At the Mercy of the Winds, by David Hempleman-Adams with Robert Uhlig

Reviewed by Julie Falkner

The gruesome discovery of bodies on a remote island in the Arctic is an unexpected opening for a tale of ballooning exploits. But when David Hempleman-Adams, businessman and experienced adventurer, set out in 2000 to become the first balloonist to reach the North Pole, he was following in the wind-tracks of an earlier heroic but misguided attempt.

In 1897 Salomon August Andrée and two companions had launched with the same ambitious goal. These earlier explorers had faith that draglines would allow them to steer their balloon towards its target, whereas Hempleman-Adams relied on a skilled meteorologist’s manipulation of complex weather models. Instead of formal clothing – packed in the event of dinner with a previously unknown king – the modern explorer took an immersion suit in the event of an unscheduled encounter with icy water.

“At the Mercy of the Winds” tells of the audacity and the perseverance of both expeditions, alternating between satellite telephone and carrier pigeons. Hempleman-Adams writes of his lonely struggle to succeed despite equipment failure, sleep deprivation, and limited ballooning experience. In parallel, Robert Uhlig uses diaries, letters, scientific studies, and an element of surmise to dramatise the few airborne days of the Andrée expedition and the companions’ subsequent fight for survival on the ice: “We have stopped here for the night on an open place. All around us is ice, ice in every direction. Hummocks, walls and fissures in the sea alternate with melted ice – it’s all everlastingly the same” reads one letter. Gripped by the two accounts, you find yourself willing success in both cases, while knowing that at most one can succeed.

Armchair adventurers will revel in this story of determined men from different centuries with a common goal, while amateur scientists will be intrigued by the contrasting levels of technology between the two expeditions. “At the Mercy of the Winds” is a compelling book about high-altitude adventure, life-threatening climatic conditions, and the unpredictable whims of Lady Luck.

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At the Mercy of the Winds

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At the Mercy of the Winds