7 Days in Antarctica (Journey to the South Pole)

welcome to a quest to reach one of the world's most remote places we'll fight hurricane force winds and negative 35 degree temperatures in order to visit a spot on the map that's nearly impossible to reach along the way we'll see what it's like to spend a week on the coldest driest and windiest continent hello jet Setters I'm Jeff Brooks from greenergrest.com welcome to Antarctica reaching the seventh continent is no easy feat it's pretty far from well anything and while most people arrive here by shipper just make a brief visit that's not my plan you see I've chosen to invest some of the earnings from this channel into this once in a lifetime experience because reaching the South Pole has long been a dream of mine and more importantly I want to share it with you Our Journey Begins in one of the world's best cities in Cape Town South Africa the first leg of our trip was a five-hour flight from here to Antarctica's only private jet Runway it was scheduled to depart at midnight but that was never set in stone the ice Runway takes 22 hours to prepare and a surprise storm interrupted their work the day before we were waiting on friction tests to see whether the runway was ready for us at this point it's really 50 50 whether we go tonight we're going to head through Immigration and Customs all that and then get on the airplane hopefully these tests come back to the affirmative and we can head out this level of unease and relative inability to make any kind of concrete plans would be a theme for this week-long journey [Music] but feeling optimistic we made our way through the airport and across the ramp to board an Airbus A340 for this five hour Journey [Music] once we were on board it became clear we would be making this 2200 mile trip while the onboard experience was exceedingly luxurious the environment when we touched down will be one of the harshests the planet could provide as a result polar gear had been pre-loaded for us to put on just before landing but let's think about that later cheers yeah I think minutes from our schedule yeah after leaving Cape Town we turned South one of the few planes to make such a flight path dinner came then sleep [Music] and about an hour before landing we woke up the cabin was cooled put on our polar gear the ice came into view then the runway we touched down on Antarctica's only private jet Runway that nearly 10 000 feet long and made entirely of ice this is wolfsfang named for the distinctive Mountain nearby foreign [Music] so we've made it to wolfspang Runway and we're outside the terminal building I guess you could say waiting on our transfer so this is a real proper airport the next stop should be which away camp but that may not happen till tomorrow again the unpredictable nature of Antarctic weather was something we need to get comfortable with but Comfort was something that wasn't too hard to find here this trip is run by a company called White desert for the latest information about their offerings I'll link to their website in the description below and as you'll see in this video everything they do is a Step Beyond first class within the confines of this harsh environment with 24 hours of sunlight there was no real day or night but I had no problem falling asleep there was heat and a toilet for liquids if we needed to use the solid toilet well that was outside [Music] I made this trip with a couple of friends and we quickly gelled with the others staying with us after a hike at dinner we learned we'd be attempting to reach the South Pole the next day time for a quick sleep this environment requires a unique airplane this modified DC-3 called a Basler is equipped with skis we'll leave this Runway and fly about five hours to reach a fuel Depot where we'll take on additional gas then we'll fly another two hours to reach the pole we'll then come back to the Fuel Depot to sleep before flying the rest of the way back to Camp the next day all in including rest this is going to take around 30 hours the South Pole is the southernmost point on planet Earth and that in and of itself is enough for me to want to visit but there's more fewer than 500 tourists get there each year more people try to reach it but it's just so hard to do it took until 1911 for humans to get there and it's still incredibly remote today this is true unquestionable Extreme Exploration I'm so glad you're coming with us let's get on the plane and get this journey started and uh with that piston bully that's how they groom the runway and get it ready for the big jet to come in and to head out but this this today it's our ride of the day it's a Basler it's a completely remade DC3 those are turbo prop engines this is my first time on board a DC3 one of the most iconic and important aircraft well in history can you believe that Suzanne did not want to come on this trip what a spectacularly beautiful airplane I can't wait to get on board so let's go do it this is the very definition of an extreme flight even the runway is Extreme that's pure ice down there with room for up to 19 passengers there were 13 guests two guides and a doctor we're actually traveling with a doctor on board because the altitude could get to folks we'll be flying about 12 000 feet it's an unpressurized airplane landing at about 9 000 feet so a little higher than some of us are used to so we might need oxygen or other treatment to make this work so much has to go right the airplane has to operate perfectly the weather here at the Fuel Depot and the South Pole has to be ideal and perhaps most importantly our two pilots and flight engineer have to be at their Peak Performance speaking of the crew let's learn more about this Mission so this is a Basler DC3 turbine conversion the airframe was originally built in 1942. I think they did the conversion on this one in 2018. basically they took off the old pistol engines uh put pg6 is on extended the fuselage a little bit obviously getting to the South Pole is a pretty unique experience the biggest thing is the logistics behind it so the the Basler has a great range but with full passengers we can't make it from our camp on the on the coast all the way down in one stop so we have to stop at a place about Dixie camp or fd-83 then we'll refuel our drums you know take a quick break and then we'll fly off to the South Pole hopefully you can absolutely sense the angle of the plane because of course it's a tail dragger and it feels completely different to any other airplane I've been on pretty uh pretty amazing our anticipation reached a crescendo as the engine started up and we taxied out to the skiway the departure was spectacular but leaving the ice is always a smooth transition to the sky now if these Landscapes existed on any other continent they'd be on postcards known the world over but here I was one of the few people fortunate enough to take them in [Music] but these views soon gave way to the Antarctic plateau of literal white desert nothing but ice once the scenery had disappeared I was grateful to have my Kindle with me although we were also provided with iPads and noise canceling headsets we also never went thirsty or hungry now we're into the flight and really settled in a long journey whiteness we left hand uh those mountains just disappeared and the Sea of Ice I think that's what we're gonna see until we get to the