SI took the shoot down to Antarctica for its "Polar Bare" theme, which must have tested the models' acting chops, too. How else do you pretend that life's a beach when it's 30 degrees outside?!

"We can finally talk about Antarctica!!!!!...Took us 2 months to thaw out," Upton tweeted after the reveal.

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old joins an incredibly elite list of models who've commanded the cover multiple years in a row: Christie Brinkley went back-to-back-to-back in 1979, 1980 and 1981; Elle MacPherson did the same between 1986 and 1988; Paulina Porizkova posed in 1984 and 1985 and Tyra Banks starred in 1996 and 1997 (though she had to share with Valeria Mazza in 1996).