ice fields, the crevasses, and the mountains that lay before me, and the ferocious polar bears all create an environment where the techniques of survival differ sharply from those necessary in the tropical jungle. All of it was totally different from anything I had experienced thus far—and that was a fundamental advantage in my eyes. What’s more, many people may have attempted this same feat, but no one had succeeded. Of all the factors that would encourage me to undertake this expedition, that was surely the most important. The Far North was a foreign landscape to me. But I did have enough experience to know one thing: I didn’t have a prayer of succeeding without the kind of rigorous preparation and training that would make me capable of surviving in that environment. My friend, the Swiss explorer Jean Troillet, had been dreaming for years of beating the world record for trekking across Greenland. He invited me to come along with him on the adventure along with another