Am I the only person who would enjoy a trip to the South Pole ?

[steve2470]

Antarctica fascinates me. Last time I checked, to even see the shore of Antarctica costs $11k (if you don't work for the NSF) and to even get to the South Pole without working there, is $40K.

I guess I'm never going to the South Pole.

[In_The_Wind]

1. I truly hate the cold!

I'm sure it's very beautiful there.

[steve2470]

2. a very austere sort of beauty

The Geographic South Pole is that brass looking tower in the middle. I think they have to move it every year.
The flags are the Ceremonial South Pole.

[Phentex]

3. You can cruise there for less. I've always wanted to go...

some day maybe.

[steve2470]

4. less than 11k ? nt

[RebelOne]

5. I would go. I love the cold.

But I guess I will never get there because I could not afford the $40K.

[Samjm]

6. I'd go in a heartbeat

Have always dreamed of it.

[LeftofObama]

7. I'll let someone else go and just admire the pictures when they get back.

[cliffordu]

8. Well.......not so much, but....

There are probably more than a couple of folks who would love to see me afloat on an ice flow very near there.....


Like Frankenstein's monster, drifting off into the mist.....

[sharp_stick]

9. Check Out This Guys Page

http://www.southpolestation.com/

I had a friend winterover at the Pole a few years ago. There are some nice blogs that he links to here (no update to the current winter population yet even though the summer folks are all gone):

http://southpolestation.com/links.html

[steve2470]

16. I will, ty nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

10. The mountain ranges there seem interesting and so remote

like the 16,000 foot Mount Vinson. Makes me think of the H.P. Lovecraft story about an expedition to Antarctica, At The Mountains Of Madness.

[steve2470]

20. great photo thanks ! nt

[Brother Buzz]

11. I made the mistake of reading Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air in the dead of winter

I don't like cold!

Forty-two years ago, I was a guest of a man that was on Sir Edmund Hillary's team, part of Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Physician and dentist. He taught physiological and was doing research on man's adaption to cold weather (his conclusion: man readily adapts to warm weather, cold not so much). His harrowing story of being downed in a small airplane during a total white-out and camping under a tarp during a -60 degrees storm for eleven days was enough to put me off the game.

Now, Tierra del Fuego could interest me: I can smell gold.

[freshwest]

12. I'd much rather visit Norway or the forests of Siberia.

[bif]

13. Have you seen Werner Herzog's movie

"Encounters at the end of the World"? Excellent movie if you're fascinated by the South Pole. I'd love to go someday.

[steve2470]

14. no I need to see that ! nt

[Callmecrazy]

15. I don't think you're missing much...

It's cold, windy, and snowy with terrible schools.
Kinda like Chicago. And the airfare is cheaper.

[hobbit709]

17. If I wanted to freeze my ass off I could do it for a lot less.

I once experienced -50°F.

[steve2470]

19. -45 F was my record low, so I get the freezing ass off thing lol nt

[Marrah_G]

18. I would go in a second!

I don't mind the cold ( although pretty sure everyone minds THAT cold) and I would love to get a chance to see something so relatively untouched.

[Gorp]

21. Probably.

[harmonicon]

22. I don't know about the south pole, but I would like to go to Antarctica.

When I was a kid, I really wanted to go to space and go to another planet, moon, etc. Now that I'm grown up I realize that that won't happen, and even if it were possible, I probably wouldn't want to go because you probably wouldn't be allowed/able to smoke there, so what's the point? Antarctica is pretty close to another world though, and I could smoke there.

[pink-o]

23. I have a friend who went with a tour.

First, you have to go in January, because its as warm as it'll ever get. Second, you can't fly in very easily. You have to take a ferry from South America and cross the Drake's Passage. The currents are so rough, everyone is seasick like dogs for the two-day voyage. But she said once the boat docked, and they first set foot on the continent, the air was so pure and so vital she almost started crying. She hyperventilated just trying to get as much as possible. It's the last untouched, unpolluted land on this planet, and apparently we don't know what we're missing as we breathe in this compromised atmosphere.

I love the sun, and I love large cities. But I would go to Antarctica just to experience that air!

[steve2470]

24. great info

That's really interesting about the air, so true, so clean it is.

[Moondog]

25. On my personal bucket list, along with a few other things.

[YankeyMCC]

26. Count me in that group

of people who would enjoy a trip to the South Pole.

The stories of the 19th century arctic / Antarctic explorers captivated me since I was a kid. I do a lot of backpacking and I read stories of people doing winter trips, even when they end up stuck, I think to myself - "I want to try that."

[steve2470]

27. anyone else want to join me at the South Pole ?

For those interested, here's a good NatGeo documentary on how they built the latest science station there: