Humans cannot survive more than three minutes without air; more than three hours exposed to extreme low-temperature; more than three days without water; more than three weeks without food. New Zealanders love exploring the outdoors, but when things go wrong, why do some people survive and some don't?

Using true tales of survival, including the sailors on the Rose Noelle, the soldiers who died on Ruapehu and the recent case of Rob Hewitt, Carl Walrond investigates what determines whether a person faced with a life or death situation will survive. In doing so, he finds that the mind and the tricks it plays can be just as challenging as the wilderness itself.

Author Biography

Carl Walrond is a Wellington-based research writer at Te Ara - the online encyclopaedia of New Zealand and a regular contributor to NZ Geographic and Bivouac magaine. A keen climber and tramper, he has first-hand experience of being lost in the NZ bush, in Lapland and in Invercargill!