Shackleton in Baffin

Jealousy aside, making this short promo video for Paul and Shackleton was a lot of fun and brought back all the wonderful memories of exploring the frozen ocean around Baffin Island in search of polar bears. There is no getting around the fact that it is bone-chillingly cold, however. And no amount of memory-haze can obscure that detail - it is deeply ingrained in every tiny moment I recall.

To travel there, in spring, with temperatures exceeding minus 30ºC requires some serious cold-weather gear.

Parkas are more than essential. They, together with base layers, thermals, heat patches, and mid-layers, can literally be the difference between relative comfort and utter misery and, worse, life and death especially when you are out for hours at a time with no relief from the cold.

Well done to Paul and his guests, and thanks to Shackleton for giving me the opportunity to make this short video for them promoting the Haakon Parka. Going back through my footage from 2022 to make this certainly made me feel like I needed to be wearing one!