Bombardier Experience Magazine 27

Bombardier Business Aircraft Magazine

Issue 27 2016

BRAVE NEW WORLD

Superior comfort meets advanced interiors in the Challenger 650 aircraft ———

SKIING IN ANTARCTICA + REGA TO THE RESCUE HIDDEN GALAPAGOS + FRETTE UNDERCOVER + GOURMET ASPEN

16 THE NEXT CHALLENGE

The Challenger 650 business jet is an industry leader that pairs superior performance with top cabin technology.

BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

ON THE COVER The Challenger 650 business jet, captured at Aviation Etcetera FBO in Montreal, Canada, is a model of craftsmanship inside and out.

Profile

Travel

13 Hotels Our favorite stays around the globe.

36 Air Supply Swiss air-ambulance Rega transforms Challenger aircraft into intensive care units. BY IRENE CASELLI

22 First Tracks The untouched mountains and glaciers of Antarctica are the ne plus ultra of skiing. BY ANDREW FINDLAY 40 Origin Story A cruise through the Galapagos strikes a natural balance between navigating the untamed world and indulging in creature comforts.

BY EVE THOMAS

Craftsmanship

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What Dreams May Come A firsthand look at the skill and sensory detail that go into Frette’s luxurious linens. BY STEPHANIE DRAX

Must Have

9 Goods Fresh inspiration in style, technology, culture and media.

14 Cities Where to dine, shop and live it up in Aspen.

In Every Issue

7 Insight

8 Contributors 47 Customer Service 50 Wingspan 53 Fleet 56 News

PHOTOS (ANTARCTICA): KARI MEDIG; (COVER): PHOTOGRAPHER: NEIL MOTA; ASSISTANT: MIKAEL CARDIN; STYLIST: SHAN TEMURI/DULCEDO; ASSISTANT STYLIST/HAIR & MAKE-UP: CHARLOTTE FLANNERY/DULCEDO; MODEL: PIERRE GOULET/SCOOP; PRODUCTION: RODEO; WARDROBE COURTESY FRANK & OAK (SHIRT, WATCH); ARMANI COLLEZIONI/HARRY ROSEN (SUIT); TIGER OF SWEDEN MONTREAL (POCKET SQUARE); PANTHERELLA/HARRY ROSEN (SOCKS); CALVIN KLEIN (SHOES)

Featured Aircraft

INSIGHT

E

xceptional is a word that creates expectations and – more importantly – an obligation to deliver.

Our rich history inspires us to relentlessly reinvent and refine every detail of every private aircraft. It’s just who we are. Our customers expect the exceptional, and at Bombardier Business Aircraft, we’re big on the little things: Every element of your journey with us has been designed to flow seamlessly every step of the way.

It’s all in the details in this edition of Experience, taking you from tropical to Antarctic ecosystems, and seeing why “meticulous” is putting it lightly when describing the creation of Frette linens, or the interior of our Challenger 650 aircraft.

With the widest cabin in its class and seating for up to 12 passengers, the Challenger 650 aircraft blends business with pleasure. Every detail of the redesigned cabin displays forwardlooking aesthetics and ergonomics, and its class-leading reliability delivers luxury, comfort and value for the most discerning traveler. With more than 1,000 Challenger 600 series aircraft delivered, it’s no wonder that the Challenger 650 business jet is one of the most successful and bestselling aircraft platforms in private aviation history.

We’re also proud to count Rega among our loyal Challenger aircraft customers.

Challenger aircraft have been a part of the Swiss air ambulance service provider’s fleet for more than 30 years, where they play a crucial role in repatriating Swiss nationals from anywhere around the globe during medical emergencies.

With their expansive wide-body cabin, long-range capability, and proven reliability, Rega’s Challenger 604 aircraft are ideally suited for the nonprofit organization’s mission to provide the highest standard of care.

And just as Rega promptly provides assistance anywhere the need arises, Bombardier’s mobile Customer Response Team is ready at a moment’s notice to ensure customer aircraft keep flying.

Much like the pit crew of a race car team, our highly skilled and knowledgeable team of experts is ready to support you and your aircraft when needed — wherever, whenever.

I hope this issue of Experience will inspire you as we explore the details that help all that is exceptional seem effortless.

Every element of your journey with us has been designed to flow seamlessly.

Peter Likoray Senior Vice President, Sales, Bombardier Business Aircraft

Experience magazine is accessible online at issuu.com or at bombardierexperiencemagazine.com

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CONTRIBUTORS

ISSUE 27 experiencemagazine@bookmarkcontent.com

Kari Medig

First Tracks (page 22)

Editorial Editor-in-Chief Natasha Mekhail

British Columbia-based photographer Kari Medig regularly traverses extreme terrain to capture awe-inspiring images for publications like Telegraph magazine, The Globe and Mail, Monocle and Powder, venturing everywhere from Iceland’s Ring Road to the Caucasus Mountains. For this issue of Experience he traveled across Antarctica, where he experienced his most surreal moment yet: “I skied right past a group of chattering gentoo penguins.”

Associate Editor Eve Thomas Digital Editor Renée Morrison Editorial Intern Kelly Stock Copy Editor Jonathan Furze Fact Checker Jeffrey Malecki Proofreader Katie Moore

Mike Spry

Upwardly Mobile (page 50)

Art Art Director Guillaume Brière

As the author of several collections of poetry and fiction, including JACK, Distillery Songs and Bourbon & Eventide, Massachusetts-based writer Mike Spry is used to getting to the heart of a good story. He’s also become a business aircraft expert, getting up close with Bombardier’s flight ops teams and, for this issue, the mobile Customer Response Team. He’s as inspired by their passion as he is amazed by some Bombardier innovations, noting “I found out they have their own scent designed just for private jets!”

Assistant Art Director Mélanie Ouimet Graphic Designer Marie-Eve Dubois Production Production Director Joelle Irvine Production Manager Jennifer Fagan Contributors Carol Besler, Mikael Cardin, Irene Caselli, Chris Chilton, Dominique Cristall, Stephanie Drax, Andrew Findlay, Candice Fridman, Michael Johnson, Gunnar Knechtel, Richmond Lam, Kari Medig, Neil Mota, Mike Spry, Leah Van Loon

Carol Besler

Must Have: Goods (page 12)

When she’s not filling in Experience readers on the world’s top timepieces, Carol Besler is the go-to watch and jewelry expert for publications like Forbes, Fashion and The New York Times. Covering the watch world for 30 years has taken Besler from Baselworld premieres to tiny Swiss workshops in order to understand every aspect of the illustrious industry, but her next trip – to Italy’s Umbrian countryside – is purely for pleasure.

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MUST HAVE GOODS / CITIES / HOTELS / DESIGN / CARS

Natural Materials Wool, cashmere, Argentinean horsehair (perfect for wicking away moisture). The only synthetic accent in Savoir mattresses: the heavyweight string binding it all. “And we’re the only ones who stitch it up by hand,” notes Hughes.

Design

SAVOIR FAIRE savoirbeds.com —

Frank Sinatra was a fan, Kim and Kanye own six, and Emma Thompson claims one cured her insomnia.

Savoir Beds started in 1905 as outfitters to London’s most storied hotel, the Savoy. In 1997 the company was bought in part by Alistair Hughes, who was intent on preserving its heritage down to the last thread. On a tour of the company’s North London atelier, Hughes offers Experience readers his insight on what goes into the perfect rest. –ET

Handiwork From the first design consultations to the last pen stroke (each bed is signed), different models take anywhere from 40 to 180 hours of craftsmanship.

“We only start when a client comes to us: Everything is made to order.”

Time “It’s a bit like a pair of shoes,” says Hughes, who recommends waiting a month for the mattress to settle and for your body to shed sleeping habits from former, inferior mattresses. Also, consider replacing a bed (or topper) over time – your body requires different support for pressure points as you age.

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MUST HAVE: GOODS Style

From the Archives

louisvuitton.com — In the Paris suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine lies the newest tribute to Louis Vuitton, known as the Galerie. The two-story exhibition space explores the 162-year history of the brand and shares the historic site with both the ancestral home of its namesake and the made-to-order workshop. Curator Judith Clark has rounded up the most iconic pieces from the archives, including the monogrammed trunk of Yves Saint Laurent and select looks from Marc Jacobs’ first RTW collection for the brand, from 1997. –LVL

Tech

PRIVACY, PLEASE sirinlabs.com —

For those whose digital information requires a higher level of security, Sirin Labs’ Solarin is the smartphone equivalent of a bank vault. The 5.5-inch Android took two years to develop and features military-grade 256-bit AES encryption to protect the phone’s communication channels and ward off cyber attacks. All this comes without limited functionality.

In fact, connectivity speeds of up to 4.6 Gbps beat mainstream versions, and it has the strongest battery of any premium mobile on the market. –RM

DIGITAL LOVE Depict founder Kim Gordon and “Portrait” by Universal Everything

Design

Frame Changer

depict.com — Billing itself as “iTunes for art,” San Francisco-based startup Depict has created an app that lets users access thousands of digital works – still and video, figurative and abstract – curated by Amanda Schneider (previously of the Brooklyn Museum)

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and available for purchase or via a monthly subscription service. As the iPod is to iTunes, so Frame is to Depict: With a Wi-Fi-controlled, 4k Ultra HD museum-quality display screen framed in handcrafted American maple that pivots readily between portrait and landscape, it’s the best-in-show amongst display devices. –CF

Travel

Luxe Train Revival

— Train travel has always evoked images of opulence (with a dash of intrigue). Here are the routes rekindling our love affair with riding the rails. –KS

Travel

DREAM STATE

faena.com — Miami’s reputation as an art and design destination just got a little more concrete – six blocks worth, in fact. Enter the freshly inaugurated Faena District, a starchitect-studded cultural development on Miami Beach, the northern counterpart to entrepreneur Alan Faena’s transformation of a formerly derelict port in his native Buenos Aires. Featuring a Rem Koolhaas/OMA-designed arts center, upscale bazaar and car park, as well as Foster + Partnersdesigned residences, the area’s landmarks promise as much of a feast for the eyes outside as in. Its centerpiece is the art deco-inspired Faena Hotel. Interspersed with fanciful works by Damien Hirst (a unicorn, a gilded mammoth) and larger-than-life, almost theatrical decor (Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann consulted on the design), guests feel swept away to a bygone era of glamour – though perhaps one that, until now, only existed in the imagination. –NM

Spirits

King’s Quest

PHOTO: TWILIGHT EXPRESS (TRAIN)

louisxiii-cognac.com —

Cognac house Louis XIII recently partnered with several celebrated French luxury brands to produce three limited-edition sets, each featuring a bespoke Hermès trunk, white gold pipette by silversmith Puiforcat, and hand-engraved crystal decanter by SaintLouis (containing a special

cognac blend made of rare eaux-de-vie). Two sets have already found homes at Sotheby’s auctions held in Hong Kong and New York, and the third will be up for bids in London on November 16, 2016.

