When you’re careening across the undulating surface of an ice shelf, anything that isn’t white, black, or gray stands out. But an old broken-down snowmobile—a first- or second-generation Bombardier with flecked yellow paint and a rust-eaten body—offers more than a splash of color. It’s a reminder that even here, in this empty world where not even trees can grow, people have made their mark. Yet as the world warms and this ice disappears for good, so too will many of these human traces. And, with them, the legacies of those who ventured to the extreme parts of this planet.

Read more at Hakai Magazine. This story was also reprinted in the Tyee.