Kite-ski expedition to the South Pole Last Degree

We land in Punta Arenas on Chilean Patagonia. On arrival at the airport, we meet and go for a welcome dinner.

Transfer: taxi.
Meals: lunch and diner at the restaurant (not included)
Accommodation: hotel (not included)

Preparation day. Safety briefing, detailed planning. Weather forecast. I will answer your questions. We get our equipment ready for the flight the following day.

Meals: breakfast at hotel – lunch and diner at the restaurant (not included)
Accommodation: hotel (not included)

We load the equipment and take the morning flight to Union Glacier. This flight is subject to the vagaries of the weather and to the state of the runway in Antarctica. It will take 4 to 5 hours of flight from Punta Arenas. Then we will pass the Antarctic Polar Pircle and see our first icebergs! One hour before landing we get dressed to face the imminent cold and after an impressive landing on the blue ice runway we are greeted at the camp.

Transportation: flight for Union Glacier (4 to 5 hour flight)
Meals: breakfast at hotel – lunch on the plane – dinner at camp site

We take our breakfast at camp and then we visit the area and we relax. We prepare for the next day, we analyze the weather forecast. Briefing and Q&A from participants. Inspection of equipment.

We do a bit of kite-surfing if we find the time in order to become familiar with the material that we will use.

Meals: breakfast – lunch – dinner at camp site
Accommodation: camp site

Today we are ready to go! We only need the pilot and to the weather to give us the green light. After breakfast, we check our equipment one last time and start charging the plane, either Twin Otter or Basler BT-67, for our flight to the South. Depending on weather conditions and where the fuel cashes are situated, we land to refuel once or twice. It will take us 4-5 hours to reach the starting point of our expedition. We land at some 111 km from the South Pole, the last Degree! We set up camp and prepare for the next day. The plane takes off again to Union Glacier. We progress a couple of hours and then set up our camp.

Transportation: flight to the final degree of the expedition (4 to 5 hour flight)
Meals: breakfast – lunch at camp site – dinner under tent
Accommodation: under tent

Today we will put in a good long day. Our sleds are loaded and this will become our routine for a total of nine days to reach the geographic South Pole.
The surface of the ice shelf is safe and wrinkled with the presence of sastrugi (sharp topographic irregularities on the snow surface resulting from erosion caused by wind), the highest can measure up to 50 cm … we are in an indescribable white vastness, a blinding purity and so isolated…there is no other place on Earth that looks like what we will see every day.
Theoretically, the weather is predominantly sunny and dry with a little wind and the temperature is still mild at this time of year, between -20°C and -45°C when you take into account the wind chill factor! If the wind picks up, we will use our kite sails, with increasing wind throughout the day. We have a giant playground and endless opportunities! We feel a little what the first explorers experienced when they came here nearly a century before us.

Meals: breakfast under tent – lunch on the ice – dinner under tent
Accommodation: under tent

Today, if the conditions were favorable and if we persevered, we arrive at the South Pole. We already see it 15 kilometers away because the American Amundsen-Scott station is very visible! When we reach the mark of the South Pole, we will go around it (walk around the world and have the entire globe at our feet!) and celebrate our achievement.
We meet a member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) who shows us around the base. We can even find a souvenir for our family and send a letter from the one and only South Pole Post Office!
We stay about 2 to 3 hours at the South Pole and then our plane will pick us. Then it is time for our goodbyes, the plane is refueled and Northbound we fly!

Meals: breakfast under tent – lunch on the ice – dinner under tent
Accommodation: under tent

Sometimes we get stuck for weather reasons at the American Amundsen-Scott station of one to two days, so the Twin Otter cannot fly. These precaution days can also be used for the same reasons at the beginning of our expedition, or during, if we’re stuck in a tent to shelter us. We are reminded of the fact that Mother Nature still reigns in extreme climates like this…

Meals: breakfast under tent – lunch on the ice – dinner under tent
Accommodation: under tent

Today, we return to Union Glacier late afternoon. It will need to refuel again on the way. We are greeted with a “sumptuous” dinner to celebrate our return.

Transportation: flight for Queen Maud Land (4 to 5 hour flight)
Meals: breakfast under tent – lunch on the ice – dinner under tent
Accommodation: under tent

Today, according to the schedule of our aircraft and the weather, we explore the surroundings of the Base, enjoy a little of the privileges given to us being here. Then we get on the plane to the North and the heat! A reserve day is still expected. We land in the morning.

Transportation: flight for Punta Arenas (4 to 5 hour flight)
Meals: breakfast at camp – lunch on the plane – dinner at camp or hotel in Punta Arenas (not included)
Accommodation: hotel in Punta Arenas (not included).

In Punta Arenas, we take our flight back to Europe. Landing the next day.

Transfer: taxi
Transportation: international flight