Cold Hands, Warm Heart

by Tess Burrows, Ranulph Fiennes (Foreword)

A 60-year old woman’s incredible attempt to race to the South Pole, carrying a call for compassion A grandmother of two, Tess Burrows came to climbing late in life when she found her true calling in campaigning for the Tibetan cause. Here, she races to the South Pole to promote world peace. She not only learns to push the limits of the human body, but also to push out the reaches of the human spirit. She and her partner, Pete, join the historic South Pole race to compete with Olympic champion James Cracknell and Ben Fogle. To complete this mission they have to battle severe medical problems, lack of money, hardship, and deprivation. For Tess it is more than combating cold hands with a warm heart, it is also a journey to push past the influences of the human mind.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Julian Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instantly engaging, I immediately warmed to the author, and felt I was with her on every step of the journey, with her easy writing style and excellent descriptions.

An amazing tale of open minded goodwill, focused around a seemingly beyond possible journey, with an interesting cast of characters and one single minded goal.

I picked this up in a second hand book shop and am all the better for having read it - a genuinely heartwarming adventure story, set in the frozen wastes of Antarctica.

A thoroughly enjoyable armchair adventure and a good read.

[Tim Corke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful account of Tess Burrows' adventure to walk to the South Pole. Whilst extraordinary for most people what makes this story even more remarkable is that Tess and her partner Pete, are both in their 60s and racing against hardened Norwegian and British explorers including an Olympic rower!

The walk is a feat of human endurance at the best of times but this story is focussed on the promotion of the Tibetan causes and creating an inner peace throughout the world. It is quite a spiritual book stemmed from Tess's beliefs but it doesn't detract at all from the account.

Definitely worth a read!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

In interesting account of the race to the South Pole but for me the narration was spoilt by left alignment of wording and some basic proof reading errors e.g. camp sight instead of camp site.
If you can stomach all the preaching about Peace on Earth, Peace Messages, Crystal ceremonies and Tibetan prayer flags then this is the book for you. However, for me the real story was the efforts required for the training and the ultimate endurance test of the trek itself.