All proceeds benefit Martin Scorsese’s non-profit, the Film Foundation, which preserves and restores classic films. –RM

In Japan, JR East and Twilight Express are introducing two new lines in spring 2017, set to traverse majestic scenery in the Sanin and Sanyo regions, the Seto Inland Sea and Mount Daisen. Each train holds a maximum of 34 guests and cuisine comes care of Michelinstarred chefs Yoshihiro Murata and Katsuhiro Nakamura. www.jreast.co.jp/shiki-shima twilightexpress-mizukaze.jp When it launches in May 2017, the Belmond Andean Explorer will be South America’s first luxury sleeper train and will travel along one of the highest rail routes on the planet. Guests can enjoy breathtaking views of Lake Titicaca and the Colca Canyon from the train’s openair deck, with interiors inspired

by Peru’s traditional textiles. belmond.com/belmond-andeanexplorer Twilight Express Mizukaze

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MUST HAVE: GOODS Timepieces

Fast Friends

mbandf.com — Max Büsser of MB&F (Max Büsser and Friends) is watchmaking’s manifestation of the adage “Know the rules in order to break them.” After working for 15 years as an executive for heritage brands (Jaeger-LeCoultre and Harry Winston), Büsser is well versed in the principles of traditional mechanical watchmaking, but his pieces are very much his own. “I didn’t set out to design watches that often resemble spaceships or transformers, but I realized I was tapping into my childhood fantasies,” he tells Experience. “I was an only child, so I had an incredibly rich, crazy imaginary life. I was Han Solo, Captain Kirk, saving the world on a daily basis.” Each Swiss timepiece is unique, and all the “friends” involved, from case makers to watchmakers, are credited on the company’s website along with a childhood photo. –CB

Style

KISS AND TELL

Design

freywille.com —

rachelvosper.com — An encounter with a candle maker on a Barbadian beach in the 1990s lit a creative flame in Rachel Vosper. Her eponymous brand of hand-poured candles (she now works out of her Devon county studio and airy Belgravia boutique) has made her a luminary among contemporary British chandlers.

The 14 scents – available in vessels of glass, crystal bowls, ALMA leather sleeves and Tom Hopkins Gibson’s hand-hewn bowls – are just a start. Opt for a bespoke scent or a custom receptacle, or book in for a Taster Candle Making Course, where you’ll sip champagne and learn to make your own. –CF

Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” may be an inimitable, unforgettable work of art, but that hasn’t stopped jeweler Frey Wille from drawing inspiration from the fellow Austrian for a collection being released this fall – just in time for the company’s 65th anniversary. The Ultimate Kiss line is handmade entirely in Vienna using an intricate process that requires 100 manual steps for each piece, including fusing fire enamel to gold, resulting in elegant watches and embellished cuffs that are each a wearable work of art. –KS

House of Wax

Cars

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PHOTOS ALUN CALLENDER PHOTO (RACHEL VOSPER)

MATERIAL WORLD

lamborghini.com // bentleymotors.com // bugatti.com — Inherited from the world of horse-drawn coaches, wood and leather have been design staples since the dawn of the automobile. But now carmakers are pushing the boundaries of luxury interiors. Some draw on modern technologies, like Lamborghini’s seats upholstered with carbon fiber, while others look to the past, like Bentley’s dashboards (pictured) trimmed with veneers of stone formed in India over 200 million years ago. And some brands spare no expense: The audio system of Bugatti’s new 261-mph Chiron features a onecarat diamond membrane in each of its four loudspeakers. –CC

MUST HAVE: HOTELS

PHOTOS: AMANGIRI

ZEN STATE (Clockwise) The main pool, an outdoor spa pavilion and an exterior view of a suite that opens onto the desert.

DESERT ROSE

Amangiri is a stunning hideaway that connects guests to the land through art, history and outdoor adventure.

BY E V E T HO MAS

WHERE Some resorts are considered “remote” when

they have the luxury of landscaping or 50-foot walls to help conceal guests from the bustle, but Amangiri has 600 acres of unspoiled desert. The Canyon Point, Utah, setting gives guests the impression of being in an ancient desert village (or, for the Star Wars fan, on Tatooine). The low-lying sandstone structures housing 34 suites and common areas blend seamlessly into the landscape, and the crown jewel is one of the most Instagrammable marvels of design you’ll ever encounter: a gleaming azure pool built around a rocky outcropping.

STAY Rather than a resort with a spa, Amangiri is more like a spa that welcomes guests, with dressing rooms and open showers spanning the length of each suite, water features throughout the property and the scent of sage hanging in the air (several kinds grow nearby, and it’s used in custom amenities, the cuisine, even bundled and laid on the pillow for guests at turndown). Simply existing here is conducive to relaxation, and Mesa View Suites encourage guests to greet the day with a sun salutation against the vast landscape.

DINE The menu is casual Asian-meets-Southwestern

(everything from tacos to rib eye with miso beurre blanc) and comes with a killer view – you won’t believe there’s a window between your table and the desert. For a special evening treat, head poolside for DIY s’mores followed by stargazing.

DO Explore the resort at your own pace – and there is a lot to explore, including 5,000-year-old petroglyphs, best viewed from the on-site Via Ferrata. The Horses & History experience has genuine cowboys leading guests on a trail ride across the desert to the elevated Raven’s Nest, where a Navajo elder tells the story of the sacred location over a gourmet cookout. Off-site day trips include walks through the nearby slot canyons. While the whole area is a photographer’s dream, the pink-hued canyons are the setting of Peter Lik’s “Phantom,” which reportedly went for $6.5 million (making it the most expensive photograph ever sold). aman.com/resorts/amangiri

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MUST HAVE: CITIES

ALPINE GOURMET An influx of culinary talent has kicked Aspen’s food scene into high (altitude) gear.

BY N ATA S H A ME KHAI L

D

ismiss all notions of chalet nosh and forget the après-ski fondue: Aspen’s dining scene has reached a new peak in recent years with the arrival of top chefs keen to cater to the Colorado ski town’s distinctive blend of glamour and global savvy. It’s also thanks to the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, a festival in which culinary glitterati take guests into the city’s best cellars, put on lavish pop-ups and even host cooking demos on board a Global 5000 aircraft (see page 58). We look into what makes Aspen’s food scene so avant even on the après.

TASTE FACTOR Artful tatakis are just the start of the sumptuous menu at Matsuhisa; (below) Chef Barry Dobesh of The Monarch, a favorite post-ski destination for steak and seafood.

THE MONARCH is a

Dine

Under Wraps

CHAMPAGNE POP-UP Look out for The Little Nell’s Aspen Oasis. The Veuve Clicquotsponsored mobile champagne bar on Ajax Mountain changes location daily. To find it, follow the clues @TheLittleNell’s social feeds.

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— Don’t let the exterior of MATSUHISA fool you.

What looks like a tiny Swiss Alps chalet conceals a 7,800-squarefoot subterranean dining room, an extensive menu of Nobu Matsuhisa’s signature JapanesePeruvian cuisine and a vibe that’s far more Manhattan than mountain. Nearby,

modern American resto attired as an old-world gentleman’s club. This ode to surf-and-turf (the steak selection alone ranges from a 6-ounce bison filet to a 32-ounce tomahawk) is the place to sate your most carnivorous cravings. Meanwhile, you’ll want to pull some strings to get into the members-only CARIBOU CLUB , the one locale in town where one can dine (it’s known for its caviar and fruits-de-mer platters) and then dance into the wee hours. For even more seclusion, book a private table in the 3,500-bottle wine cave, aka Oliver’s Room, named for a longstanding sommelier.

Ajax Tavern

The Little Nell

Stay

Savory Stays

— While many visitors opt for home rentals in Red Mountain or Starwood, those who prefer the ski-in/ski-out action in town stay at THE LITTLE NELL . The property is undergoing a major room renovation, slated for completion in the spring. We love this hotel for its farm-to-table focus at ELEMENT 47, where chef Matt Zubrod’s comfort dishes (try the pressed duck)

prove a hearty reward for a day on the slopes.

In room, the minibar is stocked with wines selected by the hotel’s sommeliers from amongst its Wine Spectator “Grand Award”winning list. Just down Dean Street at the ST. REGIS, guests flock to the Chefs Club by Food & Wine, where the foodie mag’s Best New Chefs collaborate on the imaginative offerings. And don’t miss the hotel’s REMÈDE SPA with its oxygen bar, a serene lounge in which to counter the effects of altitude – or recover from a night out.

PORTRAIT LANDSCAPE You’ll recognize the new Aspen Art Museum by its wooden, basketweave facade. The first US museum by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, it’s designed to be enjoyed from top to bottom, like a ski hill.

The Living Room

Après

Gloves Off —

The après-ski hours in Aspen are the time to learn from locals and celebrate the ski day. Here, mainstays such as the base-of-AspenMountain AJAX TAVERN remain the places to spot and be spotted. As does the raucous, newly remodeled CLOUD NINE ALPINE BISTRO,

where the raclette is legendary, the reservations require a month of lead time and the champagne flows (or should we say sprays?) liberally. For a quieter option, try a more recent addition to the après circuit: THE LIVING ROOM at Hotel Jerome is an ultra cozy retreat with eclectic Ralph Lauren-meetsvintage-Americana decor.

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FEATURED AIRCRAFT

THE NEXT CHALLENGE The Challenger 650 business jet is an industry leader that pairs superior performance with top cabin technology.

BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

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PHOTOS OFFICTAM VERCIIS ALIBEA (DOLUPTAS)

Performance and Efficiency

There’s nothing “standard” about the standardequipped Challenger 650 aircraft. Its baseline offering reads more like a premium options list, putting it far ahead of every other business jet in its segment. Take, for example, the aircraft’s performance. At 4,000 nautical miles (7,408 kilometers), its nonstop range capability can fly six passengers, fully equipped, between Dubai and London without breaking a sweat.

