Читать книгу Polar Exploration. A practical handbook for North and South Pole expeditions онлайн

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Eric Phillips, President of the International Polar Guides Association (IPGA)

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

Ever-increasing coverage in the press and on television, for the enthusiastic consumption of armchair adventurers, have made active polar travel seem more and more accessible. The number of people travelling to the polar regions has been on the rise over the last few years – just as trekking and mountaineering in the Himalayas has grown at a great rate over recent decades – and the demand for practical information has increased correspondingly. It has so far been met by a few publications such as Lonely Planet's extensive guides, and maps detailing every square kilometre, all readily available in the bookshops. You can even order them online and see them drop through your letterbox a couple of days later.

The reality of polar travel is a whole different story. All polar literature – from the many heroic expeditions that satisfied nationalistic pride, commerce and (only later) science through to modern-day exploits – feeds our natural curiosity. The inquisitive streak in every human being pushes them towards the unknown. But even though it seems as if nothing has been left undiscovered there still is a huge difference between the armchair adventurer and the inquisitive traveller who wants to be submersed in the ‘real thing’. There is a real danger in the decreasing gap between ‘knowing’ (from television programmes) and ‘understanding’ (by physically experiencing the intensity of the outdoors). It would be foolish to claim to have acquired experience by watching a documentary, reading a book, attending a lecture by a polar explorer or spending a couple of days in the cold with all the comforts of modern-day life nearby.