Exploring Antarctica: To the South Pole and Back

Watch this video for a description of the extreme weather conditions Ben Saunders and fellow explorer Tarka L'Herpinieres experienced for 105 days when they retraced Captain Robert Falcon Scott's 1,800-mile expedition to the South Pole.

Saunders recounts this trek on the coldest, windiest, and highest-altitude continent on the planet. However, he recounts that reaching his destination at the South Pole was anticlimactic because it houses a well-equipped research station (see the Amundsen-Scott Research Station in Figure 10.16).

Getting to Antarctica and traveling between these research stations is treacherous, even when you are not traveling on foot. Most researchers approach Antarctica from South America or the Falkland Islands by plane or ice breaker ship. Equipment is usually shipped to one of the research stations in advance.

Once in Antarctica, most scientists travel to field sites by plane (like the De Havilland Twin Otter), snowmobile, or on vehicles modified for the conditions. Since many parts of Antarctica are protected, no vehicles are allowed to enter – researchers must drag their supplies to the field on sleds.