Antarctica isn’t for the faint of heart. The icy and remote landscape isn’t a classic vacation destination, but for a few thrill seekers and persistent scientists, a trip to the Antarctic is a dream come true. In the five stories below, we highlight solo treks to the South Pole, the sled dogs who help humans explore the treacherous terrain, and one man’s mission to capture a whale feeding frenzy.
This Is What a Polar Explorer Looks Like
By Amy Crawford
Thirty-three-year-old Harpreet Chandi, a captain in the U.K.’s Royal Army Medical Corps, was the first woman of color to solo trek to the South Pole. Chandi faced sub-freezing temperatures, isolation, and a myriad of challenges over the 40-day, 700-mile journey that only a handful of women have ever completed. Now, she tells her story to empower women and people of color to get outside and explore.
Capturing the Mysterious Antarctic Whale Gathering on Film
By Bertie Gregory
Award-winning wildlife filmmaker and television host Bertie Gregory has dedicated much of his life to tracking and documenting animals. After witnessing a group of feeding whales off the coast of Canada, he dreamed of going to Antarctica to record fin whales gathering in massive groups to dine on krill. After two years of planning, his crew set sail on a 75-foot sailboat across the infamous Drake Passage from South America to Antarctica. Then one day, Gregory got what he came for—recording video of over 300 whales in a feeding frenzy.
One Man’s 40-Year Quest to Capture Antarctica’s Mountains
By Edmund Stump
Since his first expedition in 1970, polar explorer Edmund Stump has made 13 field trips to research and photograph the Antarctic landscape. While he originally went there to study rocks, he soon fell in love with the beauty of ice. His book of photography, Otherworldly Antarctica: Ice, Rock, and Wind at the Polar Extreme, shares his love for the vast, pristine world with readers.
A Team of Explorers and Scientists Traveled Through Antarctica—By Kite
By Evan Nicole Brown
In December 2018, four men departed from Russia’s Novolazárevskaya Base in Antarctica and headed for the interior. But they weren’t going by foot—nor snowmobile, nor ski, nor aircraft. Instead, they would ride the wind. For 52 days, they rode their “WindSled” to the Fuji Dome—12,500 feet of ice, and one of the coldest places on Earth.
The Intrepid, Furry Explorers Who Mapped Antarctica
By Andrew Avery
In 1945, 25 huskies from Labrador, Canada, arrived at a British research base in Hope Bay, Antarctica. They were tasked with helping explorers reach previously inaccessible corners of the rugged, icy landscape by pulling them on sleds. And while this program was decommissioned in 1994, the dog’s efforts won’t be forgotten: A small tin tucked away in the archives of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England, still holds the photos and employment records of these brave pups.