The superior thrust of its twin GE engines allows for a shorter takeoff field length and extra payload over its predecessor for the more challenging airports on your itinerary. It boasts lowest-in-class direct operating costs, thanks in large part to both its highly durable airlinegrade engines, and longer maintenance intervals, which have become customary on the Challenger aircraft.

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FEATURED AIRCRAFT

It’s clear the Challenger 650 jet is a game changer from the comfort of the cabin, whether you’re holding a morning meeting or having a late-night meal. The inflight experience has all the hallmarks of a superior Bombardier aircraft: It is integrated, innovative and inviting, catering to work, play, rest and entertaining in equal measures. It is the only true 12 passenger business jet in its class, with a cabin that’s almost six inches (15 centimeters) wider than the competition, a flat floor throughout, generous ergonomic seating with improved leg and elbow room, and full in-flight access to baggage – all combining to grant unprecedented freedom and flexibility. The fully revamped galley, complete with more counter space and optimal appliance placement, including an oven that’s almost three quarters larger than its predecessor on the Challenger 605, cuts meal prep time in half. More accommodating and more productive – every passenger can feel right at home (or right in the corner office).

Developed by Lufthansa Technik and tailored exclusively for Bombardier, the state-of-the-art Cabin Management System (CMS) is the top-of-the-line in cabin management and in-flight entertainment technology. It offers full access to environmental, recreational and informational controls through elegantly embedded personal touch screens. Its flexible Ethernet configuration makes customizing and updating the system seamless and its local area network enables any device on board – from phones to tablets – to neatly and securely connect to the CMS in flight. The newly designed angled side ledge, complete with embedded Passenger Control Unit, brings the convenience of one-touch access to cabin controls and real-time in-flight information to the fore, redefining passenger ergonomics with contemporary lines and sophistication.

A fully loaded multimedia system allows passengers to upload and play their own music, movies or other media on board, while the On Demand feature permits subscribers to stream the latest in licensed entertainment. Coupled with the cabin’s two 24-inch HD bulkhead monitors for your viewing pleasure, the largest of any in its class, the Challenger 650 jet is pushing in-flight entertainment to new heights.

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PHOTOS OFFICTAM VERCIIS ALIBEA (DOLUPTAS)

Interior View

PHOTOS OFFICTAM VERCIIS ALIBEA (DOLUPTAS)

FEATURED AIRCRAFT

Avionics and Operation

The Challenger 650 is the only aircraft in its segment to come standard equipped with avionics as advanced as the Bombardier Vision flight deck, representing the best offering in business aviation. By simultaneously reducing workload and increasing situational awareness for the pilot, this unique avionics offering puts Bombardier’s cutting edge technology on full display: The groundbreaking Multiscan weather radar offers proactive and precise threat detection while the state-of-the-art Synthetic Vision System (SVS) – standard in the Challenger 650 jet, but available only as a premium add-on amongst competitors – ensures smoother journeys.

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Offered at CAD $6,250,000 Million Christian Vermast, LLB | Sales Representative Paul Maranger, MBA | Broker Fran Bennett | Sales Representative 1867 Yonge Street, Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario M4S 1Y5 Toll-free: 1.877.960.9995 trilogyteam@sothebysrealty.ca | trilogyagents.com

Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates, Inc., Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, Brokerage. Independently Owned and Operated.

TRAVEL: ANTARCTICA

FIRST TRACKS The untouched mountains and glaciers of Antarctica are the ne plus ultra of skiing.

BY ANDREW FINDLAY | PHOTOS BY KARI MEDIG

T

he crack of calving ice shatters the morning calm. Six heads swivel portside in time to witness a column of glacial ice tumble into the bay, sending out a semicircle of waves. Our driver twists the throttle and weaves the Zodiac among fridge-sized chunks of turquoise-colored ice, aiming toward the snowy shore of Rongé Island. The throaty calls of gentoo penguins, frisky with nesting-season energy, greet us as he nudges the inflatable between two boulders.

Few places fire the adventurer’s imagination like Antarctica. Ever since reading tales of pioneering South Pole explorers like Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton, I have been captivated by this frozen land where wildlife thrives against the odds. With an area one and a half times the size of the continental United States, it has never been settled permanently by humans, save for the inhabitants of a few lonely research stations. It is owned by no state and governed by the Antarctic Treaty ensuring, at least for now, that the geopolitical disputes that plague much of the planet are set aside in the name of peaceful scientific cooperation.

As guests of One Ocean Expeditions, a company that specializes in polar cruises, we’re midway through a

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12-day adventure on the Antarctic Peninsula, a rugged region jutting north of the white continent for 800 miles (1,300 kilometers). A few nautical miles offshore, the Akademik Ioffe, our home base in a 384-foot (117-meter) research vessel repurposed as a luxury cruise ship, sits anchored with its white hull glistening in the sun.

What’s brought us here is more than just spectacular sightseeing. For a lifelong skier like me, the least traveled of Earth’s continents represents a tantalizing final frontier of untracked mountains and glaciers – and we’re about to ride them.

A

lready it seems like weeks since I boarded the Akademik Ioffe in the Argentinean port city of Ushuaia, feeling tentative about what lay ahead – a 500-mile (800-kilometer) crossing of the Drake Passage (or the “Drake Shake,” as expedition leader Cheryl Randall referred to it at our welcome cocktail). On the day of my arrival, a low-pressure cyclone had churned this notoriously savage stretch of water into a froth of heavy seas. Consequently our veteran Russian captain delayed the departure for 12 hours.

The next morning we set sail on a gentle following sea down Beagle Channel. I soon met some of my fellow

ELEVATED EXPERIENCE Antarctic skiiers brave Mount Tennant’s 2,300-foot (700-meter) climb for the thrill of its powder-coated ride down.

THE DESCENDANTS A skiier on Mount Tennant; (opposite) guide Tarn Pilkington takes cover from a fierce Antarctic sun; the Akademik Ioffe awaits her passengers in the bay below.

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skiers, Frank Brummer from Illinois and Kyle Kinsey from New Hampshire. Kinsey’s goal is to ski on every continent. “I have two more to go,” he told me.

Together with our two Kiwi guides, we were a team of seven skiers and snowboarders, along with only 40 other passengers on board to pursue different Antarctic experiences – among them sea kayaking, snowshoeing and photography.

As menacing as the Drake Passage can be, the Akademik Ioffe proved a sturdy vessel, its flat-bottomed hull suited to riding out heavy seas in relative comfort.

Staterooms with private showers, table service in the dining room, a lounge with afternoon happy hour, and a well-stocked library are enough to make passengers forget they are bound for a white wilderness that is the very antithesis of luxury.

After two days at sea, we reached landfall at Deception Island near the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula. The full meaning of “the earth’s most remote continent” sank in: a people-less landscape where

glaciers end abruptly at the sea in 164-foot (50-meter) high ice cliffs, and peaks like Mount Jackson soar to more than 9,800 feet (3,000 meters).

Today we turn our attention to Mount Tennant, 2,300 feet (700 meters) skyward. The Zodiac unloaded, I sit on my backpack and begin shoehorning feet into ski boots.

The air is ripe with the odor of penguin guano. A sole gentoo, one of only four species of penguin that breed in Antarctica, waddles up Charlie Chaplin-style to inspect our group.

“Everybody tooled up and ready?” asks Tarn Pilkington, one of our guides, clicking his ski poles together.

Ice axes strapped to backpacks and climbing skins adhered to the bases of boards and skis, we fall in behind him as he breaks trail through a dusting of fresh snow. Once out of earshot of the chattering gentoos, a sense of isolation and insignificance sets in.

Cold ocean extends to the northern horizon, while infinite mountains and jumbled glaciers unfold toward the South Pole.

TRAVEL: ANTARCTICA

The least traveled of Earth’s continents represents a tantalizing final frontier of untracked mountains.

As we trudge upwards, I ponder the great race for this geographic prize that galvanized the globe a century ago. On December 14, 1911, the stoic and practical Norwegian Roald Amundsen reached the pole with his team, prevailing in a bitter contest with Englishman Robert Falcon Scott – who arrived a month later only to find the red, blue and white flag of Norway fluttering defiantly in the cold air.

“Wild, just wild,” I hear Brummer behind me, commenting with his American Midwest drawl on our icy surroundings rippled with crevasses, granitic peaks piercing the blue sky.

“Last week I was literally peeling the price tags off my gear as I was packing for this trip,” says Brummer, who is new to backcountry boarding. And though you needn’t be an extreme athlete to do it, a mountain ascent on skis, without the advantage of chairlift, helicopter or snowcat, requires a high level of fitness and endurance – something I try not to think about as I follow the track meditatively.

As the glacier steepens and crevasses complicate the route ahead, the guides divide us into two rope teams for protection, just in case a snow bridge suddenly collapses.

The sun burns intensely, so I pull a bandana over my face, leaving a slit for sunglasses. We carry on tethered together by a 0.35-inch climbing rope, conversation replaced by labored breathing.

It takes three hours to climb and weave around crevasses that could swallow a bus, and now we are on the gentle summit slopes. Suddenly there’s a loud echoing rumble, like thunder. My gaze is drawn to the bay and I spot an apartment-block-sized iceberg splitting in two.

One half disintegrates into thousands of fragments; the other stays intact, rolling over to assume new stasis.

Though climate change seems implausible in such a frozen world, research indicates that the ice shelf before us that once extended hundreds of miles from the continent into the sea is in rapid retreat. Dramatic disintegrations of the polar ice, like the one we just witnessed, tell the story of modern Antarctica.

T

en minutes later we’re basking at the summit, chomping for turns. We peel off climbing skins, while drinking water, munching chocolate and reapplying sun block. Pilkington leads off, instructing us to stay left of his tracks to avoid a tangle of seracs, blocks of unstable ice formed where a glacier flows over a convexity in the bedrock beneath.

The clear visibility and bonus springtime fresh snow make for dreamy skiing. I carve fast swooping turns in the boot-deep powder – feathery snow crystals sparkling in clear air – and aim for where Pilkington waits.

Brummer sets off, using poles for balance and exhibiting the utilitarian style expected of a snowboarder rooted in the flatlands of rural Illinois.

Sixteen-hundred vertical feet below us in the bay, the Zodiac leaves the ship bound for our scheduled Experience

25

Quote - Pull quote Et fugia que veni cuptassite laboritas aliasped quas lorem ipsum sit ametin.

