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The Wild World of Extreme Tourism for Billionaires
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The Wild World of Extreme Tourism for Billionaires

The Titan tragedy highlights the burgeoning trend of cavalier high-net-worth individuals exploring some of the most inhospitable places on Earth.

Alex Christian
Wired, 2023
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A few travel agencies cater to very rich people seeking scary, exclusive adventures. As Alex Christian reports for Wired, some millionaires and billionaires – mostly men – pay top dollar to challenge themselves on expensive journeys that feature risk, hardship and even outright danger. When the Titan submersible imploded near the Titanic’s wreck in June 2023, the passengers who died had paid $250,000 each and signed a waiver accepting the possibility of dying. One adventure traveler says the adrenaline rush of cheating death is part of the appeal of a high-cost, high-risk exploit.

Summary

Deciding that just going to the North Pole was too tame, a British entrepreneur undertook an even more dangerous helicopter trip.

British entrepreneur Jules Mountain decided that a trip to the North Pole was not challenging enough. Instead, he decided to fly a Bell 505 light helicopter 4,000 miles (6,437 km) across the Atlantic Ocean from Montreal to Guernsey. He was the first person to make the trip in a helicopter with a 350-mile (563 km) range. After a fuel stop, he was on the second leg of his trip when he found himself in “freezing fog” at an altitude of 14,500 feet (4,450 meters) barely able to breathe, with his machine quickly icing up in the -140C (6.80F) air. The journey took eight long days.

Mountain, who has climbed Mt. Everest among his other exploits, is one of many extremely rich people, mostly men in their 50s and 60s, who eagerly risk their lives for thrills. An increasing number of companies meet that demand by providing hazardous...

About the Author

Alex Christian is a freelance writer featured in WIRED and on the BBC.

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