1. Vostok Station, Antarctica, the “southern pole of cold,” earth’s coldest known temperature ever measured, −128.6°F, was recorded at Vostok on July 21, 198
2. High Icefield Ranges of Yukon Territory and Alaska, home to the largest nonpolar mass of ice in the world, these seldom visited behemoths receive tremendous snowfall each year in treacherous storms that pound their slopes sometimes for weeks on end.
3. Coastal Antarctica, extreme katabatic winds are common along the coast, and can last for days on end.
4. K2 Region of the Karakoram Himalaya, K2 and the surrounding high mountains experience some of the most deadly weather in the world, year round. While Mount Everest has been climbed in the winter, K2 never has seen a winter ascent. The K2 region deserves mention as not just one of the worst weather places in the world, but one of the deadliest.
5. Summit Camp, Greenland, Storms pound Summit Camp throughout the year, dumping snow and causing disorienting whiteout conditions for those on the ground. The slightest error in navigation here, even from one of the small buildings to another during one of the area’s frequent storms, can lead to death in a matter of hours.
6. Gandom-e Beryan, Dasht-e Lut, Iran, deep in the heart of the Lut lies a lifeless dark lava plateau. During the 1950s, a caravan spilled wheat here, and some days later another caravan came across the grain and found it burnt to a crisp. They named the plateau Gandom-e Beryan, which is Persian for “scorched wheat.”
7. Southern Patagonian Andes, no weather stations have ever been placed in these mountains, as the conditions and terrain are too extreme.
8. Central Sahara Desert, the world’s most infamous desert.
9. Bouvet Island, the most remote island in the world.
10. Oymyakon, Republic of Sakha, Russian Siberia, experienced the coldest temperature ever recorded outside of Antarctica and the coldest for any permanently inhabited place on earth: −89.9°F, on February 6, 1933.

Bouvet Island, the most remote island in the world. (& Norwegian, just like me …) 

I sometimes wonder if there are a prehistoric explorer hidden in my genes. How else can I explain my attraction for hostile remoteness? My talent for self-support outside well equipped environment is like nil. Life really is a mystery.