Like a mirage in the desert, or the disillusioning sense of movement when in a stationary train next to a moving one, a world of whiteness does strange things to one’s perceptions. Combinations of fog, snow, and ice produce a world without contrast, warping perspective and depth of field, and confusing what is real and what is not.
My husband spent some time on the ice cap, camping, hiking, ice climbing. Everything is white, always. He was well-equipped and with an experienced hiking and climbing partner. But they were not equipped for the mind-bending nature of their environment. On day one, they looked out to the icy mountain range they intended to climb, several kilometres away. They set off with gear and food for a hard day ahead. But less than half an hour later they arrived at a low rise. Their ‘ice mountains’ were just low hills, only a few hundred metres from their camp. The white world they were enclosed in had completely altered their perception of scale.
Walking in a white world is one thing. Sailing in one can be even more disillusioning.
Some years ago, I was in a zodiac in Disko Bay with a colleague. We’d been working on some islands and during the day a low mist had drifted in across the water. When it was time to return to camp, the sea was blanketed in fog. I could only see a few metres before the whiteness enveloped the waves that were slopping against the bow, as we crept through the water. I sat at the prow, directing us with the help of a GPS. Despite my best efforts in keeping a straight course, the GPS track wound back and forth, back and forth, across the direct line I wanted to take. And as I continually redirected my colleague to turn further to starboard, he continued to respond “Are you sure?” We were both convinced, despite evidence to the contrary, that we were turning in circles. But our convictions were illusions. Then there was some light ahead, as if there was a break opening up in the grey fog. But something was strange. As we drew nearer, the edges of this break in the fog were becoming sharper. What was it? I just couldn’t make out what was going on. Then, suddenly, as the shape finally resolved itself in my mind, this strange white apparition dramatically inverted itself, becoming three dimensional. Bursting out of the fog, I suddenly recognised it as a towering iceberg.
