Antarctica
Antarctica packing list: all you need for your polar adventure
A click-and-pick Antarctica packing list with links to specific products that have been personally tested by Atlas & Boots A friend of mine recently asked what three things make me happiest, as part of her research for her forthcoming book. I named family and nature which are fairly standard answers. Less common was my third choice of hygge, the Danish concept of cosiness. We hear a lot about wellness, fitness and mental health but very little about nourishing the body on a tactile level. I explained that I love wrapping up in soft fabrics and fleecy blankets and can’t understand why we use these materials to soothe babies and young children but then swap to jeans and stiff, starchy clothes when we’re older. In short: I love being warm and comfy. With this in mind, you can unders...
Arctic or Antarctic: how to pick your polar adventure
Can’t decide between the Arctic or Antarctic for your polar adventure? Our guide will help you choose between 66° north or south The North and South Poles were only “conquered” in relatively recent history. The South Pole was first attained in 1911 by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen after his epic race with the ill-fated Robert Falcon Scott. The conquest of the North Pole is a little murkier thanks to its location in the middle of the Arctic Ocean among waters that are almost always covered with shifting sea ice. It’s possible that Frederick Cook was the first to reach the North Pole in 1908 or perhaps it was Robert Peary in 1911 or maybe Richard E. Byrd who was the first to fly over it in 1926… But it wasn’t until Roald Amundsen’s definitive flight over the Pole...
Is Antarctica worth it? – and all your other questions answered
Our expedition to the great white continent inspired a host of questions, most commonly: is Antarctica worth it? We share our answers below The cynic, it is said, knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. It doesn’t make you a cynic, however, to question the value of a trip to Antarctica given the hefty price tag. Ranging from seven to twenty thousand dollars per person, it’s a once in a lifetime expense, so it’s perfectly natural to ask: is Antarctica worth it? This is the question readers asked most frequently about our trip to the seventh continent. Value, of course, is subjective. Some people value an expensive wedding while others prefer to spend on the honeymoon. Some value a three-carat diamond while others prefer fine dining. Of course, we at Atlas & Boots value t...
In photos: 22 reasons to visit Antarctica
From island-sized icebergs to close encounters with humpback whales, we share some of the myriad reasons to visit Antarctica Antarctica was the final frontier for us. It was the only continent we hadn’t visited – our seventh – and a twice-postponed adventure that we had been planning for over two years. We finally boarded our Albatros Expeditions ship in early January and sailed out of Ushuaia to cross the notorious Drake Passage. Three days later, we crossed 66°33′48.9″ south of the Equator – the Antarctic Circle – before making landfall on the continent the following morning. Finally, we’d made it. Albatros Expeditions A map of our voyage 21 reasons to visit Antarctica For us, visiting Antarctica was a watershed moment. It was everything we had hoped it could be: wild, isolated, beautifu...
Antarctica: why my seventh continent was more than just an ego trip
Kia explains why a voyage to Antarctica finally gave her a sense of peace I am one of six sisters, which has always earned me a certain cachet; a sort of second-hand, useless celebrity like that of air hostesses and identical twins. The last time I mentioned “all my sisters” in public, a stranger cut in to ask how many. People are often keen to know if we all get along, how often we see each other and what it was like growing up. I tell them it was happy and messy and loud. The truth is that it was for a while, but as soon as we entered our teens, we found ourselves shunted to a different orbit: home, school, library. My sisters and I were no longer allowed to roam freely, thanks to our parents’ conservative views on what young Asian women should and should not be. We each adju...
12 of Earth’s most remote places and communities
From eastern Greenland to northern Alaska, we explore some of the most remote places on Earth Whether it’s astronomical distances, inhospitable climates or extreme terrains that define these remote and hostile lands, there’s one thing they all have in common: they are on my bucket list. That and the fact that people live there. It’s highly unlikely I’ll actually make it to many of these far-flung realms – I certainly didn’t get to Ittoqqortoormiit on my 2019 trip to Greenland – but I salute the hardcore residents who carve out an existence in the most remote places and communities on Earth. 1. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland Ittoqqortoormiit is located on Liverpool Land, a peninsula in eastern Greenland and one of the most remote towns in the country. It was first inhabited in 1925 b...
