If it came down to all the marbles and the vaunted GOAT designation between John Holzhauer and Ken Jennings, would either be able to name the place? Bouvet Island. I somehow think they both might, and we'd need another tie-breaker.
How the hell do the Norwegians control a place where the sun don't shine for 6 months of the year and is thousands of miles from Oslo? And how come Julian Assange didn't seek asylum there? Might be because there's no Internet or cable? But if he got there, who would try and get him back? They'd have just waited for him to turn into a popsicle. After all, they leave the dead at the top of Mount Everest. Which doesn't really explain the name Ever Rest, but it could.
James McCormick's A-Head piece revolves around a group of people, HAM radio operators, who seek out the most remote places on earth to broadcast from for the sheer credit of having done it. They are called DX-peditions, and they are next going to try Bouvet Island in 2023. Forget the tickets to Mars and the Moon; try and book in with this bunch.
Bouvet is a very uninviting place. Nineteen square miles of glacier, seals, penguins, seabirds, moss and lichens that is now a protected nature preserve. After many countries seem to have claimed it, the Norwegians got their claim to stick and named it after an explorer, who else?
The island enjoys a loose status with Norway, and is officially a "dependent territory" of Norway. Not sure what would happen to your tax status if you claimed to live there. Or, what terms of extradition would apply if some fleeing felons decided to set up shop. The place does seem to present some interesting questions.
The HAM radio people seek remote areas to achieve bragging rights that they've broadcasted from a spot on earth that no one had ever tuned into CNN. They bring their own equipment, and stay just long enough to reach as many people they set out to.
The HAM radio people have obviously been eclipsed by he Internet. When I was a kid I thought it sounded like fun that you might be able to talk to someone in Russia and find out what they really thought of the U.S. Now, I'm not so interested. But I'm sure conversations still go on, perhaps trying to get the inside scoop on soccer injuries so Vegas can be outsmarted on some bets. There's nothing like an edge.
Just because Bouvet is remote doesn't mean that all you need to do is set your course there and climb ashore. Mr. McCormick's piece lays out the difficulties in getting ashore.
"...an uninhabited locale largely covered in glacial ice. The odds aren't favorable.
"High winds and massive waves batter ships entering the region. Among travelers who manage to catch sight of Bouvet Island, which belongs to Norway, some never makes shore. Slivers of beach give way to steep rock and ice formations that reach 100 feet and higher.
"'It's the most remote island in the world,' said Mr. Grzyb, 47 years old. 'It's also one of the most dangerous places in the world.'"
"Mr. Grzyb spent three days on Bouvet Island in 2001. He tried again in March 2019. The team got within 63 nautical miles when the ship lost its communication antennas in a storm and had to return to South Africa. 'It's for people who are a little bit crazy,' he said.
And lest you think the island is too insignificant to find in an Atlas, I did find it. There is was, a dot, way down there, belonging to Norway.
Wikipedia reports the DX-pedition—as the HAM people call it for their jargon meaning broadcasting over long distances—will try again in 2023 to get onto Bouvet Island.
Will Elon Musk join them? Will he sell tickets? Will be take Mom?
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com
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