South Pole it's time for the loo review this open-air cargo area leads to a lavatory which is really just a bucket be glad you don't have to look in there but there is a skylight which is cool three hours into the journey the flight engineer walked down the aisle sharing some Grim news with each of us life this has turned into a trip to Nowhere the weather changed at the South Pole so we've got to turn back to Camp to make the journey back hopefully we'll try another day but this is the nature of flying in Antarctica just completely unpredictable and as disappointing as that news was we just had to accept it safety trumps everything in aviation particularly in such a remote place and nearly six hours after we left we touched right back down at wolfsfang [Music] we didn't stay for long though we grabbed our luggage and made our way over to the nearby which away camp our home for the next few days and quite a home it was set alongside the most beautiful Glacier I've ever seen it was practically Martian but with more than enough Creature Comforts despite the extraordinarily remote location not only does white desert operate carbon neutrally but we also offset all of our carbon emissions using the gold standard too after ringing in 2023 we were back on the Basler heading west to atka Bay where we enjoyed bonding with a colony of emperor penguins filled with curious adolescents foreign [Music] but then we flew along the coast back to which away where we learned we'd make another attempt on the pole the following day and this one had to work we were quickly running out of time but as always Antarctica is a mind of its own before returning to Camp though we had to stop for fuel I used the brake to check out the skis on this plane they're huge but it also meant we could see one of the newest pieces of equipment to come to Antarctica [Music] this is expected to be the first hovercraft to make it to the South Pole it had just arrived by ship the previous day and once it makes that historic trip it's going to be used to provide another form of transportation across the vast Antarctic plateau this beautiful day was Practically Perfect hopefully a sign of good things for tomorrow there could be no doubt about it yesterday was epic spending time with emperor penguins making a Scenic flight along the coast of Antarctica those are incredible experiences for sure but today we're making our second attempt to reach the South Pole flying another seven hours south let's hope we can accomplish it today after a hearty breakfast I said farewell to witch away for now and made my way out to the skiway a little early in order to see just how much work it takes to operate this Camp our Basler was bringing in cargo watching the operation unfold blew my mind the harshness of working in this environment cannot be understated these guys just unloaded this entire Plane full of material that had to be flown in to camp in winds that must be blowing at like 30 or 40 miles an hour this is absolutely mind-blowing that any of it works at all let alone as smoothly as it seems to have worked so far the logistics required to operate down here are truly amazing everything has to be brought in that includes the food we eat the equipment we use the beds we sleep in everything and we can't leave anything behind that means even the waste we create has to be taken away there's nothing easy about Antarctica more weather concerns the weather's perfect here at wolfsfang we took this plane in from our camp at which away but the weather at the Fuel Depot is questionable so we're having to wait out uh here at Wolf's bank for a little bit while they figure out what the weather is going to be when we get there so keep our fingers crossed well we waited we discovered an ice cave that was equal parts bar and storage locker okay so we just got word we've got 10 or 15 minutes to get over the airplane and start this journey again of course we don't know what happens until we get there but as I say every time fingers crossed visiting the South Pole has been on my list ever since I started making lists and I can't believe it's actually finally happening thanks to this brazzler airplane that's it here we go this this time this time is the one [Music] I've read nearly every book about Antarctic exploration and in fact my own desire to travel to see the world even to create this channel has largely been fueled by those stories to this experience is a culmination of so much research preparation and frankly at this point sheer adrenaline I'm hoping to be more amazing than Shackleton surely the second time is the charm right passing through ten thousand feet on our way up to cruising altitude about 12 000 feet once we pass these mountains there's really nothing to see it's League of ice here in the next stop the Fuel Depot fd-83 stop refuel continuing the journey to the South Pole once again the time marched on sounds like we've got about 30 minutes before we touch down at the fuel refuel there and then continue our journey [Music] we made it here to the Fuel Depot we should be on the ground for we think about 30 minutes and then it's two more hours to the pole it's great to have this step behind us but we're not there until we're there so as I've said before fingers crossed this fuel has to be brought here over land it takes up to three weeks for it to reach this Depot which is located at 83 degrees south in fact this place is so remote that the closest other humans to us right now are actually on the International Space Station here we go next stop the South Pole for this two-hour flight I just sat quietly contemplating how remarkable it is to be in such a remote place well until we got closer it took me a while to put on the six or seven layers I'll need at the south pole for the minus 35 degree wind chill foreign we're all bundled in our Arctic gear Antarctic gear anyway I can't believe we're only an hour to the South Pole the South Pole has been on my bucket list as long as I've had a list this is absolutely unreal I want to take a moment and say thank you to each of you for watching these videos it's it's thanks to you that I'm here I don't know that I could have done it without your support of the channel whether you've just watched a video you liked it you subscribed I appreciate you so much and I promise there's a lot more to come for now let's get out there get on the ground and check out the South Pole [Music] [Music] sure in a way this is a point on the planet like just about any other but reaching this remote Spot somewhere I'd wanted to visit for so long and even getting to run around the world was only possible thanks to our incredibly talented and dedicated crew the hard work of countless people at White desert and of course to you for supporting this channel again there's so much more to come between now and the next time see you in the sky

Channel: Jeb Brooks

Views: 533,238

Keywords: south pole, White Desert, South Pole, Travel in Antarctica, DC-3, Bassler, A340, Antarctica Flying, south pole travel, south pole antarctica, south pole expedition, can you travel to antarctica, antarctica travel vlog, south pole tour, travel antarctica, south pole documentary, antarctica travel, 7 Days in Antarctica, journey to the south pole, basler

Id: LYDf3YCdPbE

Length: 16min 50sec (1010 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 21 2023