Patriot Hills Antarctic base opens for 2009 season

by Kraig Becker on

The only privately owned Antarctic base opened for the 2009 season a few days ago, allowing explorers, scientists, mountaineers, and adventure travelers, access to the frozen continent for the first time since January. Commonly known as Patriot Hills, the base is operated by Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE), a company that supports the adventurous men and women who are traveling to the South Pole or other locations on the Antarctic continent.

Traditionally, the base opens in November and remains open for approximately three months, allowing expeditions to come and go from Punta Arenas, Chile, a city found at the far tip of South America that is often used as the staging ground for adventurers heading to Antarctica. Patriot Hills sits at the edge of a rare, naturally occurring blue ice patch that serves as a runway for ALE’s Twin Otter and Illushyn aircraft, which makes it the perfect place to shuttle visitors to and from the ice.

The travelers making the journey to Antarctica come for a number of reasons. Some will make the long, 500 mile journey to the South Pole on skis, while others will trek to nearby Vinson Massif to climb one of the seldom visited mountains there. Adventure travelers with enough money will also make a “last degree” journey to the Pole, beginning their journey at 89ºS and ending when the reach the bottom of the world.

Over the next few months, Patriot Hills will be a bustling community of explorers coming and going from a variety of places in Antarctica. The tent-city will serve as a base of operations for a number of interesting and unique expeditions, all coming to visit one of the last true frontiers on Earth.

Antarctic dome to be decommissioned

by Kraig Becker on

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been conducting research in Antarctica for more than 50 years, and it has been the southernmost continually inhabited place on Earth over that period. For more than 30 of those years, the iconic image of the place has been that of a giant geodesic dome towering more than five stories above the ice. But now, the dome has been decommissioned, and is scheduled for demolition soon, which has spawned calls from former residents of the station to save what has been called an important piece of American history.

According to this story in the New York Times, a portion of the dome is set to be disassembled and sent back to the States as part of a museum that is currently under construction in California. But most of the structure will be cut into pieces and scrapped. But critics of the plan say that the entire dome should be brought home and rebuilt as a monument to U.S. exploration in Antarctica. To do so would require each piece to be disassembled by hand, bolt by bolt, and shipped stateside to be reassembled, at an estimated cost of more than $500,000, far beyond the budget allowed for the operation.
The dome was rendered obsolete two years back when a new station was built to take its place. In its prime however, it was home to more than 200 scientists and support crew during the busy Antarctic summer. That number dropped below 50 during the winter, but the station remained occupied and in operation at all times, conducting all kinds of experiments and recording data on everything from changing weather conditions to the levels of x-ray bombardments from outer space.

At this point, it seems unlikely that the dome will survive the scrapyard. But for 30 years it has been a symbol of exploration and research in Antarctica, and while its time may have has passed, its contribution to the science is undeniable. It is safe to say, the dome will be missed.

Antarctic tour operators recommend further safety measures

by Kraig Becker on

Just a few short weeks before the Antarctic cruise season gets underway, the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) has recommended further safety measures in the wake of several high profile accidents in the region over the past few years.

The IAATO is a completely voluntary organization, made up of companies that operate cruises in the Southern Ocean. In recent months it has taken a leadership role to ensure the safety of tourists traveling in the waters off the Antarctica, with their most recent recommendations detailed in a press release last week. These include continually reviewing information services that provide the most accurate and up-to-date information on weather and ice conditions, as well as staying abreast of changes in technology that may help keep the ships safer in the dangerous waters of the Southern Ocean. The IAATO also recommends that tour companies review their emergency procedures on a regular basis, practice onboard safety drills, and stress the importance of proper cold weather attire for passengers and crew.

Over the course of the past few years, there have been a series of close calls with cruise ships in the Antarctic, including the sinking of a ship called the Explorer in November of 2007, and two more vessels running aground during the cruise season last year. While none of this incidences resulted in casualties, they have led some to believe that it is only a matter of time before disaster strikes. This resulted in the IAATO making a series of recommendations like these to try to bring a higher level of safety to travel in the region.

Looking over these recommendations, it is kind of scary to think that the members of the IAATO have to be reminded of these things. They seem like they should be common sense and regular business practices to ensure safety of ships traveling in one of the more potentially dangerous regions of the world. Still, any measures that remind tour operators and travelers to be aware of their surroundings are probably good ones, and considering I’d like to travel to the Antarctic one day, I’ll make that journey more easily knowing that safety is a major focus.

Nine great photographic adventures

by Kraig Becker on

Yesterday we told you about the highest photography and videography workshop in the world, which is scheduled to take place in April of 2010 on the North and East side of Everest. Today we have nine more great photography adventures courtesy of Outside Magazine, who asked their favorite photographers to name the best locations for getting amazing photos.

Topping the list is Antarctica, which gets high marks for its stark beauty and acres of penguins. They recommend a cruise from Geographic Expeditions that is 23 days in length and includes guest lectures by Peter Hillary (son of Sir Edmund Hillary) and photography workshops from a guy named Art Wolfe.

If heading to the South Pole seems a bit on the cold side to you, perhaps you’d prefer to go to Nepal instead. Outside claims that it’s practically impossible to take a bad picture in the Himalaya, and I’m inclined to agree with them. They recommend staying on the Nepali side of the mountain and making the trek up to base camp with Berg Adventures on a 24-day adventure in the Khumbu Valley.

Most of the other trips on the list are equally high on adventure, but lack the distances involved in traveling to Nepal or the Antarctic. They recommend similar photographic adventures in Colorado, New Mexico, and California, amongst others. Each of the locations will give you plenty of interesting landscapes to shoot or to serve as spectacular backdrops at the very least.

I recently had great advice from a photographer friend of mine who told me that the trick to shooting great photos is to shoot great subjects. Who would have thought that it was that simple?

Abercrombie & Kent announce extreme adventures for 2010

by Kraig Becker on

Adventure travel specialist Abercrombie & Kent have announced their “extreme” adventures for 2010, offering up 15 amazing opportunities for travelers looking for unique experiences, provided of course they also have plenty of cash to pay for them.

No matter what kind of adventure you crave, you’re sure to find it on this list. For instance, you can head off into the desert on an eleven day expedition that follows in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia, or if sun and sand aren’t your cup of tea, then maybe you’d prefer to go dog sledding in Norway for nine days. Fancy a mountain setting? Than book a trip to Everest Base Camp for 20 days of trekking in the Khumbu Valley instead. These are just a few of the great options that A&K have in store for 2010, with tours planned for remote locations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and even the South Pole.

Widely considered one of the best luxury travel companies in the world, Abercrombie & Kent has years of experience planning adventurous trips to the far corners of the globe. The company promises small group tours, ranging in size from about 6-8 people, which allows for more one-on-one interaction with their expert guides, as well as ensuring that the group can move quickly while having a very limited impact on the environment.

Of course, these specialized tours come at quite a cost, and while many tour operators are looking for ways to offer discounted options in these challenging economic times, A&K is sticking to their plan to offer unique experiences for premium prices. For example, that dog sledding expedition that I mentioned above comes with a hefty price tag of $9655, not including airfare. Clearly not for the backpacker on a budget!