300 Club

The 300 Club is a small number of individuals who have endured a temperature difference of 300° Fahrenheit (166 °C) within minutes. The group originated at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica and has since been established in North America.

The Ceremonial South Pole.
300 Club participants walk briskly from the Amundson-Scot station to this marker, circle it, and then return to the station wearing only boots.

Participants in the Antarctic 300 Club wait for a winter day when the temperature drops to −100 °F (-73 °C). This can happen in April to September (see South Pole). Because such cold temperatures may last only minutes, interested parties have to prepare in advance and be ready to act quickly. 300 Club participants spend up to 10 minutes in a sauna heated to 200 °F (93 °C). [1] Then they quickly walk naked to the Ceremonial South Pole wearing only boots. They walk around the marker and return to the station.[2] Participants want to move fast enough to minimize frostbite but not so fast that they inhale so much cold air that they freeze their airway and lungs.[3] Properly clothed bystanders are often present to provide help if needed. After this, participants usually warm up in the sauna again, often with the aid of alcoholic beverages.[4]

The first 300 Club outside of Antarctica was established on January 30, 2019 near Minneapolis, Minnesota during a polar vortex.[5] With an outside temperature of −27 °F (−33 °C), three men heated their backyard sauna to 280 °F (138 °C) and sat inside for 10 minutes. Upon exiting the sauna, they sprinted around a flagpole planted in honor of the South Pole tradition and took a brief roll in the snow before returning to the sauna.[6] Such high sauna temperatures can be dangerous. In 2010, two sauna competitors collapsed after experiencing 230 °F (110 °C) for six minutes, one of whom died.[7]