Welcome to Polar Week 2014 at Atlas Obscura

The Neumeyer glacier, photographed in 1915 by Frank Hurley during Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition to Antarctica (via State Library of NSW)

This week is Polar Week at Atlas Obscura! We’ll be celebrating all things Arctic and Antarctic, from the North to South Pole, through curious stories and fascinating locales. If you are in certain parts of the world you may already feel like you’re in an ice kingdom, so grab a warm drink and join us for tales of two of the frigid extremes of our planet.

Have any tips for Polar Week? Drop us a line through email or Twitter with the hashtag #PolarWeek. You can also join in the frozen fun on Facebook, Tumblr, Google+, and Kinja. In the meantime, check out some of our favorite polar places below, and scroll down for more of Frank Hurley’s stunning photographs from the legendary 1915 Shackleton Endurance expedition to Antarctica courtesy the State Library of New South Wales. 

BLOOD FALLS, Antarctica
Natural time capsule containing an alien ecosystem

SHACKLETON’S ANTARCTIC HUT, Antarctica
Nimrod Polar Expedition base, and home to hundred-year-old frozen whisky

CHAPEL OF THE SNOWS, McMurdo Station, Antarctica
The place of worship erected not once, but three times in one of the most desolate places on Earth

WILSON’S STONE IGLOO, Antarctica
A tattered, but preserved, stone shelter and its remnants sits as a reminder of “The Worst Journey in the World”

MT. EREBUS, Antarctica
Fire meets ice at the southernmost volcano on Earth

SCOTT POLAR RESEARCH INSTITUTE MUSEUM & LIBRARY, Cambridge, England
An extraordinary library and archive dedicated to the history of the Arctic and Antarctic poles

The Endurance (via)

An albatross chick (via)

Dog sled team scouting the territory (via)

New Fortuna Glacier (via)

Frank Hurley and his camera (via)

Ernest Shackleton watching the waters (via)

The Weddell Sea and the Endurance (via)

The impenetrable icefield (via)

Polar Week is January 27 - 31, 2014 at Atlas Obscura. Follow along on Twitter (hashtag #PolarWeek), Facebook, Tumblr, Google+, and Kinja.