{"id":2073,"date":"2015-03-01T11:09:56","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T22:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/?p=2073"},"modified":"2015-04-19T09:35:49","modified_gmt":"2015-04-18T21:35:49","slug":"antarctica-gearing-up-for-a-photo-expedition-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tonywhitehead.com\/wildlight\/archives\/2073","title":{"rendered":"Antarctica – Gearing up for a photo expedition. Clothing."},"content":{"rendered":"

Planning a trip to Antarctica is not a short term project and when travelling so far you don’t want to take any more than you need but equally don’t want to miss any opportunity by being caught short of important gear. We booked our trip about 12 months in advance and arranged our flights 9 months in advance so had plenty of time to plan what to take.<\/p>\n

Most travellers to Antarctica head for the Antarctic Peninsula with it’s dramatic landscapes, profusion of wildlife and relative accessibility . The peninsula curves up toward South America and the departure point for most ships heading there is Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Ushuaia is in Tierra del Fuego province of the Patagonia region\u00a0of Argentina and travellers usually arrive via air from Buenos Aires. This complicates packing somewhat as summer in Buenos Aires is hot and needs warm weather clothing in addition to the cold weather gear required for Patagonia and Antarctica. \u00a0When leaving Buenos Aires we didn’t see our luggage again until on the ship so we needed to make provision for leaving 30 degree Celsius weather and arriving into single digit temperatures with possible wind and rain in Ushuaia, so a fleece and light rain jacket needs to be carried onto the flight. I spent a lot of time researching and planning what to take so will cover what we did in the hope of making it helpful for those planning a trip. This post will cover clothing\/luggage and I will cover photography gear in another post.<\/p>\n

For any trip clothing is the first issue and most expeditions will supply a recommended gear list.\u00a0For the cold, layering is crucial\u00a0and we used merino wool base layers (long sleeve top and long johns) which were warm and have the huge benefit of not smelling bad after one use. Mid layers were a fleece top and track pants. \u00a0The top layer of windproof, breathable, water proof pants and a\u00a0parka which most trips will include in the price or supply for the duration of the expedition. I found a windproof beanie perfect , needing to remove only once after hiking up a fairly decent climb. Edin preferred a thin merino beanie and the hood of her parka if needed. Footwear was neoprene insulated knee high waterproof boots (Grub boots) over a thin and then thick sock for Edin while I found a single thick sock adequate. If you have no need of these boots at home they can be hired but I have had mine for years and use them regularly when out photographing in New Zealand.\u00a0For hands we had a few pairs of gloves but I found a thin windproof pair all I needed. A thicker pair would have been more comfortable at times but I preferred to sacrifice a bit of comfort for ease of camera operation. Being smaller and more prone to the cold, Edin found a double layer of gloves useful at times.<\/p>\n

My complete clothing list included;<\/p>\n

Flight NZ to BA via Santiago – smart crease proof trousers and Columbia shirt, flight socks and quick on-off elastic sided\u00a0boots (GriSport Gladstone<\/a>)<\/p>\n