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

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FOREWORD

A handbook to North and South Pole expeditions! Why has such a book never been written before? The answer lies in the comparatively recent developments in the polar worlds.

The ‘Heroic Era’ of polar exploration is long gone, but many incarnations have followed in its wake: pioneering flights in the 1920s, mechanised surface travel in the 1960s, the birth of commercial polar travel companies in the 1980s, and private ski expeditions in the 1990s and into the 21st century. These expeditions have in many ways provided the blueprint for this guide and, having completed many ground-breaking polar expeditions himself, Dixie Dansercoer is perfectly placed to write it.

More recent technologies – ones that we take for granted – have also now become mainstream in polar adventuring. Lightweight iridium satellite telephones have superseded bulky radios, giving adventurers instant access to the world, and the internet. Expedition news is channelled to popular news and tracking websites, giving polar hopefuls enough information and inspiration to leap from their armchairs and into their polar fleeces.