A closer look
Turning a lethal, frozen wasteland into a premium vacation spot started as a massive geopolitical flex. The 1957 International Geophysical Year brought thousands of scientists to Antarctica, ostensibly for research, but mostly to ensure no single nation claimed the ice cap. This massive infrastructure boom built airstrips and bases, which ironically paved the way for commercial expedition tourism. Now, wealthy thrill-seekers pay exorbitant fees to freeze on the same desolate ice shelves that nations once threatened to nuke each other over.
