The book is the account of the schooner Polar Bear, written by Will E. Hudson, who was a newsreel cameraman for Pathe News at the time. The ship became icebound in the Beaufort Sea in 1913-1914, and Hudson and the others were forced to trek across Alaska to safety. This journey was deserving of the title "Icy Hell," as they were not prepared for the misery of travel overland through the Brooks Range in the arctic circle.

This website has maps of the journey, both by boat and overland:

http://www.whalingmuseum.org/online_exhibits/polarbear/maps.php

This account comes from the website http://www.whatcommuseum.org/photo-archives/181-will-hudson-collection:

In 1913-1914 he accompanied a Harvard-Smithsonian expedition destined for the Arctic aboard the ship Polar Bear in order to provide a filmed record of the trip. The expedition was not a success, and Hudson, along with Captain Louis Lane and others, had to hike out to safety when their ship became caught in the ice.

At the same time, another expedition aboard the ship Karluk was missing in the Arctic. Hudson’s party were the only ones who could get out the news that the crew of the Karluk were safe. Hudson's account of the expedition, along with several of his photographs, was published in the Sunday edition of the New York Times, which had been following the Karluk’s fate (New York Times, February 1, 1914, V, 10:3). Hudson’s 1937 book Icy Hell tells of the entire adventure, and brief footage of the Polar Bear in the ice, of Hudson aboard the ship, and of the Arctic landscape . . .

More information on Mr. Hudson can be found at this website:

http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/185855_whatcom12.html