North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic

by Alvah Simon

In June 1994 Alvah Simon and his wife, Diana, set off in their 36-foot sailboat to explore the hauntingly beautiful world of icebergs, tundra, and fjords lying high above the Arctic Circle. Four months later, unexpected events would trap Simon alone on his boat, frozen in ice 100 miles from the nearest settlement, with the long polar night stretching into darkness for months to come.

With his world circumscribed by screaming blizzards and marauding polar bears and his only companion a kitten named Halifax, Simon withstands months of crushing loneliness, sudden blindness, and private demons. Trapped in a boat buried beneath the drifting snow, he struggles through the perpetual darkness toward a spiritual awakening and an understanding of the forces that conspired to bring him there. He emerges five months later a transformed man.

Simon's powerful, triumphant story combines the suspense of Into Thin Air with a crystalline, lyrical prose to explore the hypnotic draw of one of earth's deepest and most dangerous wildernesses.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure, Travel, Survival, Memoir, Autobiography, Nature

328 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 1998

About the author

American adventurer born in NY.

Reviews

[Karina van Schaardenburg]

I would have divorced Alvah at about 10 different points in this book.

[Joy D]

“It is the Arctic’s very emptiness that makes it so fulfilling. To look upon or even only consider those vast horizons stretches both the imagination and the soul.”
- Alvah Simon, North to the Night

Non-fiction about a man, his wife, and his trusty cat (?!) that set out to spend the winter of 1994-1995 above the Arctic Circle in a steel cutter. In this memoir, author Alvah Simon attempts to explain the “reasoning” behind such a trip, though anyone who is not an adventure-seeking risk-taker at heart may still have difficulty understanding. He is driven to test himself against the harshest of elements and his wife is a kindred spirit, though she exhibits more safety-consciousness. The book describes the two years of preparations, the journey north, selecting a site in which to spend months of the cutter trapped in ice, enduring winter in the stark Arctic environment, and eventually, the journey back to their starting point. In the interim, the author relates not only the story of the significant physical events that happened, but also his psychological struggles with cold and solitude in twenty-four-hour darkness of polar winter.

I was impressed by the author’s self-disclosure. He is candid about his foibles and the number of times he ignored sound advice in search of the ultimate adventure. The author attempted to describe his internal struggles that led to a personal transformation – not an easy task. His writing is lyrical; his florid descriptions of nature easily evoked the images. The narrative is very detailed in the beginning but picks of steam once the trip begins in earnest. The book is more than a tale of adventure. It is also a platform for the author to express his deep reverence for nature, his admiration for the Inuit and their native culture, his desire to protect the Arctic ecosystem, and how this extreme experience changed his outlook on life.

Recommended to fans of true adventures, accounts of endurance in extreme environments, and stories of the psychological impact of physical challenges.

Memorable quotes:
“Light and laughter are the core fuels of the human spirit.”

“While most accounts of adventure begin at the mountain base or the jungle wall, the adventure itself usually begins as an idea. This idea, if well watered with imagination, will grow into a dream. Such dreams are powerful and, if allowed to grow unchecked, may even become dangerous obsessions, which threaten to take possession of our lives.”

“Half the world is waiting for some perfect time to start living their lives.”

[Cammie]

Once in a great while you come across one of those books that you feel you must limit your daily reading because it is so good you don't want it to end. If you're looking for a fantastic read, check out "North to the Night: A Spiritual Odyssey in the Arctic", by Alvah Simon. My Dad sent this to me after he kayaked Ellsemere Island but passed away before I got around to reading it. I've always felt that people give you books because there is something they want you to know about them. I wish he was still alive so I could ask him about this one. Favorite quote from the book (and there are many): "Death is only one of many ways to lose your life."

[Nan]

Essential to rad if you like the frozen north. But I confess I liked the book but did not admire the author as a character.

[Steve Tompkins]

My wife got me this book from our favorite bookstore, Fireside Books in Palmer, Alaska, on a recent trip to the mainland. So much to love about it - Arctic adventure of the highest magnitude, a spiritual awakening, husband/wife dynamics. To sit inside and read this while a stormed howled outside these past few days was heaven.

