Antarctica Things to Do

Romantic walk

by darrmont

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Romantic walk
by darrmont
Things to Do
by XenoHumph
Weddell seal on Ross sea ice near...
by XenoHumph
Hut Point, Scott Hut & Discovery Mts,...
by XenoHumph
Scott's hut, McMurdo
by XenoHumph

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Paradise Bay 1

by leigh767

Paradise Bay is actually officially known as Paradise Harbour but this little point of confusion often gets overshadowed by the fact that this, like Neko Harbour, is an actual landing on the Antarctica continent proper! There's a little hike up at Paradise Harbour that will reap great rewards: sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding bay and stunning mountains. After the hike, you can slide back down to the bottom of the hill on your butt. Very fun, though a little scary because there's not that much space between the "slide" and the edge of a steep slope. As you can see in the photo here, the climb is steep at times (the black dots on the left are people! We are so far away...)PLEASE do not stray at this landing. There are lots of crevasses that you wouldn't know about until you step into them. Stay safe by following the path marked by your expedition leader leading the walk....

McMurdo: Weddell seals

by XenoHumph

Another attraction around McMurdo and Scott bases are the Weddell seals. There are huge beasts (up to 500 kg or 1100 lb) that look like slugs on the Ross sea ice from afar. They seem to just mainly lie there and sleep. They are known for their habit of gnawing holes in the ice to make breathing holes. This shortens their life span compared to other seals because once their teeth are worn out, they die. Weddell seals can be found all around Antarctica.Please see Weddell seals "in action" on my video.

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CTAM

by XenoHumph

CTAM stands for Central Trans-Antarctic Mountain. It is a camping area that the Americans maintain during the summer in the middle of the Transantarctic mountains on the Bowden névé. A névé, which is a flat expanse of snow, allows for the planes LC130 to land. CTAM is a transit camp for field parties. Their gear is brought in by the LC130s. Then they are brought to their specific field area by the much smaller Twin-Otter planes. Actually, the twin-otter pilots stay in tents during the week at CTAM. There used to be a much more permanent camp here, a research station, but it got shut down about 10 years ago. There is still an underground facility, more exactly an under-ice compound that you can sneak in if you are really bored waiting for your next plane.More importantly, the area around CTAM is absolutely stunning with the majestic Queen Alexandra Range dominating over you. Also, CTAM...

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McMurdo

by XenoHumph

Picture: McMurdo viewed from Ob Hill. Top right: Erebus volcanoMcMurdo is the biggest base in Antarctica and is managed by the United States. Its purpose is to support scientific expeditions in Antarctica. It is inhabited year round with about 1000 people in the summer (October-March) and a few hundred in the winter. It was founded in 1956-57. The weather is relatively mild for Antarctica, with a mean yearly temperature around 0ºC (32ºF) and typical winds about 12 knots. Extreme recorded temperatures are 8ºC (46ºF) and -50ºC (-52ºF). There are 2 other American bases in Antarctica, one in the Antarctic Peninsula (Palmer) and one at the South Pole (Scott-Amundsen). Finally, Scott base, managed by New-Zealand is located a few kilometers from McMurdo.McMurdo has a large building full of scientific labs (the "Crary lab"), several buildings supporting scientific expeditions in polar...

Scott Base

by XenoHumph

Scott base is the New-Zealand station located 3 km (2 miles) away from McMurdo. The two are linked by a dirt road and we once just walked from McMurdo to it and back. Scott base lays on a small peninsula on the Ross sea and the first buildings were erected in 1957. All the buildings are green, appropriately kiwi-color, and it is much smaller than McMurdo with about 85 people all year round. New Zealand actually claims this part of Antarctica as their own so they call it "Ross dependency", even if Antarctica officially does not belong to any country. The only building I went in is the souvenir shop. Once every other week, there is an "American night" when McMurdo residents can come eat and drink at Scott base. Other interesting things I saw at Scott base are the pressure ridges (see photo 4) and the Weddell seals on the Ross sea ice right in front of the base.Here is Scott base website:...

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McMurdo: Scott's Hut

by XenoHumph

Right next to McMurdo, about a 10 minute walk along the pier is the one historical building to visit absolutely! Scott's Hut was built in 1905 when the first expedition to ever set foot on Ross Island built it at this location. The expedition was British and led by Falcon Scott. As there are no trees (no plants actually) at McMurdo, they had to bring in all the wood from New Zealand. The building at the time was mostly used for storage. However, in later years, it was used again. Scott came back in 1911 (they mainly stayed at Cape Evans not at Hut Point, and him and 2 other companions died on their way back from the South Pole). Members of the Shackelton expedition wintered in the building in 1916.To go inside the hut you need to ask for a guide in McMurdo (in the main blue building). Inside are left over goods from the 1910' left as if they left in a hurry. There are still stinking seal...

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The polar plateau

by XenoHumph

Picture: Antarctic Polar Plateau. Towards the way I am pointing lies thousand of miles of ice until you reach the other side of Antarctica.Antarctica is covered by a thick sheet of ice (more than 2 kilometer thick at places) called the Polar Plateau. Experiencing the plateau is just seeing flat ice as far as the eye can see. The elevation is more than 2000 m high (6560 feet). So combined with the thin atmosphere of the poles, elevation tiredness can be felt during any physical activity. It is swept by high winds (katabatic winds) and characterized by low temperatures (-20 to -30ºC typical in the summer, plus the wind factor). It is a desert with hardly any precipitation. It has its own beauty with snow dunes sculpted in ridges called sastrugi, patches of blue ice, and an immense sky.

Erebus volcano

by XenoHumph

Erebus volcano towers over Ross island where McMurdo and Scott bases are located. It is the only active volcano in Antarctica and one of the few with a lava lake in its crater. It generally has a puff of smoke from its summit (3794 m, 12448 ft) and has produced large (several cm) anorthite minerals called Erebus crystals. I did not get to go to the summit (you would need to take a helicopter trip although people have walked up the mountain). But on a clear day you have a splendid view on this majestic mountain from Ob Hill at McMurdo (2nd picture). Another great point of view is from Castle Rock, which is a few miles hike from McMurdo (1st picture).

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Miller Range, Transantarctic Mountains

by XenoHumph

Picture: Miller Range, Transantarctic MountainsMiller Range is part of the Transantarctic Mountains located around 83º South 156º East. It comprises beautiful mountains, the bottom part of which are buried under thousands of meters of ice, cross-cut by majestic glaciers. Some of the most famous ones would be the Marsch or Nimrod glaciers. It is all rock, ice and snow, and shear raw beauty.We camped 6 weeks in the area and searched for meteorites using skidoos to drive around. Typical temperatures were around -15-20ºC (5 to -5ºF) but would dip lower when the katabatic winds would blow (this was December-January). I feel very privileged to have been to such a remote and barely accessible place.

Adelie penguins

by globetrott

Adelie Penguins are to be found in just a few of the places, that we have anchored at while cruising with the Bark Europa through Antarctica. Peterman island was the place with the largest colony of Adelie penguins in our cruise. They are also the smallest species of penguins by average size, beeing just about 60 cm high.In order to breed they are searching for rocky grounds and they will start as soon as the ice is gone at these places.

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