Antarctic challenges

Testing the qualities of the Absolute Frontiers Jacket in an antarctic expedition

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent in the world, double the size of Australia and covers 5.4 million square miles (14 million square kilometres) of solid ice. It is an island continent, east of the sun, west of the moon and south of everything else. Antarctica is the world’s highest, driest, coldest and most windswept continent with a barely credible low temperature record of 89.7°C below zero (-129.4°F).

Ranking in complexity with the exploration of space, private sector travel to the interior of Antarctica used to be virtually impossible. Nature had imposed a succession of formidable logistical barriers on the icy continent to all who dared to try in the past.
Adventure Network International was the first company to break through those barriers, allowing scientists, expeditions and tourists to journey to Antarctica since 1985 and remains the only company in the world offering flights to the Antarctic interior. Some of ANI’s achievements include supporting the first ever crossing of the continent by an international team-Transantarctic. Pioneering in 1991 the first ever trip to visit the majestic Emperor Penguins at their colony on the Dawson-Lambton Glacier. In 1996 they provided support for National Geographic Magazine and film teams climbing in Dronning Maud Land. ANI’s most recent achievement is providing support and logistics for the longest ever manhaul expedition across Antarctica.

The Adventure Network International camp is at Patriot Hills near the southern end of the Ellsworth Mountain range, and it is like no other place on Earth. A remote 670 miles (1078 kilometres) from the nearest habitation- the distance from New York to Chicago or Paris to Madrid. For almost 1800 miles (2896 kilometres) in any direction there is not a city or a town.

 

The challenge

Adventure-Network International has challenged grado°Zero Espace to design and produce a jacket that supercedes all others in that it must survive their various expeditions in the Antarctic. The result was a jacket using all state of the art accessories, revolutionary "Aerogel" fabric technology and construction to combat the hazards and extremes of the Antarctic climate. There had been researched and incorporated into the jacket fundamental design details to help the explorer traverse the continent, climb the mountains or ski to the south pole with the knowledge that he will remain warm and safe inside technological comfort on this icy wasteland.
Using the Aerogel insulator,already pioneered by Grado°Zero Espace in jacket linings, together with specialised fabrics, paramount colour choices and ingenious pocketing for personal equipment, the Absolute Frontiers jacket has been born and it would have been the base for future realizations like the Quota Zero Jacket.