[Bruce]

There are all manner of categories that people can be divided into. One of them is those who tempt fate by taking unnecessary risks, and the other is those who live vicariously through them. I have both feet firmly planted in the latter group, so far be it for me to critique those who actually stick their necks out for my entertainment. Suffice to say I'll never understand the motivation of those who risk death for the sake of (fill in the blank.) I suppose it varies from person to person. Our main character in this true story, Alvah Simon, seems to suggest that self knowledge is at least one possible motivation, hence the book's subtitle. Who could argue with such a noble sentiment? Well, perhaps his partner Diana, who was put in the position of possibly sailing home solo if a certain polar bear had reacted differently than he did. It seems that Mr. Simon (warning: spoiler ahead), saw fit to play a game of blink with Nanook, and fortunately for all parties, he won. This became a validating experience for him, a bit selfish if you ask me, but what do I know about such things, sitting in my comfy cabin with every amenity of the modern world at my fingertips.

All in all, a good read, and you have to at least admire, if nothing else, the adventures that are made possible by living a bohemian lifestyle. Whether hair raising escapades necessarily translates into sound philosophy, spiritual, material, or otherwise, is another matter all together.

[Brett]

Ever since returning from my first trip above the 60 degree north mark - I've been obsessed with the beauty of the wide open space and the dearth of humanity. Literally the last place to run to on earth. This book was a perfect example of someone (a couple of someones) who took that notion and pushed the pedal to the floor. Crazy adventure - but he does manage to really capture the environment, it's people, flora and fauna, it's beauty and it's danger. If we're to believe this story to the letter - the journey from Camden Maine, to Bylot Island's Tay Bay in the Canadian arctic archipelago must have been overseen by the divine spirit in the sky. The crew escaped into the north past numerous federal and military entities which could've shut their journey down and sent them packing with hefty permitting fines...but they scraped through. The one piece that annoyed me about the book was Simon's bravado, machismo, whatever you want to call it. Sort of bragging about the stupid risks he took and not really taking his poor wife into account before he did them. Some of them were so stupid i have a hard time believing there isn't a bit of embellishment (the face off with the polar bear adult male) but all in all - really good book, just whetting my appetite for more. Svalbard or Bust!

[Chris]

Man goes to Arctic with kitten. Which is to say, someone out there designed this to be my perfect book. Gorgeous photos in the edition I read.

[CatReader]

In North to the Night, vagabond adventurer Alvah Simon aims to sail into the Arctic Circle on a small boat and camp there over the winter, along with his wife Diana and a female kitten named Halifax. Their crew set off in mid-1994 and make it as far north as Tay Bay in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut in Canada (just West of Baffin Bay), where the only nearby people are Inuits and multiple authority figures unsuccessfully ask them to evacuate for their own safety. As winter sets in, Diana has to be evacuated as she learns her father is terminally ill with only a few months to live, so Alvah and Halifax spend around six months entirely alone, devoid of other human contact other than irregular radio communications, in the unbreaking darkness of the Arctic polar night - hence the "spiritual journey" referenced in the book's subtitle which basically involved him losing grip of his senses and rationality. Once spring arrives, Diana returns, and after six more months in the Arctic waiting for the bay to thaw so they can navigate their boat on water again, Alvah and Diana return to the US in late 1995.

I found this book interesting but also needlessly risky. Having just read A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon and learning about the perils to rescue crews of medical evacuation from inexperienced and experienced hikers, it's crazy that the author of this book attempted something much more dangerous, being solo in the Arctic winter for six months. It would be one thing if Simon was part of a scientific expedition (like Katey Anthony in Chasing Lakes: Love, Science, and the Secrets of the Arctic) and came with enough trained people and supplies; even Adam Shoalts in Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada's Arctic seemed to approach things in a less risky way. As a cat lover who never lets her cats outdoors, I was distressed reading about a kitten was on the trip and very relieved when she made it out alive (Halifax passed away in 2009 after living a full life).

