Antarctic expeditioners kit out to be cool on ice

Aside from space, nowhere is a wardrobe malfunction more likely to have serious consequences than in the frigid, blizzard-prone wastes of Antarctica.

Veteran Antarctic expeditioner Ali Dean at the Antarctic Circle. Ms Dean says some of the kit issued to expeditioners does not come in women's sizes; potentially more than an uncomfortable inconvenience in extreme conditions, when your life depends on the right gear. Photo: Australian Antarctic Division. Supplied 21.8.20

Aside from space, nowhere is a wardrobe malfunction more likely to have serious consequences than in the frigid, blizzard-prone wastes of Antarctica.

Australia is a leading Antarctic nation, claiming 42 per cent of the frozen continent and embarking on ambitious projects to build its first paved runway, a new icebreaker and an inland ice traverse capability.

And yet the Australian Antarctic Division is the first to admit that in one crucial department, the nation could do much better: its field kit.

This is the clothes, boots and protective gear hardy expeditioners rely on to keep them safe in temperatures as low as minus 80 and conditions predictably unpredictable.

While functional, the Australian clobber is piecemeal and, it seems, no longer cutting it in polar sartorial stakes.

Worse, for a nation trying hard to boost female involvement in its once blokey Antarctic program, women expeditioners have often had to make do with men’s sizes and fits.

All that is about to change. AAD director Kim Ellis has committed to the design and commissioning of a new range of expeditioner clothing to make Australia’s expeditioners more comfortable — and perhaps just a little more fashionable.

The AAD has sought input from expeditioners and Mr Ellis used a recent Antarctic Treaty inspection of other nations’ stations to check out their gear.

“New Zealand have very good equipment and the Italians have very sexy equipment,” Mr Ellis said. “So I have to find a balance between that — between what looks really good and works really well. It will be somewhere between Italy and NZ.”

Charlton Clark, AAD operations and safety chief, said expeditioner clothing — several layers starting with thermals and ending with weatherproof outers — had evolved over time.

“Apart from outer space, there are few places where getting clothing right is more important. The consequences of not getting it right are so extreme.”

Immediate steps have been taken to provide more clothing designed to fit women. This is providing relief to Casey Station leader Ali Dean, who has made do with men’s sizes through 20 years of expeditioning.