‘It’s cool to be cold’: Confessions of frigid-weather fanatics

These chionophiles are happiest in subzero temperatures, but they worry that embracing the cold is a challenge fewer will have the opportunity to accept.

This story appears in the December 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Then the heat goes out in our Tundra Buggy, and despite repeated attempts at resuscitation, it refuses to sputter back to life. There is nothing but a thin layer of glass and metal protecting us from the elements.

The sun is setting. It is cold.

But we are perfectly safe; we’re within range of warm accommodations, even if we’ll be feeling the effects of the elements by the time we get there. We bury ourselves deep within our insulated parkas. We find a bottle of wine, and one of whiskey. We crack slightly hysterical jokes about our situation.

It is cold, but we are happy, and I am in my element.

From crunching through Arctic sea ice on icebreakers to battling through Antarctic storms,

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