My statistics:
Book 154 for 2024
Book 1757 cumulatively

[John Legge]

Fascinating adventure story. Interesting to imagine such an extreme circumstance. But, also got tired of a story that began to feel very narcissistic.

[Norman]

Incredibly self absorbed. I guess it's a good warning of what not to become.

[Florence Buchholz]

Alvah Simon and his wife, Diana, set off to experience the Arctic and to spend a winter there; their small sailboat encased in ice and darkness. After experiencing the peril of drifting icebergs and approaching winter they found a haven in Tay Bay, north of Baffin Island. Some haven! They were welcomed by an approaching monster of a bear. Soon the sun disappeared. Diana was called away to a family emergency and Alvah endured months of solitary darkness. Bears always loomed in the darkness whether real or imagined and temperatures threatened to turn the boat into an icy coffin, however the greatest threat was loss of mental acuity brought on by isolation, loneliness, and carbon monoxide. Once the sun returned in springtime the bay became gloriously alive and exquisitely lovely, though conditions were still perilous. I loved reading about this adventure from the comfort of my armchair.

[Janet]

This is one is a must read. When I originally looked at this book I thought it was going to be boring. A guy alone on his boat in the middle of the Arctic? Ugh.

But it was far from boring. Every page was an adventure. I loved reading about the Inuit people, and learned so much about them. I have a new respect for these rugged, hardy people, who I am ashamed to admit, up until now existed in my mind as cartoon Eskimos. Simon's decriptions of the Arctic wildlife was fascinating and as well as the terrain and extreme weather conditions.

I must admit I was secretly hoping that they wouldn't make it through the ice, and would be forced to spend another winter in the Arctic. I so didn't want the adventure to end.

[Jason]

Once you get past the first "ramping up" pages, the book is a fast and fun read. The author and his wife plan to ice themselves in their steel-hulled sailboat in the Arctic for a year. This planned adventure becomes a story of survival. A boat load of historical knowledge is given by the author throughout the book, but just enough as to not bore the reader with mundane information. An exciting read that will have you asking the author, "What the f*ck were you thinking?"

[Cidherman]

This is an excellent adventure story. I enjoyed it immensely and so have the people I have recommended it to. Read it! It is an amazing journey that you think these people are nuts for embarking on. At the same time you are so glad they did, and shared the triumphs and close calls with a vividly written account. This story really make you understand what the experience was like and how it felt to be there. ( not to mention, how happy you are that you weren't there!)

[Liz Gillooly]

A very interesting story about a man’s desire to spend a winter in the arctic aboard his boat. Having already circumnavigated for the past 12 years, he convinces his wife that he MUST travel north for one winter. I often found his whole thought process a little troubling and didn’t fully understand his deep desire to accomplish this feat, but he was a beautiful writer and the descriptions were amazing.

[Marcia]

I'm usually not a fan of "adventures of people who their common sense button turned off" but this one was different. Very moving story. Well-written. And while the goal was crazy, they made good, practical decisions along the way. I was happy for their success.

[Patti]

This is like no other story I have ever read. Synopsis does not mention he shares his experience unexpectedly with a beloved cat.

[Margaret (Peg) Daisley]

This is one of the best-written book I’ve read so far among the dozen or so “sailing adventures” books I’ve read recently in my attempts to catch up on the Literature of Sailing. I must admit, I came to North to the Night a skeptic — I’d just finished reading a so-called sailing adventure written by a retired Lothario whose main interests in Sailing the Seven – make that Two — Seas seemed to be in trying exotic alcoholic beverages with others who liked to party. His book, as its sub-title promises, is replete with coy references to bedding the local females. When mechanical and electronic problems happen aboard, well drat the inconvenience! Have to call someone to fix it. Oh well.

Granted, that might be the perfect Sailing Adventure fantasy for some sailors. But when it comes right down to it, I think Real Sailors want to read about what happened when the writer-sailor-adventurer entered an unknown and potentially unfriendly port and how he or she learned to mix with the locals, or how they battled inclement weather and waves for days on end, or fixed that darn flapping or leaking or broken thing with some spit and a promise. We want to hear tales of adversity overcome, fears conquered, and challenges met with creativity and quick thinking.