The seven second summits: a tougher challenge
The seven second summits are considered to be a much harder mountaineering challenge than the more popular seven summits Previously, I’ve written about my dream of climbing the seven summits and laid out a realistic if not deeply challenging and expensive program of how to achieve that goal. This week I look at the seven second summits; the second-highest mountains on each continent. The highest summits are a dream of mine, but I draw the line at the second-highest – they’re simply too scary for an amateur enthusiast like me! Introducing the seven second summits Alpinism author Jon Krakauer wrote in Into Thin Air (one of my favourite mountaineering books) that it would be a bigger challenge to climb the second-highest peak of each continent instead of the highest. An ob...
30 most beautiful mountains in the world
The most beautiful mountains in the world have captivated climbers for centuries. Here, we examine their lethal appeal “You are not in the mountains. The mountains are in you,” said John Muir, the renowned naturalist, author and environmental philosopher. If our resident seven-summit hopeful is anything to go by, Muir makes a valid point. Those who spend time in the mountains seem to be driven by a deeper force. These brave men and women will face vertiginous vertical falls, sub-zero temperatures and 8,000m death zones in pursuit of their summit dreams. It’s in ode to them that we present this list. Most beautiful mountains in the world 1. Cuernos del Paine Height: 2,600m (8,530ft) Location: Andes, Chile Emperorcosar/Shutterstock The stunning Cuernos del Paine Los Cuernos del Paine or ‘Pai...
Poles of inaccessibility: the middle of nowhere
The poles of inaccessibility are arguably the true last frontiers for explorers. But where and what are they? I’ve long been fascinated with the most remote places on Earth and the epic journeys of discovery to reach them. I’ve spent countless long mornings lying in bed leafing through giant reference books on the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration and even longer afternoons poring over immense maps detailing epic quests across untamed oceans. It was the names of Amundsen, Livingstone and Magellan and their unfathomable tales of distant lands, high seas and adventure that first inspired me to travel. For modern explorers, the poles of inaccessibility represent the outer limits of mankind’s grip on our planet. What are the poles of inaccessibility? Not to be confused with the Nor...
10 hikes through the cleanest air in the world
From Canada’s wild backcountry to the jungles of Brunei, we take a look at some fantastic hikes through the cleanest air in the world The view wasn’t so bad. Sure, it was over the communal bin area but there was a roof so you didn’t really notice it. We had to put up some net curtains because precisely six flats and nine balconies had a direct view into our flat but that was okay – privacy was always hard to come by in London. Even the noise wasn’t really a problem. Being on the road wasn’t always quiet. It was the air. Heavy pollution, barely noticeable before we left London, left my skin shockingly grimey at the end of the day. My every-other-morning run by the River Lea would wind through a host of unnatural smells and the city’s cars were always numerous as ever. Statis...
13 stunning natural phenomena
From the famous northern lights to the lesser known sea of stars, we share elusive natural phenomena from across the globe As Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken made history this week as the first astronauts to launch to orbit on a private spaceship, the world took pause to watch. Given the turmoil of our times, one observer quipped, ‘Congratulations to the Astronauts that left Earth today. Good choice.’ The off-the-cuff comment was amusing, but also surprisingly poignant for it reminded us of the damage being wreaked by humans – not only on each other but the planet itself. Seeing the curvature of the Earth reminded us of the extraordinary natural phenomena that exist right here at home. Below, we share the best of them. 1. Aurora Borealis The Aurora Borealis, more commonly known as the northern...
Climbing the seven summits: a route to the top
Climbing the seven summits – the highest mountain on every continent – is an improbable dream of mine… but that’s the beauty of dreams I have always loved trekking and climbing. I usually spend several weeks of any given year on the grades of the Scottish Highlands or Welsh Snowdonia or ideally further afield such as the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland or the K2 base camp trek in Pakistan. It was one of these trekking trips – to Tanzania in 2010 – that ignited something new inside me. It was while climbing Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, that an idea, an ambition, began to formulate. My hobby deepened into passion and I realised that I wanted to achieve something great: to climb the seven summits, the highest mountain on every continent. Mountain Continent Altitude Tech....
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