– Pull quote signature

CALL OF THE SOUTH Ice axes, climbing skins and extreme fortitude required: Skiing Antarctica is not for those who’ve only known the comfort of a chair lift.

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Experience

pickup. From our lofty vantage, the Akademik Ioffe looks like a miniature and, I must admit, reassuring beacon of civilization in this vast landscape. We have time for another lap on the upper slopes, and so in 15 minutes are back at the top staring down at untracked snow. On the day’s last descent, our guides pause only to regroup and thread carefully among crevasses before the final slope drops us back onto the glacier’s terminus.

The Zodiac driver is waiting for us, snapping photos of penguins, mesmerizing birds that can seem uncannily human in their black and white feathered tuxedos.

“How was it?” he asks.

“Best day of skiing yet in Antarctica, I’d say,” Pilkington replies, grinning.

A

s we clamber up the gangway, a voice on the intercom announces the outdoor hot tub and saltwater plunge pool are open for business. I swap ski clothes for bathing trunks in my cabin, throw on a bathrobe and descend to the lounge where Ian Peck, the gregarious bartender from Nova Scotia, Canada, cracks open a can of his homeland’s Moosehead beer for me.

In minutes I’m easing ski-fatigued legs into 104-degree Fahrenheit (40-degree Celsius) water. I tilt my head back and gaze overhead. I haven’t seen a jet’s contrail since leaving Argentina. Not only is the Antarctic continent remote, even the sky above it feels wild, untraveled. I climb out of the Jacuzzi, and head over to the plunge pool, a blue tank filled with 10 feet of frigid saltwater.

TRAVEL: ANTARCTICA

“You are the first generation of Antarctic visitors who can realistically plan on gaining weight during your voyage.”

– Site Guide to the Antarctic Peninsula

I grab the ladder rungs, inhale deeply and, after a couple of false starts, submerge myself in a bone-chilling baptism that lasts mere seconds. I scamper up the ladder, gasping as I sprint to the hot tub. A burly Russian deckhand watches me, shaking his head and laughing. I take that to mean I’m either a wimp or crazy.

Later, the dining room is boisterous with passengers energized from a sunny Antarctic day. I sit down to roasted chicken and tortellini in gorgonzola sauce, washing down the replenishing calories with a crisp glass of Chardonnay. The repast reminds me of something I read last night in the introduction to the Oceanites Site Guide to the Antarctic Peninsula: “You are the first generation of Antarctic visitors who can realistically plan on gaining weight during your voyage.”

Indeed it was only a century ago that explorers risked life and limb to unlock the white continent’s secrets.

Denise Landau, next to whom I’m sitting, didn’t put her life in peril when she first visited the Antarctic Peninsula in 1991, but she was equally inspired and hasn’t missed a season. She’s one of the knowledgeable onboard naturalists. Born in Michigan, this biologist and ski instructor was, for a time, executive director of the International

Association of Antarctic Tour Operators.

Landau was instrumental in establishing operating standards to minimize the impact of the roughly 26,000 travelers who now visit Antarctica annually.

Last winter the Akademik Ioffe played host to the first ever floating Polar Conference, aimed at finding ways to preserve the continent for future generations. It’s a topic close to Landau’s heart. For her efforts, colleagues rallied to have a glacier named after her. “You usually have to be dead for that kind of honor,” Landau says with a laugh, while we savor the last of the panna cotta.

After supper I climb to the observation deck, to watch the sun set as the ship sails north up Gerlache Strait beneath the eternal dusk of late November in the far south.

The mountains glow pink – a landscape photographer’s dream – and the soft light reveals infinite textures of icebergs carved by nature and sitting motionless in the strait.

Already I’m anticipating what tomorrow morning will bring when the Zodiac driver delivers us to another frozen shoreline and another mountain to ski in Antarctica, a place much more accessible than it was when pioneering explorers raced for the South Pole, but no less beautiful, alluring and wild.

ANTARCTIC COOLDOWN Champagne and a hearty post-excursion meal greet guests upon their return to the ship after a day of guided skiing, kayaking, snowshoeing or photography.

Experience

27

TRAVEL: ANTARCTICA

COLD COMFORT A former research vessel, the Akademik Ioffe was repurposed as a luxury cruise ship. Last winter it also played host to the Polar Conference.

Tour de Antarctica Explore the wild beauty of the Antarctic Peninsula with One Ocean Expeditions’ ski tours, led by expert guides. Here are three of their favorite routes.

Yankee Harbour Ski tour to Yankee Bowl 820 feet (250 meters) Highlights: A wide bowl with good snow and a short climb to a small peak. The November trip coincides with the arrival of the gentoo penguins.

Deception Island Ski tour towards Mount Pond 1,772 feet (540 meters) Highlights: The circular island is formed from a volcanic caldera. Skiing here offers views of a historic whaling SCOTT’S DIARIES “The Terra Nova Held Up in the Pack” (December 13, 1910), Herbert Ponting

station along with a spot for an après-ski plunge in the geothermally heated seawater at the shoreline.

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Experience

Floating Gallery

Hovgaard Island

One Ocean Expeditions has partnered with the Scott Polar

Ski tour and ski descent

Research Institute (SPRI) at the University of Cambridge and Salto

820 feet (250 meters)

Ulbeek publishers to exhibit limited-edition photographs of Captain

Highlights: A long, mellow

Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole.

descent with plenty of scope for

Seven of the photos, taken by expedition photographer Herbert

traversing the island. This route

Ponting between 1910 and 1913, will be displayed on each ship –

offers a backdrop of rolling hills

the Akademik Ioffe and Akademik Sergey Vavilov – until March 2018

and glacial terrain, as well as

and will also be available for purchase, with half the proceeds going

stunning views of the Antarctic

towards SPRI’s polar exploration and research. spri.cam.ac.uk

Peninsula on a clear day.

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WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

On a visit to Frette’s manufacturing facilities outside Milan, our writer gains a firsthand look at the skill and sensory detail that go into the world’s most luxurious linens.

BY STEPHANIE DRAX PHOTOS BY GUNNAR KNECHTEL

CRAFTSMANSHIP SLEEPING BEAUTY (This page) Andrea Warden displays merchandise and monogram samples in Frette’s Milan flagship store; (opposite) in the Como mill, a designer paints a floral design on paper that may later become a fabric pattern.

I’

m caressing covers of crisp percale, kneading my hands into pillowcases of fine poplin and stroking cushions of lustrous sateen. Choosing bed linen is an intimate affair.

Until you feel the fabrics, you can’t truly appreciate the difference between the sheets.

I am at Frette’s flagship store in Milan, located in a handsome townhouse on Via della Spiga, one of the city’s most illustrious shopping promenades. Since opening its doors in the late 1800s, Frette has made it its business to seduce us. Founder Edmond Frette began manufacturing luxury textiles near Monza in northern Italy in 1865 after relocating from his hometown of Grenoble in France. He was one of the first linen merchants to produce jacquard – intricate designs achieved by a mechanical loom imported from his homeland that used punch cards to control the weave. The Italian royal family and European nobility soon fell for Frette’s luxurious fabrics emblazoned with their monograms and crests.

The company flourished, dressing the dining tables of the Orient Express, the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica and the beds of many of the world’s most illustrious hotels, including the Danieli and Savoy,

Raffles and the Ritz. Today, Frette’s hospitality connections continue to thrive, alongside more than 100 boutiques worldwide including a newly opened London flagship store. The Frette range of bed, bath and table linens, robes, blankets and throws, nightwear and home fragrances are highly sought after by devoted clients and interior designers of the world’s finest homes, yachts and jets.

Silver Linings

Since last year, the Milan boutique has offered the Frette Bespoke experience, which I’ve joined today. “This is how Frette once worked with noble families and royalty,” explains Andrea Warden, the company’s brand director. “It’s the most comprehensive bespoke offer that you can get in the bed linen market.”

It begins with a thorough delve into my personal preferences.

Sitting either side of a vintage walnut measuring table from one of the early Italian Frette factories, Warden asks, “Think of what you like the feel of, especially against your face.” She first presents me with numerous loose samples, and then guides me to the linens on a perfectly made bed.

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31

CRAFTSMANSHIP

SENSORY RECALL Scenes from the Frette archives, such as its superior raw materials and vintage catalogs speak to a history of quality; design director Felicina Ritarossi draws inspiration from the brand DNA.

Frette fabrics are as much about making a style statement as inducing restful sleep.

The way that a fabric is woven (cotton can be characterized by terms such as poplin, percale and sateen – see sidebar) defines how it feels on your skin. We then talk colors and all the possible embellishments. I’m smitten by a sham border of diaphanous macramé lace, as complex as a snowflake. Also, a duvet set hand-painted with a riot of spring flowers by Italian artist Lisa Rampilli.

The finishing touch to Frette’s customization experience: the monogram. Warden produces a colossal book brimming with letters in abundant styles, from scrolling romantic to Art Deco, and crowns, emblems and motifs of all kinds. One client, I learn, had his superyacht outfitted with bed linen, robes and towels for each of its 10 staterooms and bathrooms – the colors and designs of the 10 sets were different, but each item bore the logo of the yacht. Another client commissioned an order of bespoke table linen ornately embellished with inset gold embroidery for a Middle Eastern palace.

“Today’s clients want linens custom-made to their taste, identity and private environment,” explains CEO Hervé Martin as we meet over a dinner of veal Milanese at an enchanting restaurant in the Brera district, festooned with twinkling lights.

Martin, who joined the company in 2014 after honing his perception of luxury retail at Baccarat, Salvatore Ferragamo, Kenzo, Louis Vuitton and Cartier, is tasked with balancing Frette’s traditions with fresh ideas. “It’s a brand that should respect its heritage but also be in search of constant redefinition,” he says.

Also new to Frette’s leadership team is design director Felicina Ritarossi, who had formerly worked in fashion textiles with the likes of Chanel. She and I meet the following morning in the archives, a small room bursting with vintage Frette mail order books, documents, technical designs and fabrics, tucked inside the company’s office in Monza, just outside of Milan. It’s a cornucopia of cultural and social artifacts, from a 1901 tablecloth for Margherita, the Queen Mother of Italy, to catalogs featuring kitschy prints that were popular in homes of the 1960s and ’70s. These archives are fertile ground for a designer’s inspiration, particularly one who

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must devise the next seasonal collection. “We create the trend,” says Ritarossi confidently, au fait with pushing creative boundaries. “I look at what’s new in design, fashion and interiors – whether it’s shine, matte, crisp or smooth finishes – but I never forget the Frette DNA of jacquard, quality and rich patterns.”