That describes North to the Night to a T. Writer-sailor-adventurer, Alvah Simon, and his intrepid wife Diana, had purposefully set out for an area high above the Arctic Circle to experience the challenges of spending a winter there on their 36-foot steel cutter, Roger Henry, a French Damien IV — and of course the challenges were at times (many times!) life-threatening. Like any really good narrative this book has its highs and lows. It is not exactly a spoiler alert to tell you that shortly into the adventure, wife Diana had to leave because of a family crisis — it’s mentioned on the cover – though she returned several months later to continue the adventure with her husband. But, in essence, Alvah Simon spent almost the entire winter in the Arctic Circle alone, “frozen in ice 100 miles from the nearest settlement, with the long polar night stretching into darkness for months to come.”

The skeptic in me wanted to say at the outset of this journey, “Are you people nuts?!” because I can’t imagine myself going to such lengths and distance to test my personal fortitude, much less my sailing skills. However, shortly after starting to read this book, I began to appreciate the meticulousness of Alvah and Diana’s preparations, the seriousness of their reasons for going, the effort and preparation it took for them to undertake this journey, and the sometimes breath-taking beauty of what they experienced and described. I was in awe.

Simon’s wise and thoughtful writing style is what really pulls the reader along. He weighs everything they experience with such a lovely sense of thoughtfulness, as in this passage —

"Our language is anorexic when trying to communicate the subtle complexities of ice and snow. So too do I find our tropical-to-temperate adjectives unable to tame this Artic light. It roams the skies in fluid flux. It will not hold still for our eyes or cameras, much less our pens. Sun dogs race to the four directions of the solar winds, becoming bloody crucifixes ringed in halo. Mountains stand on their heads in the sky. Fireballs of light roll along like tumbleweed. One of us would hurriedly call the other to look, but by the time Diana or I had turned, it would be gone. We carefully explained what we saw. It was important that the other understood."

Perhaps the only point that had me doubting the complete veracity of his story was his description of a face-to-face encounter with a polar bear. It was the one part of the adventure that he seemed to have anticipated throughout the book with both fear and hope. And, according to him, when put to the test – standing his ground, even putting down his gun as the bear raised up on his hind legs in front of him – he passed it. “I have much left to do, but nothing left to prove,” he writes after he lives to tell that tale.

The one dispiriting point in this book is when Simon tells a story of introducing a big-shot nature photographer to the local gyrfalcon’s nest, where three newly-hatched babies had yet to learn to fly. Later, Simon makes a clear connection between the photographer’s visit to the nest and the subsequent disappearance of two of the three baby gyrfalcons —which he and the photographer both knew would fetch enormous sums of money in the black market for birds. Simon is hesitant to play judge and jury — “I do not want to wrongly malign a man’s reputation,” he writes — but there is only one conclusion that we as readers are left to draw.

However, this was just one more test of the Simons’ commitment to this arduous experience which doesn’t sway them from their journey and their goals. North to the Light captures the age-old struggles of Man vs. Nature and Man vs. Beast, along with the more modern clash of Man vs. His Inner Soul in one very compelling sailing adventure story, written in some of the most thoughtful and literate prose I’ve read in quite some time.

[Dolores]

Shared this book with a friend to read, still a fantastic read

[二六 侯]

初看覺得個人感受的部分太多，再讀下去發覺作者對於生活在北極的細節刻得不錯，特別是季節轉換，融冰潮濕發霉的情形對歷代探險家造成的難題分析得很好，雖無大敘事，但實際而可讀。

[Jean]

This is the story of a man (Alvah) staying alone on a sailboat frozen in in a harbor in the Canadian high Arctic through one entire winter. The initial plan was for him and his wife to be there, but she was called away to be with her father in New Zealand on his deathbed. As Alvah described his bouts with seeming insanity and irrationality, I wondered how long it would take him to realize it was CO poisoning. Lucky for him, it wasn't a terribly high concentration, because he never did figure it out. His story reads just like Byrd's telling of "Alone" in the Antarctic, but Alvah commented that he hadn't read about the "other" pole. He should have. Byrd was rescued by his very brave companions or he would have died; Alvah just began to be outside more and more as spring approached, so didn't have to be rescued. Later he read Byrd's book. Oh, and he wasn't actually alone--he had their cat with him.

