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

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The harsh reality is, however, that polar travel is costly, and in order to convince possible sponsors some explorers will let their imaginations run away with them, or let the sponsors determine what the rules will be. Sadly this leads to competitive motivations for polar travel which detract from the true value to be gained from time spent in the polar regions. The desire to push ourselves to the limit is deeply rooted in human beings, but genuine records can only be established when parameters have been laid out by some kind of regulatory body that does not yet exist. In any case, in the polar regions the conditions differ every day and make any comparison impossible. And why would anyone want to embark on a quest to challenge nature's position as the strongest force?

A PASSION FOR THE POLES

A polar explorer does not decide at birth that they are going to immerse themselves on a regular basis for long periods in the frozen deserts of the Arctic or Antarctic – it's something that develops over the years. Many people have asked me where my passion for the polar regions originated, and I have yet to find a simple answer…