The Spring/Summer 2017 collection, Chine, blends a traditional jacquard flower pattern with contemporary color combinations. “My idea was to enhance the craftsmanship and put an accent on the weaving activity of Frette and the jacquard loom, so the collection is especially rich and elaborate with special threads used for haute couture fabrics,” Ritarossi explains.

She drapes a swathe of the Chine material on the table; it’s an ornate silk and linen mix in dark gray, copper, gold and blue that generates a beguiling effect of shine and matte. It has a satisfying weight and shape and, as a bedspread, would add instant grandeur to a room.

Uncommon Thread

FINE FINDS (From top) The exterior of Frette’s flagship store in Milan; in the archives, logos and swatches reveal the tradition of supplying linens to Europe’s finest hotels.

Frette fabrics are intertwined with fashion and are as much about making a style statement as inducing restful sleep. So I’m not surprised to be told that Frette’s partner in production, a weaving mill that I’m about to visit, also produces material for top luxury brands. Located in a sleek and contemporary warehouse in Como, a city regarded as the center of the world’s luxury textiles industry, this prestigious facility manufactures 2.5 million meters of materials every year. Frette is its only linen client, and every button and label is accounted for to preserve authenticity.

In the mill’s design studio, four artists are delicately painting floral designs on to paper or cotton canvas with slender brushes.

Following a design consultation with Frette, this is how the patterns are first formed. Then, computer-aided drafting experts scan the work, accentuate the detail, ensure the color fidelity and separate

Frette Fabric Guide —

01. Percale Cotton of a simple weave – one thread over, one thread under – that creates a cool and crisp finish. Found in the Hotel Classic Bedding Collection, available to buy.

Thread count: 200 02. Poplin Typically a light but densely woven cotton that’s mercerized (a treatment that adds luster). Frette’s poplin is woven using ultra-fine thread to make it featherlight and very soft.

Thread count: 240 03. Sateen The loose, interlacing weave of fine and dense thread results in a lustrous, silky-smooth fabric. Frette chooses the longest, thinnest and strongest threads to produce the optimum finish. Thread count: 300–500 04. Ultimate sateen The most highly graded of the Egyptian cottons is Giza 45. These valuable fibers are grown in small quantities in the Nile Delta in Egypt, and produce the most smooth, uniform and resistant thread possible. Thread count: 1000 05. Linen Natural fibers from the flax plant are woven to create a textile that is cool and fresh to the touch.

Highly absorbent without feeling moist, it’s especially popular in warm and humid climates.

06. Silk Durable, absorbent and cooling in summer, silk helps maintain body temperature, making it warm in winter too. Frette’s silk is sourced in Asia and exclusively spun and woven in Italy.

07. Jacquard The digital jacquard loom facilitates the increasingly complex designs – different weaves, 3-D effects, contrasts in color – that are one of the hallmarks of Frette craftsmanship. The designs are most dramatically showcased in Frette’s decorative quilts and pillows.

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CRAFTSMANSHIP ON POINT (Left) The double jacquard loom has 26,400 needles; (below) Frette styled the Global 7000 aircraft mock-up at EBACE 2016.

When weaving is complete, the Como fabric designed in Monza will be rigorously tested for durability. all the design elements into digital layers for the potential fabric effects to be discussed. Together, Frette and the manufacturer consider the best textures to use for each color, a finished concept that will then be actualized by the jacquard loom.

I’m guided past hundreds of crates filled with a kaleidoscope of yarns and spools of cashmere, wool and silk – superior raw materials sourced on demand by the mill’s team for Frette. I hear the persistent din of the weaving machines well before I see them. The facility houses 100 looms for designer fashion clients and six double-width jacquard looms that produce the size required for Frette’s linens and fabrics. The double jacquard loom is 3.5 meters high, 3 meters wide and has 26,400 needles frantically weaving the warp (vertical threads) and weft (horizontal threads). Each needle is threaded with a single yarn that’s controlled by the digital jacquard machine above.

When weaving is complete, the Como fabric designed in Monza will be rigorously tested for strength and durability. Lace will be made in Varese, embroidery completed in Puglia, before all the elements convene to be meticulously hand finished by artisans at the Frette Cut & Sew laboratories also in Puglia.

From a cascade of threads on the jacquard loom, I see a gleaming and flawless pink fabric in silk and cotton with silvery swirls materialize before my eyes. When it hits the shelves as the “Flare” duvet cover for Spring/Summer 2017, few will think of the 156 years of technical expertise that led to its creation. To the touch, however, it will be unmistakably Frette – the fibers, finish and feel that are the stuff of dreams.

The Lore on Linens

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Cabin Comforts —

On board a business jet, Frette linens lend a distinctive touch of home to the in-flight experience. It seemed natural then that Bombardier Business Aircraft and Frette should work together to showcase how Frette linens can complete the look of a jet interior. This year, they combined their expertise to outfit the Global 7000 mock-up at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition. The bedroom of the jet’s unique, true four-zone cabin was furnished with the Illusione design in mineral blue (a classic Frette fabric in cotton sateen with an interlocking rhomboid motif), the living room was accented with gold silk monogrammed cushions and the dining table was set with a jacquard cotton sateen tablecloth and triple line embroidered linen placemats. Says Frette CEO Hervé Martin, “Bombardier gives its clients the ability to achieve their object of desire and well-being. My objective is to accompany our clients, wherever they go, with our best products.”

Thread Count Every square inch of fabric is made up

Egyptian Cotton Often this term simply refers to the seed

of a number of warp and weft threads, and a sheet with a

itself, which can grow anywhere. But truly exceptional

higher thread count should be softer and more durable.

1000-thread-count linens require the inimitable Giza 45 raw

However, it’s the raw materials – the length and quality of

cotton. Its extra-long fibers, only cultivated in the Nile Delta,

the fibers – that make the difference from the outset.

account for just 0.4 percent of total annual Egyptian production.

L I F E

I S

A B O U T

M O M E N T S

C E L E B R AT I N G E L E G A N C E S I N C E 1 8 3 0

CLIFTON STEEL, 43 MM SELF-WINDING www.baume-et-mercier.com

PROFILE: REGA

AIR SUPPLY

Swiss air-ambulance Rega transforms Challenger aircraft into intensive care units operating at 41,000 feet.

BY IRENE CASELLI

D

aris was only a couple of days old when he took his very first plane ride. Born prematurely in Austria while his Swiss parents were on vacation, he weighed barely four pounds and needed intensive care immediately.

Unsure of how to transport him home safely, his parents contacted Rega, a privately run, nonprofit foundation that offers air emergency services within Switzerland and to Swiss citizens abroad. A medical team studied how to best repatriate Daris. They decided on one of Rega’s Challenger ambulance jets. Despite the risks of the changing altitude, the flight would be a much smoother trip than traveling by road, where abrupt movements and vibrations are potential causes of injury. Daris was transported in a special travel incubator which kept his body temperature stable and gave doctors the chance to monitor his vital functions – all on board a Challenger 604 aircraft, with his mother sitting just across the aisle.

Once in Switzerland, the baby spent a few more weeks in the neonatal ward of a hospital before finally going home. The mission was a success.

To the Rescue

“In each deployment there are emergencies and people’s destinies at stake,” says Rega CEO Ernst Kohler. “Every single one is important.”

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PHOTOS: REGA

MEET THE TEAM Ernst Kohler, Rega CEO since 2006; (opposite and below) Rega’s current fleet includes three Challenger 604 jets and 17 helicopters.

In 2015 alone, Rega’s jets and helicopters carried out some 15,000 lifesaving missions. Most happen in Switzerland via helicopter in cases where the response needs to be immediate – a hiker collapsing along the Segna Pass, a skier breaking their leg on a piste. Ambulance jets are usually deployed abroad, when the incident is less time sensitive but equally delicate – a scooter accident in Corfu, a car crash in Bangladesh – repatriating Swiss residents from around the world and providing intensive care along the way. (The foundation also lends its ambulance jets to private insurance companies worldwide, which, along with private donations, helps finance operations.)

Rega’s history is deeply connected to the snow-capped Alps that constitute a large part of the Swiss territory.

The first mountain rescue by helicopter took place in 1946, and the Swiss Air-Rescue association was officially born in 1952. The name Rega is a combination of the association’s name in Switzerland’s three main languages: “RE” from German (REttungsflugwacht), “GA” from French (Garde Aérienne) and Italian (Guardia Aerea).

Kohler, who holds the rank of colonel in the Swiss Air Force, has been CEO since 2006. As a former airport manager, as well as a mountain guide and rescuer, he was a natural fit for the company.

“Already, in the beginning stages of my work as mountain rescuer, I was fascinated by the combination of personal skills and technology. I would have never

Ernst Kohler, a former mountain rescuer who holds the rank of colonel in the Swiss Air Force, was a natural fit for Rega.

Experience

37

PROFILE: REGA

After the 2004 tsunami, Rega flew 14 patients back to Switzerland in only four flights. higher-thrust engines that ensure a shorter takeoff distance and the capacity to fly further.

Size is important because the jets have to be equipped in order to transport up to four patients at a time – two in intensive care units, lying down – as well as medical staff. The Challenger’s expansive cabin allows standing room for staff seeing to patients throughout the journey.

Kohler recalls that when the tsunami hit Southeast Asia in 2004, Rega managed to safely fly 14 patients back to Switzerland in only four flights.

Complete Control

TOP VIEW While Rega’s Challenger jets are ideal for repatriating Swiss residents, helicopters are deployed for accidents in the Alps.

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dreamed of all the technological possibilities we have access to nowadays.”

Challenger jets are also a natural fit for the missions, and have been part of Rega’s fleet since 1982. Rega currently operates three specially equipped Challenger 604 jets (along with 17 helicopters), and is set to replace them with three brand-new Challenger 650 jets in 2018.

“We entrusted an interdisciplinary team with finding a suitable replacement, comprising experts from the fields of aviation, medicine and medical care, and this team chose the Challenger 650 out of 60 different jet types,” explains Kohler. “In the last 14 years our Challenger 604s spent over 15,000 hours airborne and performed 7,800 landings – per jet! As far as I know, no other Challenger jet has done this before.”