[Michaeljhylton]

I loved this book and would have given it five stars except for something that happens near the end of the book. Here come spoilers... After putting his wife through a year's worth of unbelievable danger, hardship and close brushes with death, the author has survived and is ready to leave the Arctic. But wait... first he sees the need to prove his manhood by purposely confronting a polar bear. I had come to like and admire Simon until he did this. To me it seemed incredibly selfish and foolhardy to risk widowhood for his wife for no reason beyond macho pride. I guess it's really not a criticism of his book, but more of his behavior. One could argue that the book is a five star success simply because it prompted this kind of reaction in me.

[Stephanee]

I loved this book. Before I started reading it, I saw a comment where someone said they would've divorced this man multiple times during the book, so that was on my mind while I was reading. The author was able to put the majesty and loneliness of the Arctic into words perfectly, but he also dove deep into love and his relationship. I think the relationship between Alvah and Diana is a great example of a deep and understanding relationship between two strong and adventurous people. I enjoyed the information about past explorations to the Arctic and the life of Inuits. This was just a wonderful book and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves adventure or the inner search for meaning.

[D Enderby]

Well written true adventure. Some parts hard to believe: I.e. Halifax enjoying the frozen ice so much, and jumping on the author's shoulders every few minutes to warm his feet while they are hiking. How?
Unconscionable ending when the author faces up close to a bear, to prove what?? No thought to what it would mean to his devoted wife, who had recently lost her father, if the bear had swiped a paw and killed him on the spot. Questionable whether she would then have been able to make it back alive. And the new loss she would have to endure if she did.
Self centered and self important, but a good adventure as long as one is not involved in it.

[Jennifer Swan]

A worthwhile read. The amount of preparation that went into this was very extensive, and yet things still went wrong at times. I think I would have lost my mind being alone during the months of 24-hour darkness. I had a lot of anxiety during the book that something bad was going to happen to the cat he brought along, but the cat was never harmed. I don't consider sharing this as a spoiler, but now you can read easy and enjoy the story better. Sadly, I'm sure the abundance of polar bears he wrote of in 1994 is no longer the case. I'd love to see the vast openness of the Arctic he and his wife experienced.

[Katelyn]

Alvah Simon purposefully gets his boat iced-in in a remote Arctic Bay to experience a full year in the Arctic. At first he is with his wife Diana, but before winter starts, Diana is called away by a family emergency and he is left to overwinter with just his cat Halifax. He learns how easily the smallest mistake can be near deadly and explores how the Inuit have survived for centuries in the Arctic. A bit long but quite enjoyable. You'll want to read this while snug and warm inside during a blizzard.

[Tracy]

It's a testament to Alvah Simon's writing ability that I liked this book a lot despite disliking his personality. He comes across as angry, macho, smug, melodramatic, and full of himself. But his thoughtful and lyrical writing and the fascinating anecdotes from his "adventure" overwhelm his unlikable character (even though I suspect some of the anecdotes are at least embellished.) Also the cat is a major presence in this book, and accounts of a cat as a loyal companion in a hardship situation are pretty rare, so that's unique.

[Bryan Goldthorpe]

As a sailer I love reading about other peoples adventures and their yachts. This book is a treat and I have read my well worn copy many times. I enjoy the solitude of solo sailing and understand on a small level the adjustment needed to adjust for the noise and distraction of having others on board but also love sailing with family, a contradiction I know. This adventure would not be for the faint of heart but is a great read and I can identify with the search for meaning in life beyond the ordinary.

[Saadiah]

Is Alvah Simon completely nuts? What kind of person decides it would be a great idea to spend an entire winter in a small yacht marooned in the Canadian ice far north of the Arctic Circle, in one of the world's least hospitable environments? Still - this book is a gripping read and almost makes you want to chuck in your day job, buy a boat and head "north to Alaska" (or Canada, even)... almost being the operative word here.