The tourists have made it…

Published on 15.01.2012 - The South Pole Jubilee Expedition

Arrival at hercules Inlet of the group guided by Christian Eide

Guided by famous Norwegian explorer Christian Eide, the group ofi five tourists who had left the bottom of Axel Heiberg glacier on 27 November with eighteen days delay on the schedule arrived at Hercules Inlet on 12 January.

Well done folks !

What a performance for these people who were not accustomed at all with the polar treks.

Rory O'Connor, the oldest of the group, declared (thanks to him for his daily blog) : "I can’t believe we have finally done it. We have done 703 kil in 4 days and 260 kil the last two days. Even that is amazing. The tension of “will we”/ “won’t we” was quie stressful over the last few weeks, and now it is over! I have done my part. Now I just have to sit back and wait for the logistics to kick in…. More to follow, but sleep calls now…."

This amazing success story proves in any case that, if your're well prepared and have a solid health, and of course if you have a good guide with you all the way, everyone can think of making a trek somewhere in the Antarctic one of these days. That's of course why the 6th Continent sees its number of tourists growing and growing every year.

Tourism in Antarctica is growing

Source IAATO (International Association of Antartica Tour Operators) : ... a ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil came into effect August, 1 2011, and this will have a significant impact on the larger passenger vessels that conduct "cruise-only" type of voyages. These are aboard ships carrying more than 500 passengers, which aren't permitted to offer landings to their guests. This segment was responsible for more than 14,000 passengers this past season (2010-11), or about 40% of the total number of Antarctic visitors. For the 2011-12 season -the first to be affected by the fuel ban- we expect to see this number in the range of 5,000 passengers. Overall tourism for the 2011-12 season is projected to be about 25,319, which is quite a bit below the high water mark of 46,265 visitors of the 2007-08 season.

If this adventure is a success for the tourists themselves, it's of course also a great success for Chrisitan Eide and for his friend Børge Ousland.