The main factors the team considered included maintenance, reliability and size. Reliability is decisive because Rega operates its jets around the world, 365 days a year, and needs to react quickly whenever it is alerted via phone or mobile app. The Challenger 650 will have several advantages over its previous model, including

While the Challenger 650’s sleek cabin design and in-flight entertainment are often deciding factors for owners, when Rega’s new fleet is delivered the aircraft will be virtually empty. Swiss aircraft completion company Aerolite will be in charge of outfitting the cabin, while Canada’s Flying Colours will take care of integrating medical equipment, which includes monitoring devices, suction pumps, respirators and oxygen cylinders, as well as a three-piece ramp that accommodates a stretcher trolley. A made-to-scale plywood mock-up of the cabin was built in order to plan and test the space in real life, allowing necessary adjustments to be made ahead of time, including incorporating wider beds. Other important modifications for Rega air ambulances include reducing noise in the cabin with a special assembly method that lessens engine-induced vibrations – vital for delicate patients like Daris.

Stories like his, successes born of shaky starts, are a testament to both Rega’s efficient fleet and capable medical staff – as is the organization’s nationwide popularity.

Over the years, Rega has become a household name in Switzerland, where it has 3.2 million patrons (who, in exchange for donating, can have the costs for any Rega services they need waived, wholly or in part). Says Kohler, “The biggest honor and at the same time the biggest challenge is that Rega enjoys a huge acceptance in Switzerland.

One out of three Swiss is a Rega patron. That fills me with great pride. At the same time, each patron has high expectations that Rega must fulfill.”

How to Donate Support the privately run, nonprofit Rega foundation by making a one-time contribution (by credit card or electronic transfer) or by signing up for regular donations. The minimum amount to be a patron is CHF30 (US$31) per year for individuals, with discounts available for families. rega.ch

P A S S I O N

F O R

E X C E L L E N C E

AN EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCE, EVERY TIME Passion for excellence is our trademark. In everything we do, our goal is to meet and surpass your expectations. Our highly trained staff is always on hand to ensure your complete satisfaction, both on the ground and in the air. And our unrivalled facilities located at Dubai World Central guarantee your comfort and convenience every time you fly.

T: +971 (0)4 870 1800 | www.dc-aviation.ae | an Al-Futtaim joint venture Al Maktoum International Airport | DWC | Aviation District | Dubai U.A.E

TRAVEL: GALAPAGOS

ORIGIN STORY

A cruise through the Galapagos strikes a natural balance between navigating the untamed world and indulging in creature comforts.

BY EVE THOMAS | PHOTOS BY RICHMOND LAM

S

“

omewhere Over the Rainbow” plays on the PA system and by now I know exactly what that means: time to wake up. I rub my eyes as the ship’s concierge, Maria del Carmen, welcomes us to “another day in paradise” in a gentle purr. Then she reveals where the Origin has anchored after traveling all night, our dreams set against the low rumble of the vessel’s engines. I roll over and gaze straight into the sea, through the crystal-clear, wall-spanning windows. Before I can

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sit up, a sea turtle floats by lazily in a cloud of silver fish. Then a pale brown pelican swoops into view before diving straight down, emerging moments later, engorged and victorious.

It’s barely 7 a.m. If I were back at home I would just be starting breakfast. In the Galapagos, I’m already making memories.

“Darwin did not change the islands, only people’s opinions of them,” writes Kurt Vonnegut in Galapagos, a fictional take on the first luxury cruise to the archipelago (and subsequent devolution of humans into furry, sea-lion-like creatures). A trip to the famed Ecuadorian province 600 miles off the coast of South America is really a lesson in perspective: Here, it’s not just what you see, but how you see it – and who is showing it to you.

For Darwin’s part, he traveled to a selection of Galapagos’ 19 volcanic islands for five weeks in 1835 aboard the HMS Beagle, as part of a five-year expedition along the equator. His impressions of the local flora and fauna weren’t always kind – he calls the marine iguana “a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black color” and dismisses the local blossoms as “insignificant, ugly little flowers, as would better become an Arctic than a tropical country” – but of course his notes and discussions with expats about the island-specific variations, from tortoises’ backs to finches’ beaks, would lay the groundwork for On the Origin of Species, published 25 years later.

For my weeklong journey, I’m in the capable hands of the Origin’s crew, ready and waiting with cold guava juice and hot chocolate every time we return from an outing. Christened mere weeks before my arrival, the Origin is the newest ship from Ecoventura, which has specialized in small groups and green tourism in the region for

WET LANDING A characteristically fearless sea lion pup; (opposite) the Origin anchored by cactuslined South Plaza Island.

TRAVEL: GALAPAGOS over 20 years (“We offset our carbon emissions before eco-friendly travel was trendy,” notes president Santiago Dunn over dinner). Its 10 airy suites suggest a private yacht rather than a cruise ship – albeit one with a gourmet chef who runs trendy pop-up restaurants in Guayaquil in his downtime, and two Galapagos-based naturalists aboard (the park requires a 1:16 guide-to-passenger ratio, while Ecoventura’s is 1:10, and all the company’s naturalists are Ecuadorian nationals, with 65 percent residing in Galapagos). During the evening briefings on the Darwin deck with guides Gustavo Andrade and Ivan Lopez, the islands are approached from every angle: biology, history, politics, myths, and stories from their childhood.

On top of the elite staff, the suites themselves feel like spas at sea (or private aircraft cabins), all clean lines and pale wood paneling.

Dunn explains that many design details were decided on with input from frequent guests, who called for roomier washrooms, new pocket doors and those memory-making cabin views, including windows in the shower. “I wanted them to be as large as possible,” says Dunn, “to really capture the horizon.”

Not that I spend much time in the cabin. Instead, I make fast friends with the other guests, mostly couples, comparing notes from our day and trading stories of previous world travels – and there are a lot of previous travels. This is a trip for the top of the bucket list. As one man remarks over a lunch of coriander-studded ceviche, “This is where you come after you’ve been on safari a few times.”

“It feels like Iceland, so wild and untended,” adds his wife. “Well, except on board. This here is more like St. Barts.”

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Experience

Although it was discovered by a bishop in 1535, and a regular stop for whalers and buccaneers, the archipelago’s tourism industry only really started in the 1960s, and even then it was mostly adventurous wealthy people paying fishermen to show them around. (“A shower meant jumping in the water,” says Andrade, who grew up on his father’s boats and now owns a boutique hotel on San Cristobal, one of the four inhabited islands.) Regularly scheduled air service began in the 1970s, and in 1978 the archipelago was one of the first regions in the world to receive UNESCO protection – now 97 percent of the province is a national park.

It was the islands’ isolation and inhospitable nature that proved to be their saving grace, in terms of preservation. And the ebb and flow of outside interest has been a reminder of nature’s fragility and resilience, not to mention humanity’s power to destroy and revive.

As we tour a giant tortoise “ranch” in the Santa Cruz highlands, Andrade tells me an estimated 200,000 tortoises were taken alive onto ships for a steady, fresh supply of meat (“the young tortoises make an excellent soup,” notes Darwin). Some subspecies were driven to extinction – including the Pinta Island tortoise, the last known individual of which was the famous Lonesome George – but captive breeding programs are now successfully repopulating the islands. While walking along Floreana’s pale green beach, Lopez says that as recently as the 1990s unchecked tourism made some beaches’ crowds “feel like Miami”; now ships must follow strict itineraries that lessen the burden on popular sites and can only approach islands in small motorized pangas.

It was the islands’ isolation and inhospitable nature that proved to be their saving grace.

PICTURE PERFECT (Opposite) Nature photography is simple on Española Island; (clockwise from top left) blue-footed boobies; a finch’s nest; an Origin stateroom view; a postcard-worthy rainbow above the cliffs of Española.

TRAVEL: GALAPAGOS

In many ways, tour operators such as Ecoventura are among the first lines of defense against environmental devastation. They know that the natural world must be preserved if they want to have a business in the future, and their teams of naturalist guides are the eyes and ears of the park, along with its official wardens, scanning the seas for outof-bound boats and surveying the wildlife wherever they anchor.

“T

ANOTHER WORLD (From top) South Plaza Island; marine iguanas are unique to Galapagos; (opposite) a panga ride by Pinnacle Rock near Bartolomé Island, which Buzz Aldrin compared to the moon.

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Experience

hey aren’t tame, they’re just not afraid, because they didn’t evolve with humans around,” explains Andrade as we stop inches away from a pair of blue-footed boobies, the Galapagos’ veritable mascot. I crouch down, camera out (no telephoto lens required). The birds present themselves, in all their cerulean-footed glory, as perfect and still as Audubon paintings. Not only are they willing models, but because the different types of boobies mate all year and populate several islands, they offer themselves up in every stage of life: incubating eggs, feeding chicks, learning to fly, and doing their famous mating dance, a mix of foot stomping, whistles and honks. Even the deceased birds are strange specimens. Without large mammals or scavengers, they can remain intact for months, feathers and all, preserved by the salty air.

It is a hard concept to grasp, even while I’m observing it firsthand.

These aren’t trained dolphins performing for treats or elephants raised in a sanctuary. It’s not that the animals here have grown comfortable with humans – they simply don’t care.

I’m forced to ponder this strange lack again and again, and not just with the wildlife. There are no resorts along the prime real estate

PHOTOS OFFICTAM VERCIIS ALIBEA (DOLUPTAS)

TRAVEL: GALAPAGOS of sandy beaches, no garbage washing up on shore, and trail markings aren’t vista-ruining steel bars or bright orange warning signs, but low wooden stakes that fade into the background.

Even when I do think I’ve observed the aftermath of human impact, footprints covering the beach on Fernandina Island, I quickly correct myself. The marks are all animal: sea lions’ trails to and from the water, finches’ tiny footprints and the long, unbroken lines of iguanas’ heavy tails. The closest thing to civilization here is a whale’s skeleton, which has been gathered and arranged by volunteers after washing up on shore.

“Careful,” Andrade cautions me as I reach down to touch a piece of the ghostly gray spine, and I snap to attention at this rare warning.

Before I can guess what the danger may be – didn’t they promise us there were no land predators in the Galapagos? – I notice a sleepy sea lion pup by my feet. It stares up at me with dinner plate eyes, its plump body half coated in powdery white sand, the kind most resorts import (or Photoshop onto brochures).

