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 Jeb Brooks from GreenerGrass.com. Welcome to Antarctica. Reaching the seventh continent is no easy feat. It's pretty far from, well, anything. While most people arrive here by ship or 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, 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 and all that, and then get on the airplane. Hopefully, these tests come back in 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. But, feeling optimistic, we made our way through the airport and across the ramp to board an Airbus A340 for this five-hour journey. Once we were on board, it became clear we would be making this 2,200-mile trip. While the on-board experience was exceedingly luxurious, the environment when we touched down will be one of the harshest the planet can 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! After leaving Cape Town, we turned south, one of the few planes to make such a flight path. Dinner came, then sleep, and about an hour before landing, we woke up. The cabin was cooled, and we put on our polar gear. The ice came into view, then the runway. We touched down on Antarctica's only private jet runway. At nearly 10,000 feet long, and made entirely of ice, this is Wolfsfang, named for the distinctive mountain nearby. So we've made it to Wolfsfang 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 Witchaway Camp, but that may not happen until tomorrow. Again, the unpredictable nature of Antarctic weather was something we'd 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. I made this trip with a couple of friends, and we quickly gelled with the others staying with us. After a hike and 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 5 hours to reach a fuel depot, where we'll take on additional gas. Then, we'll fly another 2 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 with that piston pulley, 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, is our ride of the day. It's a Basler. It's a completely remade DC-3. Those are turboprop engines. This is my first time on board a DC-3, 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. This is 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 Bowl has to be ideal. 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 DC-3 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 piston engines, put PT-6s on, extended the fuselage a little bit. Obviously, getting to the South Bowl is a pretty unique experience. The biggest thing is the logistics behind it. So the Basler has a great range, but with full passengers, we can't make it from our camp on the coast all the way down in one stop. So we have to stop at a place, a Dixie camp or FD-83. Then we'll refuel the drums, take a quick break, and then we'll fly off to the South Bowl. 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 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. But these views soon gave way to the Antarctic plateau, a literal white desert of 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 thirstier hungry. About an hour into the flight and really settled in. This is definitely a long journey. There's nothing to see outside. It's just a vast sea of whiteness. As soon as we left camp, those mountains just disappeared, and we're looking at a sea of ice. I think that's what we're going to see until we get to the South Bowl. It's time for the Lou 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. About three hours into the journey, the flight engineer walked down the aisle, sharing some grim news with each of us. This is turned into a trip to nowhere. The weather changed at the South Bowl, so we've got to turn back to camp and make the journey back. Hopefully we'll try another day, but this is the nature of flying in Antarctica. It's 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 Wolfs Fang. We didn't stay for long, though. We grabbed our luggage and made our way over to the nearby Witch-A-Way 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. But then we flew along the coast, back to Witch-A-Way, 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 has a mind of its own. Before returning to camp, though, we had to stop for fuel. I used the break 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. 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. But there can be no doubt about it. Yesterday was epic. Spending time with emperor penguins, making a scenic flight along the coast of Antarctica, those were 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 Wichoway 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, and 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 Wichoway, but the weather at the fuel depot is questionable, so we're having to wait out here at Wolfsfang for a little bit while they figure out what the weather is going to be when we get there. So we'll keep our fingers crossed. While 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 to 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 Brasler airplane. That's it. Here we go. This time, this time's the one. 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. This experience is a culmination of so much research, preparation, and frankly, at this point, sheer adrenaline. I'm hoping to be more Amundsen than Shackleton. Surely the second time is the charm, right? Passing through 10,000 feet on our way up to cruising altitude. Next stop, the fuel depot, FD83, heading 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 depot. We'll refuel there and then continue our journey. 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. 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 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. 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.