Tim Jarvis: How to survive winter (like a polar explorer)

Looking for someone to help guide you through Australia’s cooler months? Look no further than AIA Vitality Ambassador, explorer and environmentalist Tim Jarvis.

Last night was the coldest night of the year we’ve had in Adelaide, where I live. It was five degrees and when I woke up, my first thought was, “Oh, it’s quite cold.”

I smiled, because when I wake up in a tent in the Antarctic, it can be minus 30 inside the tent – let alone outside. It’s funny how you adjust. I always have my race-face on when I’m on an expedition but, when I get home, it’s surprising how soft I become.

The point is: perspective is everything. And while winter in Australia is a far cry from the life-or-death scenarios that can play out when you’re schlepping across Antarctica, I know it can feel a bit grim at times.

As we dive head-first into another Australian winter, with no possibility of a warm overseas escape on the horizon (thanks, coronavirus), I thought I’d dig into some of the reasons we might all appreciate the (relatively) mild Australian winter a little more.   

In an Australian winter, when you wake up in the dead of night, all cosy in your bed, and think to yourself, ‘Blimey, it’s a bit chilly,’ you can at least be safe in the knowledge that you’re not being hunted by an apex predator.

It happened to me once. I was up in the Arctic, and I was stalked by a bear for about a week. It was a really interesting sensation – to know that there’s this massive animal following you, and that as far as the bear is concerned, you’re just a big bag of calories.

I think in developed countries, like Australia, we tend to forget that life is just life. We live in this kind-of myth, especially in cities, that we’re living ‘beyond nature’ – but the reality is that we’re not. Expeditions remind you of that, because you have this very honest and open relationship with nature. Out there, you’re nothing more than just another source of food for a polar bear. You’re just calories; you’re the difference between that animal surviving another month, or not. It’s nothing personal.

Another good thing about winter in Australia is that, no matter how cold, dark or dreary it gets, there are no shortage of calories for you to consume. You can pop down to the supermarket or just push a few buttons on your phone, and have any combination of calories arrive on your doorstep.

On a polar expedition – and it’s the same for us as it is for a polar bear – calories are a matter of survival. Too few, and you won’t last long at all – but it’s not like you can just pull a sled full of pasta or rice either. So we turn to fats. Fats are the lightest thing you can carry for the amount of calories they provide. On any given day (and a trip across Antarctica, for example, takes 93 days), I would consume 500mls of olive oil – that’s the equivalent of a little under two cans of Coca-Cola. I need upwards of 7000 calories a day on an expedition – that’s what it takes to pull a 220kg sled for 10 hours at a time. 

If you’re feeling lonely during an Australian winter, you can always pop down the shops or your local café and see some people. Maybe you can go and visit some family, or head to the park with some friends. In my book, there’s no better cure for the winter blues than a little companionship.

The mental aspect of surviving an expedition is just as important – perhaps even more important – as the physical. And on an expedition, you’re not afforded the same luxuries as you are at home.

A huge part of survival out there is about learning how to deal with the isolation. You can be in the shape of your life and completely physically prepared, but if you’re not ready for the isolation, and if you don’t have the techniques in place to help you deal with it, you won’t last five minutes. It can be brutal. 

If you’re not a cold-weather person, the Australian winter can feel as though it’s going to last forever – particularly if you live in the south, where it can be dark and pretty grey for much of the year. But it isn’t going to last forever.

In the Arctic, you’ve got this problem where the ice, generally speaking, is moving in the opposite direction you want to go. It’s like a gigantic frozen treadmill, and unfortunately there’s no option to just step off it. You have to keep going, you have to write things down to motivate you, and you have to find these small goals every day to keep moving forward.

You’re heading towards an endless white horizon and a lot of the time, you’ve got to try and convince yourself that you’re even moving forward. At least in Australia, we know that in just a few months, we’ll all be able to hit the beaches again. And I don’t know about you, but I feel a little warmer just thinking about it. 

So until then, let’s rug up, spend time with our friends and family, make sure we get plenty of exercise and vitamin D, and be thankful that we don’t have any polar bears to contend with. 

AIA Ambassador Tim Jarvis is a world-renowned polar explorer, expedition leader and environmental scientist. With a focus on sustainability, Tim has more than 25 years’ worth of experience in his respective fields, and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to helping teams and individuals perform at their highest level. 

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