Ultimately it is the naturalists’ voices that prove key in this journey, narrating a highlight reel on every outing: White-tipped reef sharks join us as we snorkel. Yellow-tinged land iguanas fight over a fallen pad of cactus. Albatrosses rediscover their lifelong mates, cawing and clashing beaks like children fencing with wooden sticks.

I’ve noticed neither Andrade nor Lopez ever promises we’ll see a certain creature or event, it’s always “Maybe, probably, perhaps,” but it’s becoming clear that this is less cautious optimism, more an inside joke, because the Galapagos always seems to deliver.

As we make our way up to the steep cliffs of Española Island, I’m grateful to have them lead us through the unforgiving trail, until we arrive at a point stacked high with leathery black sea iguanas.

We stop to rest, take a drink of water, and watch the strange, alien creatures sunning themselves alongside sea lions and Nazca boobies.

And just when I think we’ve watched them long enough, taken enough photos, Andrade redirects our attention to what seems like an empty rocky outcropping.

“Wait,” he says, smiling, for once not giving us a hint about what we’re going to see, no scientific explanation or Latin taxonomy. We wait. A wave hits the cliff, exploding through a crack in its surface.

The water sprays up into the clouds then dissolves into a misty, brilliant rainbow, which seems to float off into the sky. Once more, we have front row seats for it all – as long as we know where to look.

Inspiration Island

46

Ecoventura The MV Origin is Ecoventura’s newest, most luxurious vessel, a 142-foot, 20-passenger mega yacht whose 10 staterooms are all on the main deck and feature expansive ocean views. Guests can indulge in gourmet meals, an open bar, a sun deck with wet bar and day beds (pictured) and a fitness center. The 13-member crew includes a concierge and two naturalists. origingalapagos.com

tell the tale of eccentric

luxury cruise to the

Master and Commander

expats, including a

islands, followed by a

The 2003 drama about the

Charles Darwin wasn’t

gun-toting Austrian

shipwreck and the

HMS Surprise, starring

Galapagos’ only famous

who called herself the

evolution of humans into

Russell Crowe, was the

visitor. Witness a short list

Baroness, trying to survive

sea-lion-like creatures.

first feature film to be shot

of people and works

on Floreana Island in

inspired by the islands.

the 1930s.

Upon visiting Bartolomé

Godzilla

The Galapagos Affair

Galapagos

Island, the astronaut said it

The 2014 remake got

This book and a

Kurt Vonnegut’s 1985 novel

was the closest he’d come

monster inspiration from

subsequent documentary

tells the story of the first

to returning to the moon.

the region’s land iguanas.

Experience

in the national park.

Buzz Aldrin

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Europe 3 Regional Support Offices 1 Bombardier Service Center 13 Authorized Service Facilities 1 Parts Facility 2 Training Facilities 1 L ine Maintenance Station 2 Customer Response Team Mobile Units

North + South America

Asia + Middle East

5 Regional Support Offices

2 Customer Response Centers 5 Bombardier Service Centers 18 Authorized Service Facilities 3 Parts Facilities 3 Training Facilities 13 Customer Response Team Mobile Units 1 Customer Response Team Aircraft

5 Regional Support Offices 1 Bombardier Service Center 13 Authorized Service Facilities 5 Parts Facilities 1 Training Facility

Africa 1 R egional Support Office 2 Authorized Service Facilities 1 Parts Facility

Australia 1 Regional Support Office 2 Authorized Service Facilities 1 Parts Facility

PUTTING YOU FIRST

— > Two 24/7 customer response centers: Montreal and Wichita > 15 regional support offices worldwide > On-site support through Bombardier’s Customer Response Team > High parts availability with 10 parts facilities around the world > Bombardier flight and technical training with six training facilities worldwide > Over 60 service and maintenance facilities around the world

North + South America

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Asia + Middle East

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Europe

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San Jose, CA Seattle, WA

Africa

Netherlands

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Legend

Toluca, Mexico

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Bombardier Owned Service

Center Parts Depot Parts Hub Training Facility Line Maintenance

Station Mobile Unit

Burgess Hill, UK

Regional Support Office

Johannesburg,

South Africa

Australia

Munich, Germany

Nice, France

Sydney, Australia

Contact our Customer Response Centers: 1 866 538 1247 (North America) // 1 514 855 2999 (International)

Experience

47

Jalan Kayu Aya, Seminyak Beach Bali 80361 - Indonesia T +62-361730622 F +62-361730623

info@lhm-hotels.com www.LHM-hotels.com

WINGSPAN

UPWARDLY MOBILE

Bombardier’s Customer Response Team is a round-the-clock, mobile force whose members thrive on flexibility – and a sense of humor.

BY M I K E S PRY

E

very driver has dreaded a similar scenario.

It’s a dark, midwinter night and you’re en route to a birthday dinner or your child’s school play. The waning moon is obscured by thick clouds and even thicker snowfall.

Suddenly, a flash of danger: an unfamiliar sound, slick road, engine warning light. In those moments we can reach for our mobile phones, a quick dial to the auto club, even flag down a helpful passerby. A solution is at hand.

Now imagine if, instead of an SUV or cabriolet, the vehicle in question is a Challenger or Global jet, and the dark highway is actually a runway outside Atlanta or Cleveland or Cannes. This is the reality of Bombardier’s mobile Customer Response Team (CRT), an elite division of Bombardier Business Aircraft providing dedicated support for customers.

Picture the best roadside assistance service in the world – but for private jet owners, and with expert technicians on-call and on-the-go 24 hours a day.

Bombardier prides itself on precision and perfection in its aircraft, but also in its customer service. At every level, team members know that their products require a special brand of attention tailored to their family of aircraft. The CRT is that next level of care, offering the full strength of the Bombardier network in a mobile environment, all set into action with a single phone call.

Over five continents, the Customer Response Team boasts two 24/7 customer response centers, 15 CRT mobile units (with two more expected to enter service before the end of 2016, each holding a two-person team consisting of one airframe/powerplant-maintenance technician and one avionics technician), over 50 service facilities, 15 regional support offices, two training facilities and one dedicated Learjet 45 aircraft, based in Chicago and able to fly out specialized parts and

technicians in record time anywhere in the continental United States. But those are the nuts and bolts of the operations. Behind the bullet points and confidence in Bombardier’s mandate of full customer service is a team of experienced experts who excel at thinking on their feet.

“Life on airplanes is about moving around,” says David Lumpkins, a Customer Service Technician based in Van Nuys, California. At 6 foot 4 and with a charming West Coast disposition, he comes across as an aviation cowboy – one with a CV that covers the last half-century of the aerospace industry. Lumpkins started out in the Air Force and spent three years flying in Southeast Asia.

Since then, he’s traveled the world doing every job in avionics, from testing digital flight guidance computers to working as an airframe and powerplant technician, before settling in with Bombardier.

Asked about an average day with the CRT, he laughs heartily. “I just had two planes in Van Nuys, then one in Burbank, and I’m driving back to Van Nuys to work another one,” he says, adding, “I keep a bag with three days’ clothes in the truck!”

COAST TO COAST (Opposite) The CRT Learjet 45 flies parts and technicians to remote US locations; a mobile response team truck services a Learjet aircraft on the tarmac.

“You can’t be a clockwatcher to do this job and that’s what I like about it.”

– Earl Williams, CRT, Atlanta

Experience

51

WINGSPAN

DOUBLE DUTY A static display of the specially outfitted Learjet 45 and a mobile response truck.

With the CRT, Lumpkins has found himself on the tarmac in Tahiti, Idaho, and all points in between. Yet when he talks about the continent-spanning work, his pride is palpable.

Over in Atlanta, Earl Williams has a similarly passionate outlook: “We eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff.”

Like Lumpkins, Williams is ex-military and has applied the skills he learned in the Armed Forces to the job’s unique challenges. Adaptation to rapidly changing environments, days untethered from punch clocks, and an affection for the unknown encouraged Williams to join the Bombardier family. “You can’t be a clockwatcher, and that’s what I like about it,” he notes. “We take satisfaction in hearing an aircraft take off or taxi. We make that happen.”

As part of his job, Williams rides in a Ford F350 Super Duty with customized, rear-mounted toolboxes. When he hears that it’s been called an “aircraft ambulance” and even an “ice cream truck,” he laughs and nods. “Yeah, I can see that!”

In Dallas, Texas, Scott Nelson isn’t sold on the comparison, though he does concede, with a laugh, “There is a lot of [commotion] when they come.” Nelson’s official title is Manager of Fleet Operations and Global Response – but he prefers to deflect attention to the rest of his team.

“The guys in the trucks are the face of Bombardier in

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Experience

BOMBARDIER SERVICES BY THE NUMBERS

30,000 parts moved monthly

4,800+ truck missions since 2013

50+ service facilities

15 CRT mobile units (+2 entering service in 2016)

2 24/7 customer response centers

1 Learjet 45 for on-site response

front of the customer, and they do a heck of a job pulling it off. I tell the team: You do the impossible.”

Nelson recalls a recent incident that highlights just this approach: “It was Christmas time and we got a call about an older aircraft in the state of Georgia that had an issue with the tail section. And they didn’t have anything that could push the aircraft into a hangar, so we had to rig up two manlifts. It’s windy, it’s cold, and we had to take the tail of this aircraft apart, in the middle of nowhere.”

Nelson has 22 years of aviation experience, but sums up his current position simply: “I’m the man behind the black curtain.” With the click of a mouse he can check on a CRT truck in Vancouver or contact the Line Maintenance Station in Nice. (Bombardier’s presence in the south of France is part of a commitment to broadening the global scope of their services.) Customers don’t simply want a product, they need assurances of support through the duration of ownership, even at a moment’s notice, anywhere they can fly. “Planes don’t need maintenance in convenient places!” remarks Nelson.

If flexibility is vital to CRTs, then so is a sense of humor. “We’re all part of a bigger picture, a very serious business and you know you have to approach it as a serious matter,” says Nelson, “but you can have your hands on an airplane and still have fun doing it.”

FLEET

GLOBAL / CHALLENGER / LEARJET

Global 6000

The Global 6000 aircraft was created to satisfy the needs of the world’s most discerning travelers, offering a more advanced, comfortable and luxurious long-range business jet. From the state-of-the-art cockpit, and the incomparable cabin amenities, to the tranquil sanctuary of its aft stateroom, the Global 6000 jet seizes the opportunity to demonstrate why it’s a leader in its class. From style to ingenuity, comfort and convenience, nothing has been overlooked.

