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

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Unfortunately the modern world is also a very competitive one. The more competition infiltrates the world of polar expeditions, the more senseless discussions will arise on how to compare exploits. Polar explorers who focus exclusively on the competitive aspect will become blind to the essentials of a polar expedition: amazement, vulnerability, power, true comradeship… We must safeguard the world of polar expeditions from becoming simply a competitive sport. There should be no place for judges or referees to determine whether or not an expedition should qualify for yet another record-breaking exploit or for success-hungry ‘explorers’.

Many of the great polar explorers were (and are) romantics, and it is clear that the intensity of life in the frozen world deeply affects the emotions. I would be surprised to hear of anyone who spends considerable amounts of time on the ice saying that they have never felt a moment of bliss.

It is fair to say that man is naturally ambitious, and that raising the bar has enabled huge discoveries and brought about much progress, but the polar regions have so much more to offer. Having in the early years focused too much on my sporting ambition, I now understand the old adage ‘the way to the goal is more intense than the goal itself’. Once on the ice, all is clear: anything superfluous disappears and you are on your own in a simple, pristine and truly wonderful environment. That, to me, should be the main motivation for polar travel.