Alone Across the Snowy Wilderness

Centered on the polar permafrost belt and mountain ranges near 68° north, including the fictional White Bear Mountains, this region is blanketed in snow and ice year-round. The average temperature is -30°C, blizzards are frequent, and deadly crevasses lie hidden beneath the glaciers. Only a few cold-resistant animals survive here, including Arctic foxes, snowy owls, and musk oxen. Deep in the mountains, legends tell of the “Icefield Ruins Guarded by the Aurora,” said to be the abandoned camp of an Arctic expedition team that disappeared in the early twentieth century. The tale draws a handful of extreme adventurers to the area.