Stats

Highlights

Passengers** 13 Maximum range* 6,000 NM (11,112 km) City pairs* Aspen-London City, Beijing-Los Angeles

> The most accomplished and luxurious business jet created to accommodate the needs of the most discerning travelers. > All-around performance to connect you more rapidly and efficiently to your world. > The Bombardier Vision flight deck provides pilots with unprecedented levels of convenience, comfort and control. > A cabin designed for comfort, productivity and the most rewarding in-flight experience. > Bombardier WAVE (Wireless Access Virtually Everywhere) delivers consistent, fast in-flight internet.

Global 5000

The Global 5000 business jet is designed to deliver optimized comfort, speed and range. It is unsurpassed in its class, with superior cabin spaciousness, technologies and aesthetics. It has extraordinary short-field and nonstop transcontinental capabilities, and its leading-edge flight deck reduces pilot workload and increases situational awareness for unprecedented peace of mind. The Global 5000 aircraft exemplifies grace, power and performance without compromise.

Stats

Highlights

Passengers** 13 Maximum range* 5,200 NM (9,630 km) City pairs* New York-São Paulo, Frankfurt-Hong Kong

> Faster and more short- fi eld-capable than any other aircraft in its class. > S uperior, versatile cabin matches spacious comfort with proven reliability. > Innovative flight deck environment combines cutting-edge technology and advanced design. > Bombardier WAVE (Wireless Access Virtually Everywhere) delivers consistent, fast in-flight internet.

Experience

53

FLEET

Global 7000

The Global 7000 aircraft† provides unparalleled spaciousness, luxury and comfort, with four distinct living spaces creating an environment that fosters productivity and provides additional leisure time. Seats position you perfectly to take in the view from large windows that broaden your perspective on the world. Enjoy exquisite dining experiences at a table for six while journeying nonstop between key cities. Relax and refresh in the tranquility of a private stateroom, reaching more of your world faster, more luxuriously and better prepared.

Stats

Highlights

Passengers** 17 Maximum range* 7,400 NM (13,705 km) City pairs* Dubai-New York, London-Singapore

> Unique cabin design featuring four living spaces. > Greater aerodynamic efficiency is achieved by a more advanced exterior design as well as the development of a new wing design for outstanding performance capabilities. > Next-generation high-efficiency engines contribute to low fuel burn and low emissions.

Global 8000

The Global 8000 aircraft† leads the evolution of business aviation with its consummate cabin comfort and remarkable nonstop range capability. Whether it’s a power lunch or a family dinner, the large galley provides extraordinary culinary capabilities with luxury and lifestyle in mind. Designed and crafted for both work and pleasure, the Global 8000 jet delivers versatility and unsurpassed excellence.

Stats

Highlights

Passengers** 13 Maximum range* 7,900 NM (14,631 km) City pairs* Hong Kong-New York, Sydney-Los Angeles

> World’s farthest-reaching business jet promises faster connections between the places you need to be. > Offers an expansive and comfortable three-zone cabin environment. > New design, driven by customer feedback, provides uncompromising quality, flexibility and comfort. > Engines provide next-generation power and efficiency with lower fuel burn and low emissions.

Challenger 350

The Challenger 350 aircraft exceeds expectations at every altitude. With its groundbreaking cabin design, new range capability and low direct operating costs, no opportunity to advance on excellence has been overlooked. The aircraft is earning the appreciation and approval of executives, pilots and operators everywhere and offers more performance, definitive reliability and unmatched value.

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Experience

Stats

Highlights

Passengers** 9 Maximum range* 3,200 NM (5,926 km) City pairs* Miami-Seattle, Mumbai-Hong Kong

> R edefined cabin with groundbreaking aesthetic and ergonomic advances create the ultimate in-flight experience, including more natural light care of larger windows. > More powerful engines allow for an unsurpassed time to climb while the newly designed winglets increase efficiency, putting more destinations within reach. > Forward-looking avionics designed to shift the workload away from busy pilots for increased situational awareness.

* Under certain operating conditions ** Baseline configuration

†

The aircraft is currently under development and the design tolerances remain to be finalized and certified

Challenger 650

The Challenger 650 aircraft redefines the ultimate in-flight experience, offering the industry’s best overall value, reliability and efficiency.

State-of-the-art technology upgrades, improved performance capabilities and a groundbreaking redesign of the widestin-class cabin reaffirm Bombardier’s industry leadership, providing customers with everything they need, along with worldwide support anytime, anywhere.

Stats

Highlights

Passengers** 10 Maximum range* 4,000 NM (7,408 km) City pairs* Chicago-London, Beijing-Moscow

> Boasts the widest cabin and only true 12-passenger capability in its class, with exceptional stand-up headroom and a flat floor throughout. > The Bombardier Vision flight deck provides pilots with cutting-edge technology and superior design aesthetics for new levels of control and comfort. > Lowest in-class operating costs* and industryrecognized dependable platform.

Learjet 70

The Learjet 70 aircraft leverages Bombardier’s efficient high-speed aircraft experience with the ability to carry six passengers and full fuel.* Its performance allows you to achieve more with powerful engines and forward-thinking new winglet design that enable it to cruise at a speed of Mach 0.81 and climb to an operating ceiling of 51,000 ft (15,545 m).*

Stats

Highlights

Passengers**

> T he Bombardier Vision flight deck’s industry-

7

leading avionics and aesthetics optimize productivity

Maximum range*

and safety for unprecedented levels of comfort,

2,060 NM (3,815 km) City pairs* Cairo-Frankfurt, Chicago-San Juan

convenience and control. > H oneywell engines provide the aircraft with greater power for fast and efficient connections to more of your world. > A n innovative cabin management system and stateof-the-art communications options underscore the Learjet 70 aircraft’s evolution of light jet excellence, placing efficiency and total control at your fingertips.

Learjet 75

The Learjet 75 aircraft combines comfort with cutting-edge technology and connection capabilities throughout the cockpit and cabin. It flies faster and farther, with full passenger and fuel capacity, than its closest competitor.

Cabin configurations seating six or eight passengers feature the best-in-class ease of mobility, legroom and seated headroom.

Stats

Highlights

Passengers** 9 Maximum range* 2,040 NM (3,778 km) City pairs* Toluca-Chicago, Miami-Aspen

> Offers the lowest-in-class direct operating costs. > T he Bombardier Vision flight deck’s advanced navigation and communications capabilities decrease pilot workload and increase situational awareness. > H ighly efficient Honeywell engines ensure more power, superior fuel efficiency, and faster time to climb rate.

* Under certain operating conditions ** Baseline configuration

Experience

55

NEWS PEOPLE / EVENTS / AWARDS

May 1–4, 2016 + July 23–31, 2016

Made to Scale

Bombardier displayed its full-scale mock-up of the Global 7000 business jet at the Milken Institute’s 2016 Global Conference in Los Angeles, California. The mock-up showcased the aircraft’s spaciousness, design and four distinct living spaces.

The conference – which Bombardier has sponsored for the last nine years – attracted over 3,500 visitors and 700 speakers exploring the role of financial policy in shaping society. The Global 7000 aircraft mock-up later made an appearance at Atlantic Aviation in San Jose, California, for a week of private viewings and open house for media and VIPs, complete with red carpet.

Also on show were Bombardier’s Customer Response Team mobile units, and Learjet 75 and Challenger 650 business aircraft.

June 21, 2016

London Landing Expanding its already extensive service network, Bombardier is opening a wholly owned Service Center with heavy maintenance capabilities at London Biggin Hill Airport. The 32,991-square-foot facility will provide tip-to-tail maintenance, and will be operational in the fourth quarter of 2016. The center will be fully equipped to perform scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, modifications, avionics installations, and Aircraft On Ground (AOG) support for Bombardier Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft.

May 23, 2016

Flex Time

(From top) A mock-up of the Global 7000 jet at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference; Bombardier’s Service Center at London Biggin Hill Airport; BBA president David Coleal and Flexjet CEO Michael Silvestro at EBACE.

56

Experience

Bombardier confirmed Flexjet as the previously undisclosed purchaser of 20 Challenger 350 jets, an order originally announced in April 2016 and valued at approximately US$534 million. The news was celebrated at a special ceremony during the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva. Bombardier began deliveries of Challenger 350 aircraft to Flexjet in January 2015, the same year the company, a leader in aircraft fractional ownership and leasing, celebrated its 20th anniversary.

July 6, 2016

Feel the Love Bombardier attended “The Art of Giving” Love Ball gala and auction, held at the Frank Gehry-designed Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris and hosted under the patronage of LVMH’s chairman and CEO, Bernard Arnault. Founded by Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova, the Naked Heart Foundation supports non-governmental organizations working with children who have special needs and building accessible playgrounds in Russia. Gala guests included Christian Louboutin and Kanye West and the event raised over 3 million euros.

June 11, 2016

The Fast Lane Three-time Formula One World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Niki Lauda were in Montreal for the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix (which Hamilton won for the second year in a row). The drivers attended an evening with VIPs to discuss how their Bombardier jets have revolutionized both their business and private lives. With Hamilton racing in 21 countries every year, and making an additional 20 corporate trips, he said, “My plane really enables me to take some of my time back.” Meanwhile, Lauda is a longtime Bombardier jet owner and pilot, using private aircraft to get to F1 races around the world from his home base in Austria – including a Global 6000 (with a Global 7000 on order).

(From top) The Louis Vuitton Foundation building, site of “The Art of Giving” Love Ball and two dancers performing for attendees; Formula One World Champions Niki Lauda and Lewis Hamilton in Montreal.

Experience

57

June 17–19, 2016

FOOD FOR FLIGHT

— Bombardier Business Aircraft participated in the 34th Food & Wine Classic, transporting celebrity chefs like Jacques Pépin and Marcus Samuelsson directly to the event in Aspen, Colorado, aboard a Global 5000 jet. Samuelsson, owner of lauded restaurants like Red Rooster Harlem and Streetbird Rotisserie, as well as an

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Experience

occasional reality TV judge, took the opportunity to prepare a gourmet meal at 45,000 feet, including comfort foods like cornbread, chowder, ceviche and roast chicken. He was especially impressed by the state-of-the-art galley, including its espresso machine, noting, “As a New York chef you’re used to small working spaces, but this could rival any NYC kitchen.” Look for Samuelsson’s The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem, released this fall.

PHOTOS: COURTESY RUX MARTIN/HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT

NEWS

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