SNOW Alps 25-26 web - Flipbook - Page 16
EDITOR'S LETTER
Down Under
W
e like to think of the pages of SNOW as a gateway
drug — but glossier, and far more fun — to our
passions, our fantasies, our appetites. This spring,
my high was Antarctica.
The infamous Drake Passage was in an unusually
forgiving mood, which, if I’m honest, was a bit of a letdown.
The promised theatre of one of the world’s most dangerous
crossings — mountainous swells, minor broken bones —
never materialized. Instead, we skimmed across in two days,
southbound with the wind at our backs and martinis at our
elbows.
Skiing in Antarctica is as rarefied as it comes — but we
know skinning and heli-skiing aren’t for everyone. My magical
journey with Swan Hellenic swapped climbs for kayaks, and
first turns for some memorable deep dives: into abandoned
whaling stations, zodiac-led citizen-science experiments, and
the frigid sea itself — minus one Celsius and a leap of faith for
the brave.
For the cruise skeptics among us, fret not. Our
150-passenger ship felt more private club than ocean liner.
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Days were spent kayaking among curious penguins and
prowling leopard seals, hiking snowfields above improbably
sandy beaches, then returning to iceberg-gaze from the
heated infinity pool, take in a lecture, and dine à la carte as
humpbacks surfaced off the port side.
What’s on your wander list this year? Empty slopes and
a full cellar? Or a map dotted with ominous blank spaces
labeled Here Be Dragons? Happily, you don’t have to choose.
Antarctica offers the thrill of the wild without surrendering a
single creature comfort.
A century ago, frostbite wasn’t a hazard – it was a
companion. Today, you’ll find only insulated boots, sweeping
silence, and the intoxication of terra incognita.
Sometimes, the greatest luxury isn’t having everything. It’s
having nothing at all.
